A Dinner Fit for Royalty

Rural Aragon is an austere land, a desert-like Tuscany. Most of the the land is empty, save for olive groves and vineyards.  Every so often there are little hill towns, with the houses all packed together. 

As we drove towards the first of our two VRBOs, I was a bit nervous.  The house was on the outskirts of the town of Ainzon, more rural than suburban (not that anything there is suburban).  There really was not an address, just a location.  I wasn't sure I trusted my GPS to get us there, particularly as we wound through the town streets, making quick turns on roads barely wide enough for one car, much less two.

It headed us out of town, and wanted us to go right when there was a big sign that said, "Torre de Campo" to the left.  So I went left, pulling down a dirt road past a wine cooperative, and to the next gate for the house.  Meanwhile Carol called our host, who happened to be working right by the side of the road.  Phew -- we were in the right spot!

The house was fabulous.  It was connected to the family home, which was quite striking with a tower (hence the "Torre" and a second floor patio).  Before we unloaded the car, Severino (from his email address, I believe that is our host's name) gave us a tour of the small, yet comfortable house and gardens.

Turns out the place is surrounded by olive tree groves, with views across a narrow valley to wine caves that dot the hillside. 

Severino also thoughtfully picked figs, tomatoes, and grapes from his gardens for us.  Carol had bought marinated chicken breasts to cook up, but we held off on those for a pre-dinner snack of cheese, bread, figs, and grapes. 

(Side note of personal pride -- three years ago I bought a fig tree at Mount Vernon, and this year it produced its first edible figs!  Yeah me!)

Along with the local wine I had bought in Zaragoza, it was a veritable feast fit for a king.  We were so tired (Carol had slept fitfully on the flight, on the train, and in the car ride to Ainzon, and I hadn't slept in 40 hours), that we decided to skip the chicken altogether. 

I was asleep by 8:30 pm.