Hello friends!
In summer time, we enjoy weekends differently, in another way but feeling that essence when we are near the Mediterranean sea. That area is special, and it is not just about beaches, also the local life in the towns and villages is great, an authentic experience.
So I come back to the nice Weekend Experiences community (and #weekend-engagement initiative) hosted by @galenkp to share a typical summer weekend in a town of the province of Valencia, in Spain, called Ontinyent.
I was invited by a friend to spend a couple of days, a weekend at her house, a local house surrounded by nature, and we also enjoyed typical Valencian food, the most famous and all delicious.
The whole area is rich in nature and fields of crops, but the orange fields that we see in so many places as we travel along paths and roads are particularly noteworthy.
And we arrived at his house, large with much more vegetation, and what I liked most were those typical rural and traditional details, an old wine cellar with utensils from another era, where everything was different, life was different. With these objects we feel that essence of the past.
The best thing was that there was a swimming pool, ideal for spending those hot days, but it wasn't just about swimming, cooling off, sunbathing and laughing, but also about trying delicious things, like a typical sweet from the area, in these parts that type of flat cake is called "coca", but it has nothing to do with other things. A fantastic afternoon.
A home-cooked dinner, a traditional Spanish omelette, one of those thick ones with potatoes, seafood, olives and other things, before going out to have fun in the town.
The main course arrived the next day, you always have to eat paella on Sundays, so it was the best day, with local ingredients, and in the traditional area par excellence. A paella not for tourists, a typical Valencian paella made with love in a wonderful Valencian house where we were treated so well. Wonderful lunch!
We walked around the town a bit more, and we were able to enjoy the local festivals and the spectacular parade, which I will tell you more about and share new photos with you.
Without a doubt, it has been a great experience without having to go very far or travel to other countries, sometimes we forget the wealth that we have close by. So we felt that essence of a Mediterranean-style town in all its senses, in the landscape, fields, in the house and its history, in its people and in that food that we know so well and always like to taste.
But in the tranquility of the afternoon, after having enjoyed the most Mediterranean experience to the fullest, we left Ontinyent wanting more weekends of this type, calm and fun, pleasant and delicious, natural and real.
