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A wonderful stop for us in Spain was Villablino, a village in the León region north of Madrid. We left Alicante and rode the train for 8 hours through the middle of the country and arrived in the town of León around 7 PM. We were just in time to see Tom and Libby (Lance’s parents) give a presentation on the Tepehuan people of North-Central Mexico (where they’ve worked for the past 30 years). After the presentation, we joined them for the hour and a half drive northwest to Villablino.

What a beautiful place! Built up in the early 20th century to support the local coal mine, the town sits in a high river valley surrounded by mountains. The locals use coal for heating and cooking but still the area looks pristine. Tom and Libby are in Villablino for one semester to teach a linguistics course. We were lucky to have 3 days together for rest, relaxation, and exploratory hikes in the area.

Day 1: Our first day we wandered around Villablino and two surrounding historic villages. Storks nest here in the warm season, and we saw lots of them manning nests atop chimneys or trees and feeding in the fields nearby. Lots of sheep, cows, horses, and other animals here, plus tons of vegetable gardens. It’s a lush green, fertile area; this is a big change from Tucson!

The abundance of water is amazing: almost on every corner is a spring or fountain. Residents of the area use the spring waters for drinking instead of tap water. The architecture is interesting too, local stone is used to build walls and roof on most of the older buildings (and even some of the new ones). The roofs—tiles of dark slate—are seemingly built without nails or screws. The tiles are notched and heavy enough to hold each other one.

After siesta we enjoyed a very nice dinner out (dinner isn’t served until after 9pm!). The four of us found a nice restaurant and enjoyed local specialties of beef and fish; it was delicious. The name of the restaurant, Los Arándanos, means The Blueberries. We had to order dessert in order to figure that out, we thought it meant cranberries! We all ordered something with arándanos ...The blueberries were a tasty way to finish our meal.

Day 2: We hiked up from Villablino and over a ridge into the neighboring Sosas valley. It was drizzling most of the way, but instead of making it miserable it added to the feeling early spring, fresh feeling. Tom (Dad) remarked how much it reminded him of western New York where he grew up. We walked over creeks, through fields, past horses, cows, sheep, and into a couple quaint villages. Most of the hike was through a mixed forest of elms, beech, oak, pine, and many other varieties of trees. There were several big meadows though, and like the smaller fields, these areas were covered in lush grass and wildflowers.

In one village a gentleman was out in front of his house and we struck up a conversation about the weather and his garden. He was upset with the rainy day since he wanted to plant potatoes and the moisture was too much for them. His mud shoes were really neat: they were on stumps that kept his feet out of the mud. After that an elderly lady stopped to say good morning, and she pointed at Erin and said, “I can tell she isn’t from here!” That cracked us up…Everyone we met was very friendly and welcoming; they all thought we were crazy for walking in the rain (but they we’re doing it too!).

Our destination for comida (the large meal of the day, usually around 2pm) was Mesón Casa Pedra, a small, family owned restaurant. It was simply wonderful: local products prepared well. The meal was inexpensive and delicious. We started off with beef soup, fresh asparagus, and cold cuts with cheese. The area is well-known for it’s sausages, and the meat plate had nice selection for us to try. Our main dishes were tomato-stewed tongue and a scrumptious lamb dish with dark gravy and onions. Dessert, coffee, and wine were all included…dessert was covered with lovely blueberries, and we didn’t complain!

It rained more as we walked home past several horses with their newborn babies, and interrupted another farmer who was moving horses from one pasture to another. The way back took us through forest and hill, fields and more river crossings. The whole loop was about 7km, so it was a great day hike.

Since we’d eaten so well for comida, we relaxed, napped, and then nibbled a small supper of fruit, cheese, bread, and quince membrillo (a dessert-like cake made from sugared quince fruit). I was able to get online and catch up on emails and posting pictures (see the Villablino gallery). We enjoyed hearing about Mom and Dad’s adventures in England before flying to Spain. They spent a week and a half visiting friends and colleagues and sightseeing there.

Day 3: Sunday dawned sunny and warm. We slept in, and then enjoyed a wonderful pancake breakfast that Mom made for us. Luckily our bus to León didn’t leave until afternoon, so we were able to spend some more time with Tom and Libby. We even did a load of laundry, which was a special event.

After our two hour bus ride to León, we hopped on the next train to Madrid. It was a regional commuter train, which was slooooowwwwww! The seats were hard and uncomfortable, too. But, it got us to Madrid by 11 PM. We fell asleep dreaming of the green hills of Villablino.