Extremadura

Trip Start Oct 07, 2009
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12
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Trip End May 25, 2010


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Where I stayed
Becky and Martin's house
(Seville hotels)

Flag of Spain and Canary Islands  , Andalusia,
Monday, October 26, 2009

Boni has done a superb job of showing me his Seville. He went out of his way to show me the most noteworthy architecture, and tracked down flamenco shows in the most obscure little bars. But it is the nature of travel that we keep moving, and so it was with a small amount of reluctance that I said goodbye, and jumped on a bus heading North to Badajoz, where I'll give WWOOFing a crack for the second time.

After leaving my first horrible host in Portugal I was really desperate for a host, anywhere along my route. A flurry of emails provided one positive response. Becky and Martin, are my hosts, but to be honest I don't recall anything from their host profile, at this point I'm just happy to have a host.

The bus ride from Seville was scenic. I never realized how sparsely populated parts of Spain are Sevilla
Sevilla
 . The bus drove past stands of  citrus and pomegranate, alternating with groves of olive, and pig farms. Every town we past seemed to be completely dependent on the humble pig, with every second shop being either a butcher, or a small deli. On the farms the pigs wandered on huge tracts of land, ate chestnuts and rooted to their hearts content. They looked happy, no wonder they're so delicious.

I was met at the bus by Becky and fellow Canadian WWOOFer Corrine. The one hour drive home went quickly as we swapped travel tales and I entertained them with horror stories from my horrible host in Portugal.
 
Upon arrival at the farm Martin greeted us with a warm smile and a hearty dinner. Martin and Becky are vegetarian, which is fine by me, I've been living off of meat and bread for the last couple weeks, and a few days of detox will suit me just fine. Tonight's meal is a vegetarian Sunday dinner. Now I'm happy to eat a vegetarian meal any day of the week, my only issue is when a vegetarian meal tries to pretend its meat. Martins Sunday Dinner was a proud, confident vegetarian version of a Sunday roast. No problems with identity here. A nice crispy, sesame crusted lentil patty, sat amongst caramelized jerusalem artichokes, fresh from the garden. A desire for meat never crossed my mind as I devoured Yorkshire pudding bathed in veggie gravy. Dessert, which was prepared for both volunteers and hosts alike, consisted of big luscious slices of caramelized apple sitting on to of a perfectly crispy puff pastry shell. A silky cream cheese dressing was all that separated the two. It feels so good to eat fruits and vegetables.
I will be happy here.
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