En route to/from Granada
Olives! Olives! Olives!
Just a few memories to capture and share.
Pit Stop
En route to Granada we had another wonderful and picturesque pit stop. Antonio said one of the owners was quite a salesperson and could sell anybody anything - and he was correct. On the other hand, I needed that olive oil hand lotion big time! (One of the few things our luxury hotels did not supply.)
Olive Trees
En route to Toledo, Cordoba and Granada we saw countless olive trees. Actually they aren't 'countless' since Antonio said the European Union counted them recently. Alas, I can't remember the number of trees Spain has but it was a BIG number!
Olive trees have been celebrated in every society - for their incredible products as well as being a symbol of peace (i.e. we're all familiar with the expression "extend the olive branch"), honour and victory.
Spain is one of the leading producers of olive oil, as indeed they were in ancient times being the chief supplier of Rome and the Roman Empire. Honestly, it was amazing to see how many trees were planted in Spain all over the countryside and up and down the sides of its mountains. An incredible sight.
Antonio shared that once he was asked by a lady if she could still cook with some olive oil she had purchased 3 years before. Antonio said he told her that if she still had olive oil purchased three years earlier then she "didn't cook with olive oil". Antonio said Spaniards purchase olive oil by the kilo.
Naturally one 'cultural discovery' was to sample and compare some different olive oils with bread. Very distinctive taste produced by different varieties of olives. Virgin and extra virgin - the purest - have much stronger tastes than simple olive oil. Antonio said his mother only used plain olive oil because the flavours of virgin and extra virgin were too strong for what she was cooking - i.e. they influence the flavours of what they are paired with.
Makes sense.
Granada
Granada still has a few cave houses - hard to take a picture from the moving bus but some are still inhabited. And so, so enjoyable was our luncheon in the restaurant in the shadow of the Alhambra. We were even serenaded by a local singing group - Granada singers. I purchased their CD. I enjoy it immensely and it puts me back in spirit in Spain. Alas, a few songs skip and/or don't play but the CD recording wasn't a professional job, and was inexpensive and it helped support a local group. SO, no worries.
The Sierra Nevada, Spain's famous mountain range (meaning "snowy range" in Spanish) were beautiful in the distance after we left Granada and drove toward Torremolinos.
Pit Stop
En route to Granada we had another wonderful and picturesque pit stop. Antonio said one of the owners was quite a salesperson and could sell anybody anything - and he was correct. On the other hand, I needed that olive oil hand lotion big time! (One of the few things our luxury hotels did not supply.)
Olive Trees
En route to Toledo, Cordoba and Granada we saw countless olive trees. Actually they aren't 'countless' since Antonio said the European Union counted them recently. Alas, I can't remember the number of trees Spain has but it was a BIG number!
Olive trees have been celebrated in every society - for their incredible products as well as being a symbol of peace (i.e. we're all familiar with the expression "extend the olive branch"), honour and victory.
Spain is one of the leading producers of olive oil, as indeed they were in ancient times being the chief supplier of Rome and the Roman Empire. Honestly, it was amazing to see how many trees were planted in Spain all over the countryside and up and down the sides of its mountains. An incredible sight.
Antonio shared that once he was asked by a lady if she could still cook with some olive oil she had purchased 3 years before. Antonio said he told her that if she still had olive oil purchased three years earlier then she "didn't cook with olive oil". Antonio said Spaniards purchase olive oil by the kilo.
Naturally one 'cultural discovery' was to sample and compare some different olive oils with bread. Very distinctive taste produced by different varieties of olives. Virgin and extra virgin - the purest - have much stronger tastes than simple olive oil. Antonio said his mother only used plain olive oil because the flavours of virgin and extra virgin were too strong for what she was cooking - i.e. they influence the flavours of what they are paired with.
Makes sense.
Granada
Granada still has a few cave houses - hard to take a picture from the moving bus but some are still inhabited. And so, so enjoyable was our luncheon in the restaurant in the shadow of the Alhambra. We were even serenaded by a local singing group - Granada singers. I purchased their CD. I enjoy it immensely and it puts me back in spirit in Spain. Alas, a few songs skip and/or don't play but the CD recording wasn't a professional job, and was inexpensive and it helped support a local group. SO, no worries.
The Sierra Nevada, Spain's famous mountain range (meaning "snowy range" in Spanish) were beautiful in the distance after we left Granada and drove toward Torremolinos.