Pueblo de Don Fadrique

On Tuesday we drove south 5 hours with Julie and Marco's family from Madrid to a small town called Pueblo de Don Fadrique where Marco's parents have a home. It was a lovely little town with pueblo type houses on a hillside, all bunched together with winding little streets. Marco's parents were so warm and hospitable with us. Marco's mother is an amazing cook and we enjoyed some wonderful Spanish dishes like Pisto with fried eggs on top.


Marco's father makes wine as a hobby and we enjoyed a lot of his red wine. Words cannot describe how beautiful their bohemian home was. Marco's father had done a lot of work to restore it. They had the most amazing collection of 20th century "modern" furniture. They had a library of art books which I enjoyed looking through.


On Christmas Eve day we drove out to see a house that they own in the countryside. It was so beautiful and quiet out there. The house was very old and rustic. They cooked meat on a fire and we ate lunch out in the sunshine. Afterward, we played hide + seek and duck, duck, goose with the kids.



On Christmas day Marco's father took James and I out for a field trip. He took us to a neighboring town. First we went to a cafe and had churros (which we watched the woman outside make) and cafe con leche. Then he walked around the town with us pointing out interesting stuff. On the way out of town he showed us some cave homes where people actually live. One of them was abandoned so we were able to walk into the carved out rooms.


He drove us through the valley on the way home and we stopped at an old Tuscan style church and cemetery. We drove through fields of broccoli and almond trees. Finally he showed us his work space where he makes wine and stores all his findings that he uses when restoring houses, which he does professionally.


On Christmas night, the entire family took a walk around the town. The town has a very interesting tradition in which men and boys dress in these traditional costumes and walk around with whips and sticks soliciting money for the church, or else! We gave them money! Really it's just a bunch of little boys running around in colorful shirts and banging on the sidewalks. There was a group of local musicians walking around the town playing traditional songs.

Afterward we all gathered around the tv in our room and watched Wall-E with the kids. Once everyone had gone to bed, James and I stayed up and re-watched it with the director's commentary. I love that movie!

You can see all the trip pictures here.