A dreamscape: Cortijo Balzain

"Balzaín is a white country house protected by its old chestnut trees, its paths lined by walnut trees and the small water canals flow with the countryside peace. A spring brook, born among the rocks softly murmurs a song of things and memories. And the almond groves on the slope and the high topped pine trees, give the lanscape a sentimental and delicate enviroment." 


-P. Ferrer, Jesuit Mountaineer 1971

To see the terracing up close is a phenomenal sight. On each terrace lies neat rows of Almond trees.

The 1000's of Almond trees that surround Cortijo Balzain are just about to bloom

Cortijo ("place consisting of farm buildings and cultivated land as a unit") Balzain held a lot of intrigue for us from its website. Only 8k from Granada but billed as a country refuge complete with animals for the kids to see, we went for it. 

The 'farm' (it would likely be considered a ranch in the U.S.) actually sits plum in the middle of a U.N. declared biosphere. The biosphere is really the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas (yesterday's hike was only a 10 minute drive) on up through the peaks- a gem of a location. What really grabbed our attention was the idea that it had been a complex of 17th Century buildings that had been restored for rural tourism in an attempt at preservation. They've succeeded.

It's a trip to read that your 'house' used to be a 17th Century sheep shelter and giggle about the house up a dirt trail that looked interesting and upon a further read used to be the pigpen (we lucked out I think!). The complex itself saddles a beautiful rift and outcropping that has crescent after crescent of terracing. There is no doubt that you are standing on land that has been used for centuries. It looks well. . .old. Not old in a worn way but ancient because it's simply a winner of a spot. 

The sun is blinding all day long. The trees are amazing for climbing (anyone who knows Gigi knows she's a climber. This is a kid that climbed atop our roof in Tucson when she was 4. . .no; her parents didn't sanction this). We keep losing track of her and find her in a tree.

It's stunning and the trees aren't even in bloom. Traces of what's to come are everywhere.

Can you guess what fruit that is? It begins with a P and they are not peaches. First kid-friend to guess correctly earns a Spanish souvenir.

The sheep pen we were assigned (it's a lovely restored stucco structure) has been great. It's definitely been big enough for our pack of seven. The walls are thick stucco, the roof timber with cane (it so reminds me of Tucson).

This giant 'fork' on the wall has become a family joke-Baby-O says it's for a giant (we've been reading too much "Seven at One Blow"). The pitchfork is carved from one piece of wood and if you imagine the ceilings are about 11 feet high you get the idea.

Just behind our 'casa' is the birth of a spring. If you look closely you'll see the rocks below are submerged in water. Check out the Moorish exterior design (see the Moorish 'keyhole' design?) with the Virgin of Balzain presiding inside. No wonder shepherds chose this place. We're glad we did.

Speaking of shepherds J had a journal entry about them.

"Do you know how hard it is to shave in public? Well, I guess you haven't been a shepherd. If you were a shepherd you wouldn't have a bathroom. Therefore, guess what you wouldn't have? A mirror!

There was only one and only one mirror on the farm and guess where that was? On the front door!"

It's been an understatement to say that we're learning something new everyday. The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "A certain amount of boredom  is. . .essential to a happy life." I wouldn't say we're bored by any stretch of the imagination but what we seem to have acquired is TIME.