Honestly what more could one ask for?
Saturday September 29th McAlister, Reagan, Allison and I all went on a gastronomic excursion with the CLM, Centro de Lenguas Modernas. There were around 30 other students who went as well. We went to Trópolis in Guadix, Bodegas Muñana in Cortes y Graena, and Campopineda in Píñar.
Trópolis is where our day began. We first watched a video about the region in a cave. Then we proceeded to the kitchen where we made bread and goat cheese.
The goat cheese was so simple to make! We were given a container of warm goat milk and told to put in a few milliliters of some “magic liquid.” We stirred it and covered it for around ten minutes I believe. Then the milk turned into a more solid form. We cut the solid form into curd like shapes and strained them from the excess milk. After that I am not sure what happened if anything did happen because later in the day the operator of Trópolis brought the cheese and bread to us, fully prepared.
On to the bread. We made it from scratch and the “instructor” told me that I have great kneading skills! This chunk of gluten was huge and heavy. Again all I did was mix, knead, and cut. The owner and his employees did the baking. My host family and I were able to enjoy the bread for a few days because it was so large. It went well with goat cheese and honey.
After the bread and cheese event me went to Bodegas Muñana, aka a winery. We toured the facilities and then ate a wonderful meal including tortilla española, paella, and flan or a flan like desert. We tried three of their wines and shocker I was not a fan of any them. Wine is too bitter for me.
Where the fermenting (?) happens, I think. Honestly, I felt like I was at Alto Vineyards where I have wandered around many times with the owners’ daughter, Anna. The second image is the cave where they keep barrels of wine to let them age. If you have not caught on yet, caves are really common in the south of Spain.
Some peonies (my favorite), cave structures near the winery, and my friend Kat.
This time Allison actually took my picture! Courtney was not able to come with us because she woke up feeling sick. You were missed Court!! There are not words I can use to describe the scenery here that would ever do it justice.
Some pictures of the facilities and surroundings at the Olive Oil uhh factory? I know that is not the right word but what do you call a place where olive oil is made? Anyways, by this time of the day I was exhausted. I had been running on three hours of sleep and was ready to return to my bed. I also was done with gluten for the day as my intolerance to it was giving me grief. I did not try the olive oil but I heard good things about it.
Just two amigas.
This is one of my most favorite pictures I have taken on this trip. My phone camera did me right for once. Absolutely gorgeous.
Lastly, some mountain views on the ride home.
I know my posts are not being created as fast as I would like them to be. Sometimes it is hard to force myself to sit down and write. Also, I have had quite a bit of homework and I did have an amazing weekend in Amsterdam last weekend. That blog will be my next one to post. Since I did go to Amsterdam I was not able to go to the Alhambra like I said I would be doing. I am sad I missed out on it. However I think my trip was more than worth it. Tomorrow I am flying to Paris to meet my friend Alexis, from SIUE. We are heading to Mont Saint Michel Friday morning and will be there until Saturday afternoon. This was our first trip we planned together, with two more to come, and I am so excited to see her and travel with her. Thank you for following and I cannot wait to tell you all about Amsterdam. Until next time!
♥ Annie
Life of Leslie Annie 