When we were not in a village on the immediate coast or up in the Sierra Nevada foothills, we were in the vicinity of Lars Helge’s & Tove’s villa, La Casa Emilie.  Faithful readers already know that we helped with their almond harvest; this post is to cover some of the many other things we did.

The villa is situated high on the backbone of a sloping ridge that separates the little village of Itrabo, down in the valley to the east, from the little villages of Jete and Otivar, deep down in the valley to the west.  The patio of the villa overlooks the spectacular view of the valley to the west and the looming hill/mountain ridge beyond.  On most days, when the wind is minimal, the quiet is eerie and absolute; “normal” noises do not reach the villa from the extremely distant valley or western ridge.  To be on the patio on such a day is to be in awe of the wonder of the sights and silence.

High as the villa is, it is only a fraction of the way up the ridge that slopes up to the south, a fact that becomes abundantly clear when one goes for a morning walk, as we sometimes did.  The peak is the southernmost before the Med, and so the vista over the coastal villages and the sea is well worth the effort.  At the very top is a jump off point for paragliders.

Almost all of the slopes of the hills in this region of Spain have been over the centuries sculpted with rows and rows of narrow terraces, upon which are grape vines and olive trees and, yes, almond trees.  This part of Spain is relatively dry, and so each plot of land has its own concrete water tank to support the agriculture and/or the associated dwellings.  The Brunborgs own two shares in the cooperative that supplies the water to the tanks of their region.  Their tank supplies all of the water they use to irrigate their grapes and almonds, as well as fill their swimming pool and meet their drinking, cooking, washing and flushing needs.  A water steward can often be seen traversing the dusty roads on his motorcycle in order to close and open valves that divert water to the appropriate tanks.  One of the delivery pipes buried under the road just down from La Casa Emilie has apparently sprung a leak, and the owner of the pipe has apparently refused to effect a repair, so when that pipe is transporting water to some tank or another, water bubbles up in the middle of the road and collects in a troublesome pool at a low point of the road.  Lars Helge & Rasmus seized the opportunity to do some playing in water and took shovels and hoes to the problem, digging a drainage ditch in which they buried a section of drainage pipe.  The lowering of the pool was only one aspect of the satisfied smiles on their faces.

The bottoms of the fertile valleys are crowded with trees and bushes that grow a wide variety of fruits, including Papaya, Persimmon, Quince, Oranges, Lemons, Avocado, and, most abundantly (and strangest to a boy from South Dakota), Custard Apples, known here as Chirimoya.  Some of these many fruits are grown in sprawling low “green houses” whose roofs are plastic sheets and whose sides are sometimes plastic and sometimes netting.

We patronized a number of local restaurants during our stay, two “new” ones and a reprise of our wonderful celebration at El Capricho Restaurant of Barb’s & Tove’s 60^th birthdays in 2011.

We had an “interesting” drive on “interesting” roads one day when Lars Helge needed to check out one of his listed properties.  Fun to get off the main roads and see some of the backcountry.

As can be perceived by our series of posts on the subject, we had a grand time in Spain.  We look forward to seeing our Norwegian friends again when they come see us on Tusen Takk II.