Monda, Andalucia

One missed train and an abandoned bike later we did eventually make it to our second destination, a tiny village in Andalucia called Monda.  Here we spent our time preparing vegetable beds for winter crops, fighting back brambles, grazing goats and sampling the local sangrias.  For lunch we would cook in the outdoor kitchen and we had fun trying some of Jamie Oliver´s recipes such as Chorizo and Tomato salad, which were very yummy.  We also spent lazy days on the beach in Marbella enjoying the sun and the ocean.  While we were in Monda we were able to experience Halloween the Spanish way.  In Spain, Halloween is known as Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead and is a very sombre occasion.  On this day Andalucians eat a special pastry known as the bones of the holy and decorate their family graves with candles and flowers.  It was very interesting to see the cultural differences between rural Spain and the UK and USA. Sometimes we felt like we were being transported back into time watching the children play marbles on the streets, asking the shopkeeper for groceries from behind the counter and toasting bread on the stove.


Summing up our time in Monda, we'd say that Christina was one of our better hosts. She definitely enjoys the element of exchange in the wwoofing system. Unlike our previous host, we felt she was very interested in our own experiences and actually had questions for us. The food we ate with her was simple, and as much as possible of it was freshly harvested from her garden. She offered a few different options for places to stay - at a neighbor's house, at her house, or up in the hills in her little caravan.

our lunch trailer

the outdoor kitchen

Marbella beach

The Mediterranean Sea

Barcelona

Before heading south we took a few days to visit Barcelona where we stayed in a hostel that was some sort of converted monastery. We fell in love with the architecture of the city and loved going to Parc Güell, a municipal garden designed by Antoni Gaudí between 1900-1914. Exploring the main streets and alleys of Barcelona stretched on late into the night as we tried to take in as much of the city as we could. On our first evening we enjoyed tapas and sangria along the Passeig de Gracia. Then in the morning we walked down the Ramblas, where we were pretty overwhelmed by all the tourists and performing arts shows in the open-air market. We walked all the way to the sea, then back through the Gothic quarter until we got to the Sagrada Familia cathedral, which they’ve been building forever! They started building it in 1882 and don’t expect to have it finished until 2026. We definitely want to go back and see it because even in its unfinished condition it brought tears to our eyes.

one of the buildings at Parc Güell

in Parc Güell

The Casa Batillo

walking down the Ramblas

the harbour

Camos, Catalonia

In September, Brian and I began our wwoofing adventure in the north of Spain. The first place we stayed at was 7km outside of Camos, in a beautiful seventeenth century stone farmhouse set amongst forested mountains. These mountains were once terraced groves of trees grown to make coal and other products but about a hundred years ago this industry ceased and the terraces became overgrown. Now they are a fire hazard and filled with invasive species. At Cal Serano our work involved two main jobs that revolved around thinning out the forested slopes of one of these mountainsides. Brian spent most of his time cutting back the trees and pulling down the vines that grew thick over everything, while I grazed the small flock of sheep and goats on the terraces to keep the unwanted plants at bay. We also spent time tending two indigenous species of oak, which were being encouraged to grow in the area. When we weren’t working we had a great time eating paella and patisserie by the Estany de Banyoles, playing with the endless number kittens on the farm and visiting the nearby town of Girona where we ate lots of amazing tapas! We both really enjoyed the Catalonian cuisine and were fortunate to stay with two good cooks. For lunches we enjoyed goat meat and home made paellas and for dinners we looked forward to toast with tomatoes and olive oil, wild mushrooms grilled on the fire and locally cured meats. We loved trying the local cheeses and every few days a couple of new kinds would show up in the cheese tray and we would discover a new favourite. Another thing we enjoyed was the fresh goats milk and home made farmer’s cheese which was like a dense creamy yoghurt that we ate mixed with wild honey.

Nave of Santa Maria dels Turers

Banyoles delights

Girona Cathedral

Facade of Girona Cathedral

Girona Bridge by Eiffel

Cal Sereno

Wayward goats at Cal Sereno

Farm cats

The lonely Goatherd

Considering our time at Cal Sereno as a whole, we would say that we're glad we came, but we'd hesitate to either come back or recommend the place to anyone. Living conditions were very good for wwoofers. We had a clean, spacious room with a nice bathroom. The food was generally of good quality and we had the chance to sample many Catalonian delights. However, we didn't get the feeling that Josep the host really likes having wwoofers (or anybody else) staying here with him. For him the wwoof exchange is primarily something necessary for the work to continue, and not something that provides much in the way of personal or cultural exchange. Of course, this could have just been our own particular mix of personalities with each other, and we're sure other wwoofers will have had other impressions.