| Day # |
61 |
State of Legs |
:-) |
|
Distance (miles) |
Distance (km) |
Ascent (feet) |
Ascent (metres) |
Punctures |
| Today |
0 miles |
km |
0 feet |
metres |
0 |
| Trip Totals |
2553 miles |
km |
110733 feet |
metres |
0 |
| Today's Route |
| No cycling of the route today |
Travelogue
I stayed at Arenas De Cabrales today and will be here tomorrow as well. The weather was somewhat changeable as meteorologists like to say, so I decided against going too far from the campsite. Instead, I cycled down to the town, a whole mile away if that, did some exploring and at 13:00 attended my first ever guided tour of a queseria or cheese factory. And quite possibly my last, to be honest!
Quesería Vega de Tordín sits on the edge of town, up a hill with a tremendous view of the mountains behind it.
As I waited for the tour to start.... a thunderstorm kicked off. No surprise really as this does seem to be the preferred weather type in these parts! So, I was wearing my rain jacket and my ultra-lightweight waterproof over-trousers. I'm glad I brought them now as they've not been used previously on this trip!
The tour started in a large barn which housed the herd of cows. Yes, one of the things I learned on the tour is that cows are in some mysterious way involved in the production of the cheese at this queseria.
And.... that may well be the only thing I learned. And not because I was already an expert in modern cheese production. No. Because the entire tour was conducted.... in Spanish! Obviously. Why didn't I think of that when I booked using their website which was entirely in English. Because Google had translated it for me and tricked me into expecting an English language tour. Doh!
It was kind of entertaining watching the lady running the tour. In truth, I suspect she's a tremendous presenter and public speaker. She was very dynamic in her delivery. And it's clear she has a passion for cheese and I have to assume, given she talked about it for over an hour, an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject too.
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| "Moo" |
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| There were loads of sparrows and chaffinches freeloading in the barn |
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| An automated cow shit sweeper upper in action |
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| "Moo" |
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| "I really like cheese!" |
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| "And the cheese was at least this big, honest!" |
We were taken outside and shown a baby cow in a little house. It didn't seem to be doing much and in business I think we'd call it an overhead. Or hidden cost. Or something. I saw a streamlining opportunity there. If only I could speak Spanish and offer my advice.
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| A great setting, no? |
After an eternity hearing about how happy the cows are and how great cheese is, we were shown into the milking room. This actually was remarkable as it's an almost entirely automated process, with the cows wandering into a holding pen voluntarily whenever they decide they need milking. The machine fastens itself on somehow and the cow just stands there whilst it is milked by the machine. The machine detaches and the cow nonchalantly wanders back into the barn to gossip with the other cows.
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| You can see the cow's legs under the machine |
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| Milk. It's used in making the cheese. |
We then filed into a series of narrow corridors which I fear also function as a Covid superspreader environment as it was a bit airless and nobody, including me had a mask on. Oh dear! But.... the guide explained at length, every stage of the process of converting milk into their famous, regional blue cheese. There were pictures on the wall and we could see through the glass into the production areas, so I'm pretty sure that's what she covered.
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| Early stage cheese - not quite ready. Come back in a few months. |
And of course, no good tour would be complete without a shop at the end which it is impossible to avoid. We crowded into the small cheese shop. We were given small samples. The guide talked some more about how great cheese was and how amazingly great their particular cheese was. And it worked. I bought a huge piece of the Selecto variety for an outrageous 17.50 Euros. Outrageous because surely it should be cheaper. They have no shipping costs and no wholesaler, retailer mark up to add in. And come on.... I saw the kind of slack operation they're running, with that calf just lying there doing nothing. It's people like me that are paying for those bovine slackers! :-)
Seriously, their cheese is excellent. I like blue cheeses in general and the two I tried from Quesería Vega de Tordín are both very good. Of the Selecto variety, their tour booklet which is in Spanish and English says "From 60 to 180 days maturation.....very oily texture. Creamy, melting in your mouth. Intense and persistent flavour, with powerful hints of biscuits and nuts. The spicy flavour appears slowly at the end with medium intensity, leaving a lovely taste in your mouth". I couldn't have put it better.
So, I now have a challenge on my hands (given I hate to waste food). How to get through this mountain of cheese! I had it for a late lunch. I'll have it again this evening. I may have it at breakfast. I'll certainly eat it for lunch tomorrow. But will that do it? Oh my. Gulp!
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| A big block of blue cheese |
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| Keep it simple - fresh bread and sliced tomato |
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| I still have this much left! |
For the rest of the day, I'm just sitting around doing nothing. I finished the caustically titled Child of God by Cormac McCarthy already (it's an intense but fairly short story) and will probably make a start on the Border Trilogy next, the first book of which is All The Pretty Horses. And I'll be readying my stomach for another Cheese Onslaught later today!
Here's the wiggly route I cycled and walked today, including much pacing up and down as I waited in the cheese factory car park.
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