Peralta de la Sal, A break from city life!

A few weekends ago, we had the pleasure of spending a night in a small town in the Aragon Region called "Peralta de la Sal". My great aunt Rosa and her son own a great little house next to an ancient Templar church at the town's center. This town, hours from any major Spanish city, was once a roman salt mine community (the salt mines are still active, visible, but abandoned). It's amazingly quiet, the people are extremely friendly and humble, and it feels almost untouched by modern society...it's excellent!

Peralta seen with the Church's tower overlooking 

the town.

1800 year old (200 A.D) olive tree found in the Peralta area.

Peralta view from top guest bedroom

Their house, literally touching the church, has been dated back to the 12 century, with an old arch discovered while my cousin was building his underground cellar. It's believed the house was once the home of the church's priests, and at one point the rooms of Templar Knights (the arch that was discovered has a preserved iron hook on its point, no one is really sure what the knights used it for...hmmm).

The house is all the way on the right of the picture. The unpainted bricks are original, and must have been almost a meter thick!

Entrance to the home.

Entrance to the home, the roman-esque arch displayed with the ancient rusted hook. Both were excavated together a few years ago.

In addition to the house, my family also owns a small plot of land in the village "huerta", where several different vegetables and fruits are grown. While the plot is small, the vegetables grown in this town are larger and more flavorful than most found in stores...

Peralta's small plots of delicious-ness

Jose Ramon showing Danielle his little veggie garden

mm, tasty when fried!

Baby watermelon will grow to be juicy and good

Freshly picked garlic stored in Jose Ramon's cellar

We met a young local named Carlos, who owns a great piece of land on a hill on the border of the town. There, he and his wife and father grow their own vegetables, breed horses to sell, and raise goats, chickens, rabbits, and other animals which they use for meals...after a tour of their land, we all headed back to my aunts house, where a feast was being cooked up.

For dinner, we ate a roasted rack of pork ribs (animals raised and butchered at a town near by!) with local potatoes, along with locally grown (from my family's plot) fried zucchini and red bell peppers, local wine and fresh tomatoes. A fantastic meal enjoyed with some friends from the town. I think we matched their love of eating natural and fresh food, because the rack was gone within the hour. What can I say, we love to eat, and they happily complemented us on it!

To sum up, this is my third time visiting Peralta (Danielle's second), and we are astonished every time at how magnificent this place is. The food that's grilled for lunch can smell throughout the town as the air is so fresh. The nights are as quiet as they come and the people are great. If we had the cash, we'd buy a place to visit routinely!

I'm having some issues with uploading pictures, but I'll get them up as soon as I can...

For more info on the town, head to..
peraltadelasal.iespana.es
(scroll down and click on 'fotos' to see the town in action!)