Photo Adventures with Curiosity and Learning


February 20, 2011: Off To Bea's family place, Pobleta

How we got there

Quite amazing - Here is the altitude plot. Clearly we were in the hill country

Altitude graph

After lunch - we walked about the property, inspecting this and that. Here is our hour walk after lunch and altitude plot

Altitude graph

Here we are at Pobleta - and amazing history from Bea's great grandfather. Her uncle Alex is the source of all history of this place - from 12 - 13th century when the Catholic Church owned much property in Spain til the time his grandfather purchased the land in the early 20th century - followed by takeover of the property by the President of Spain during the Spanish Civil War - and then recovery of the property. Its an amazing place - with many buildings, a wonderful water system (from a mountain source) to the swimming pool, orange grove and private chapel. Here is a picture story of the place - starting with the initial presentation

feb 20 7232 the way

Bea's family and colleagues from UPV gathered for paella - and here is the initial setup for tables

feb 20 7233 setup

TO the side were rows of jugs - water or wine?

feb 20 7244 jugs

Looking through the door of one of the buildings between the paella place and the main house

feb 20 7247 through door

Courtyard dining is possible

feb 20 7249 dining space

Taking a walk with uncle Alex - we past many statues and structures

feb 20 7263 christ statue

Reflections in a holding pool for water

feb 20 7276 reflections

Then up to a silo and place for drying grain

feb 20 7296 grain drying place

Looking out across the valley (see Google map above)

feb 20 7298 valley

Bent trees at the top of one of the hills (mountains?)

feb 20 7300 bent trees

Water towers - for maintaining water pressure for the house and other buildings

feb 20 7316 water towers

The orange grove. I was presented with a large back of these amazing Valencia oranges - impossible to find in grocery stores

feb 20 7321 orange grove

The monastery off in the distance. The monastery folks are part owners

feb 20 7327 monestary

The front of the main house

feb 20 7329 house front

The side

feb 20 7332 house

A view of the hill on which Pobleta is hiding

feb 20 7334 hillside scene

Our team - Javier and his family, Bea and her family, Sofie and Alex

feb 20 7342 our team

The chapel

feb 20 7344 chapel

Another view

feb 20 7346 chapel

Inside is a small stone baptismal - and a door on the wall

feb 20 7354 stone door baptismal

On the ceiling is painted another door

feb 20 7357 ceiling door

The chapel from the left

feb 20 7358 chapel

and from the right

feb 20 7359 chapel

Meanwhile back at the courtyard - the paella production is in full swing. Prepared over fire.

feb 20 7375 paella

Stephan was a master at regulating the temperature

feb 20 7378 paella kitchen

Bea's kitchen

feb 20 7381 beas kitchen

Paella and fire

feb 20 7390 paella fire

I don't have the beginning (Alex and I were walking) but here is the middle. Artichokes are about to be added

feb 20 7394 starting paella

Watch Stefan adjust the cooking temperature

Listen to Paella in the making

and last - serving this amazing dinner

feb 20 7390 paella fire

Paella Boiling

feb 20 7486 paella boiling

Bring to a boil

feb 20 7492 bring to boil

Then stir and simmer

feb 20 7495 stir simmer

Meanwhile, in parallel with Maribel's chef work, some dinner prep

feb 20 7514 dinner prep

Pretreatment and conditioning

feb 20 7519 pretreatment

Then Maribel and Alex deliver the paella while Stefan conducts

feb 20 7524 paella delivery

Presentation is what its all about

feb 20 7528 paella presentation

Javier serving

feb 20 7537 javier serving

Our feast

feb 20 7546 our feast

Not much left over

feb 20 7550 leftovers

Desert starts with a valencia orange

feb 20 7553 valencia orange

Eating of course

feb 20 7555 eating orange

Bea cutting cake

feb 20 7556 bea cutting cake

Cutting

feb 20 7560 bea cutting

Stefan and Maribel cleaning

feb 20 7572 stefan maribel

while a quiet olive tree watches

feb 20 7575 olive tree

After dinner - a long walk to reverse the over-filling effect - Afternoon chapel. Nice light

feb 20 7677 afternoon chapel

The side of the house

feb 20 7683 corner pobleta

The front of the house

feb 20 7687 pobleta front

Afternoon shadows

feb 20 7689 afternoon shadows

A lion statue

A statue of a Valencian's lady in typical dress, fallera

feb 20 7695 fallera statue

Evening path (now about 6pm)

feb 20 7701 evening path

Evening chapel

feb 20 7707 evening chapel

And of course, in almost every group of flowers is a jumping spider

feb 20 7711 flower spider

After paella

feb 20 7717 after paella

Weather vain against the late afternoon sun

feb 20 7722 weather vane

Evening castle

feb 20 7725 evening castle

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C. Frank Starmer

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