The Shepherd of Orgiva

Today was officially designated as a lazy day.  It was relatively hot, and the kids (especially Bryce) just wanted to chill today.  It was a perfect pool day, so we hung out at the house until 3 PM, and then ventured into town for lunch/dinner. We found a traditional Alpujarra restaurant, with a nice patio, and had a delicious lunch.  Mine was especially interesting: Migas (fried breadcrumbs) with melon, oranges, veggies, fried sardines, squid and sausage - sort of a country paella.  This was promoted on the menu as a specialty of the Alpujarras region we are in, and it did not disappoint.  Sue & Bryce stuck to their tried and true dishes: Sue had yet another bowl of gazpacho, and Bryce had patatas bravas. Laurel ventured out and had a tasty bowl of garlic soup.  Dessert was a killer flan, and a tasty rice pudding. Hopefully we'll be able to return to this place one more time before we depart.

Not wanting to have a totally wimpy day, we walked the two blocks through town, visited a bakery, and then drove fifteen minutes to the neighboring town of Lanjaron. Lanjaron is known for two things, it's "magical" and tasty drinking water, and its ham. We stopped at a fountain in the middle of town to fill up our water jugs, and everyone agreed that this was some of the best tasting drinking water ever.

As we returned home, a herd of goats was grazing in the grassland next to our house.  They made a soothing sound with their bells as they grazed. I chatted with the shepherd, named Antonio, for a while. He had four dogs, three of them were border collies, and one was a little brown hunting dog. Antonio told me he got the oldest dog (Chico) from England 16 years ago, and has given one hundred puppies sired by Chico to his fellow shepherds in the area.  He trains the dogs himself.  Chico and his two sons were responsible for about 100 goats and a few sheep today, and they were just like the sheep dogs you see on TV. Antonio makes goat milk and cheese from his herd, and the occasional cabrito (little goat) for eating.  He was very friendly, and even posed for a photo.