Parador de Tredos

Found out today that the 90 day tourist visa that I thought we were granted for each country is actually for the combined Senchgen countries. Since we'll be at least 60 days in France alone, it means we won't be doing the France, Italy, Greece and then Turkey route we had planned on in the length of time we'd ...

... I had to act fast. Lunging for him, I held on as tight as I could for I was sure he would ‘squeal like a stuck pig’ as soon as I touched him. Correct I was, and that squeal alerted Mommy inside the pen. I heard her grunting and snorting while struggling to get up around her feeding piglets. Not wanting to cause a commotion, and certainly not wanting Mommy to come out and see what all the excitement was about, I quickly put baby ...

... refrigeration for the meat. With wind-chill, that was absolutely frigid for 45 minutes! And with the winding mountain roads, the weight of the meat kept shifting into me with the occasional trotter popping out from under the covering.

Watching Austin process the carcase into usable joints of meat was truly a work of art. His knife flew, knowing exactly where to cut and slicing with one quick motion. Any small ...

... between France, Spain and Andorra with 3000m peaks rising up all around. Up past charming little villages where all the little homes are made of stone stacked upon one another with only the slate rooves peeking through.

We drove the truck as far up the road as possible, and then even a little farther than we should have. Feels like complete mountain wilderness, but there are ...

... some that are poisoness. The type we are looking for are called ‘ceps’ they have a spongy underneath rather than gills.

Quite a peaceful activity walking through the rustling leaves listening to the birds and the raindrops falling from the branches. A peaceful venture yes, but a fruitful venture no. I only found 2 of the mushrooms we wanted and both were small and rather old and maggoty. The only type I seemed to find with ...

... have him and it would just be a matter of holding on and waiting for him to calm down (i.e. get tired of struggling). Then he could be loaded into the trailer and taken to the wiener park.

But the little guy wriggled free of Justin’s hold and was very weary of people. So the chase was on! 6 of us in the park hopping over stumps and dodging trees in and around the hilly terrain ...

... made from chevre. There have even been sheep’s milk cheese for sale in some of the stores. Tomme des Pyrenees is a very mild tasting cheese, firm, but with holes in it.

Seeing all the work involved I still can’t believe how cheap the cheese here. This lady is selling hers for 13 Euro a Kilogram - a KILOGRAM!!! I’m used to Canadian prices of $4-6 for 100 GRAMS! Many ...

The trek into the house was about a kilometer from the main road and post box. A tiny gravel track has no room for mistakes as it snakes it’s way down a steep hill. Hairpin turns soo sharp that you need to stop and do a 3-point (sometimes 5) to get around them.

The house is an old French Farmhouse which they have restored and expanded. Evidence of ...

... how it felt, I can‘t tell for sure). But that brought us to a cute little village with one tiny store that sold everything that’s important in life: wine, cheese and bread. Had a great laugh with the staff trying to communicate with me attempting to decipher the different types of local cheeses and how they were made. Sound effects and pantomimes of cow, sheep and goat helped to get the point across!

After lunch, I ...

... a shelter and even got some candles and incense lit up. We grilled a nice little dinner, and before we knew it were out of wine. One more trip to the nearby market brought us another bottle and some dessert. We sat on the sand and enjoyed the last few hours of Spanish beaches. On the way north to France we visited Montserrat, a funky looking mountain with a "must-see" monastery (even though we're not into seeing churches, the mountain itself was worth the trip ...