My Life in Valencia

This past weekend I ventured out of Valencia with my friends Vivian and Beat for an afternoon exploring a very remote area called the Sénia territory, north west of Valencia, where Aragon, Catalonia and the region of Valencia meet. I knew we were going to ¨take a drive through olive fields, but I had no idea what we were going to see or how truly amazing it would be. It’s called the Ruta Oliveres Milleneries (Route of the Millenary Olive Trees). Although Spain is not as well known for its olives or olive oil as Italy, olive oil is an important product of Spain and just as delicious. But I didn’t know that this part of Spain has the largest concentration of millenary olive trees in the world (or that millenary olive trees were even a thing!). These trees are known for being extremely resilient as they thrive in very dry conditions. They are of the variety called Farga, known for their large trunk-more than 3.5 meters around and they have unique shapes that twist and turn and hallow out. To find these trees, we went to three different towns-la Jana, Traiguera, and Canet lo Roig and visited an outside museum that has some of the oldest and most concentrated trees. https://maps.app.goo.gl/pkG3F9iiHWf4i3eL8

In Traiguera we also visited the Real Santuario Virgen, a monument dating to the 16th and the times of the Borgias. Used as a sanctuary for pilgrims, it has a beautiful gothic chapel, the Miracle Fountain of the Virgen, and a medieval kitchen with a huge chiminea that was used for cooking and to keep warm. Unfortunately, given that it was a Saturday in the middle of nowhere, we weren’t able to buy or taste any of the olive oil made from these trees. But that’s ok….that will just mean well have to go back another day and when the olives are in season. In the meantime, here is a slideshow of some of my favourite photos and highlights of our excursion.