Under the cork trees: a (frugal) weekend escape

This weekend Jose and I decided to get away for a bit as a sort of pre-first wedding anniversary. We wanted to do a little vacation to celebrate our upcoming anniversary but after doing some research we saw that prices at the end of December and during Christmas time were going to be pretty high. Instead we decided to take advantage of this time during off-season to visit the mountains to the north of Sevilla. We drove up to the small, small city of Al Monaster in the Huelva province after work on Friday.



After doing some research (and having visited this area of the south of Spain earlier this fall to do a hike see blog here) we decided to spend the weekend in a rural house at night and hiking during the day (free-yay!). We needed a place that would allow us to bring the dog and found one easily online. This area offers a lot of rustic type houses for tourists to rent by the night or weekly. Since it is off-season we got a good deal for the two nights. The house itself offers pretty basic amenities but we are pretty easy going when we travel. Plus we arrived to a roaring fire. What more can you ask for on a chilly night?  On Friday evening we used the kitchen since we brought food to prepare from home and were able to save a bit more money this way.


On Saturday we woke up and had breakfast in town. We visited the old mosque and castle. Though it might sound flippant to say, seeing a castle is no big thing here in the south of Spain. Like my mom would say, you can´t swing a dead cat without hitting one thanks to this area being the old border between Christians and Muslims back in the 15th century. Castles are everywhere, usually located at the highest point in the city or landscape since this was the easiest place to defend. They are all beautiful (and usually free to visit) but a picture can show this better (see above).



 After wandering through the small town, we set off on a hike up to the top of a mountain in Al Monaster. As we walked we were able to see the amazing landscape that this area offers. Unlike farther south there are few olive trees. Instead, here you can find a lot of cork trees. As their name suggests, these trees are where people harvest the bark to make natural corks. You can see on the trees where the cork has been removed this year.



Seeing cork trees always reminds me of one of my favourite children´s stories Ferdinand the Bull. If you don´t know it, it is about a bull (here in Spain oddly enough) who loved to lay underneath a cork tree smelling flowers. He was destined to be in a bullfight but was too passive for this. The story is adorable and highly recommended. It has a really sweet message.

 Here is the link to watch a Disney short about the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGTVRbpAuRo

As we got higher up on the mountain we began to encounter more and more chestnut trees. This happens to be the season to collect chestnuts and so we spent some time looking as we walked (more on that in a later blog). We eventually stopped to have a picnic lunch (another way we saved money) and continued on our way up. When we finally reached the top we were both amazed both by the views that greeted us and by the trip we had just completed. It was imposing and felt great. It took us about 2 and ½ hours to go up but only 1 to come back down. Afterwards we returned to our casa rural to take a nap before finally going out for our one budgeted meal at a restaurant.




As it turned out we ended up meeting one of Jose´s student´s parents who owns a hotel in Al Monaster. She graciously invited us to come back on Sunday for lunch which ended up being AMAZING! What a way to end a weekend. Full and tired and home just in time for a siesta.

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