Casa Walhalla: last day

If ever a house deserved to be named Casa Walhalla, this house is it. Ramón and Michelle have created a dream spot. We’ve had unbelievable vistas to wake up to every morning, birdsong and flowers when we step out the door, and sunshine for six days in a row.

We are amazed at how much there was to learn about the geography of this area. No matter how long I studied maps before we came, the reality of the depth of the barrancos carved by the three great rivers in this area has made me revise my mental picture. Every day raises new questions - and often brings new answers.

We’ve been fanning out in different directions each day with our walks, so today we wanted to concentrate on the area right around the house. We walked down to the neighbor’s bancal where Ramón had shown us the first day what can be accomplished when an engineer builds his own home. His launa (clay) roof was just magnificent. We’ve seen many streaks of sparkly grey earth (presumably launa) mixed in with all the other minerals in the hillsides on our walks around here, so it’s clear why launa roofs are so popular. There’s an abundance of free roofing material!

I don’t know much about geology, but when I looked up launa, I found that “Geologically, the launas are magnesian phyllites, a metamorphosed clay (transformed by high pressures and temperatures, without melting) that retains its waterproofing properties.” I can certainly attest to that, given our experience cycling through what appeared to be a dry patch of slick dirt years ago. Within a fraction of a second, the entire wheel of my bike was covered with launa that would not let go. It took me over three hours to clean it out of my spokes and brakes. (I never made that mistake again.) Today, however, we just had a harmless look at a beautiful flat roof with a launa cover and slates extending as eaves, with stones called castigaderas holding them down.

We tried to do a little more exploring to see some of the abandoned houses on the bancales near us, but one foray through grasses above our waists was enough for me. I’m already nervous about crossing barrancos with a steep drop off when I have a perfect look at the trail, so crossing one when I can’t see what I’m stepping on is far beyond my comfort zone! Better to spend the time wrestling with accommodations for May instead.Læs mere