Peace and Paella

Hi all!

So things have been moving along lately. I feel like time is just passing me by. I only have one month left in Europe. Just thinking about it makes me sad. I really don't want to leave this place and go back to reality. I mean yeah, at times I do want to go home, but then again, I'm really happy being here and being all independent.

Church in Soria

 Anyway, the main reason for this post is to tell you about the lovely day I had yesterday in Soria. Soria is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Madrid by bus, with all the stops and stuff. I arrived in Soria at around 10:30am and met up with my lovely work friend Marta and her husband. Marta and Cesar are originally from Soria and she really wanted me to come and see her hometown. Firstly we hopped in the car and visited this lovely little church buried in the side of a rock-face. The entrance was like a little cave and it went up into little rooms with stairs leading upstairs to a small chapel. The interior was really beautiful. It was such a different type of church than the usual ones you see.

Cloister

Next we went to an old cloister that that these really beautiful arches and pillars. It was really nice. I can't remember exactly how old it is but it was gorgeous. The little chapel inside was dark and cool and very small. It had some pillars with biblical carvings on them. Then we made our way to the top of a hill that overlooks the town. It was such a lovely view, and so different from the small towns we have back in Australia. Everything in Soria is so nice and green, which is a change from some other places I've seen in Spain which are quite dry and brown instead of lush and green. Also on the hill walking back to the car there was a church, which was unfortunately closed, so we couldn't go inside. But it looked nice on the outside lol.

Me on the hill 

We then made our way over to this small village in Soria where Marta grew up and spent alot of her childhood with her family. Now her family and her spend mainly weekends there as a little getaway. It's such a cute little town. She said that generally during the week there are about 4 people, maybe more, living there. When we arrived Marta showed me the house her and Cesar are having built. It's so big and its going to be fantastic once it's done!

Paella cooking on the outdoor stove

Directly across from their house is Marta's family's house which is where we were to have lunch. I got a tour of the lovely house, which she her family built. It's such a nice little country cottage kind of place, with a gorgeous fireplace. I met Marta's mum and dad and many of her uncles, aunts and cousins. There were 20 of us there. For me, thats insane because my extended family is only about 6 people, so it was so lovely to be invited to have lunch with her family. One of her uncles kept giving me drinks and asking me if I was ok. I generally don't talk a lot because I'm shy and my Spanish isn't fantastic, so I think he thought there was something wrong. And Spanish people talk a lot. They always have something to say, so I guess I'm different to them lol.

The finished and DELICIOUS product

Lunch was home made Paella made in their outdoor wood-fired stove. It was my first time having proper Paella. One of Marta's uncles was the chef. He cooked the chicken and the seafood up with some onions and capsicums, then added the rice and stock and left it to cook. I went and checked every stage of the cooking because it was so interesting, and something I'd never seen before. It took about an hour and at around 3pm (which is Spanish lunch time), we sat down to eat!

Lunch was fantastic! There was Paella and bread, vegetables and drinks. It was all very festive! Different to Sunday family lunches that I'm used to for sure! Dessert came next, which was fresh cherries (which are so cheap here in Spain! In Australia they are so expensive!), cake and a drink that was champagne mixed with lemon sorbet which was really nice and refreshing!! Everyone sat around outside and talking and drinking and eating.

With the little guy!

After a couple of hours Marta and I went for a walk. It was very lovely! Everything there is so peaceful and quiet. The air is fresh and the views are lovely! We walked out of the village (which is TINY) and went down a track that headed to some woods. Down the track was a farm that Marta's brother owns. There were donkeys (which I ran away from!), dogs, chickens, peacocks, sheep and goats. Lots of little animals! I saw a CUTE baby goat and so we decided to see if we could catch him. Five minutes later, after alot of running around like crazy people we caught him and managed to get a quick picture!

We walked back and then went for another walk down to the vegetable patch. I stupidly wore the wrong shoes and shorts, so when we walked through the long grass my legs got a bit cut up. Bah. But it was a nice walk! While we were in the Veggie patch we got called back up to the house. It was time to leave Soria. I really didnt want to leave as it had been such a relaxing day! I was supposed to go the previous weekend but I got sick and had to cancel. Luckily I got this opportunity to go!

So after a long and wonderful day, we hopped in the car and headed back to Madrid. A truly wonderful day!