Community Spirit, March 2018

TRUFFLES
Written by Eugene Carmichael
Hello everyone!
I’m Eugene Carmichael from the
beautiful island of Bermuda, now a
permanent resident of Spain, living with
my wife Lorna in Pedralba, while our
adult son, Nathaniel (Nathan) lives and
works in the Pyrenees Mountains as a
professional guide and canyoning
instructor.
I thank Richard for the invitation to be a
guest contributor to Community Spirit
on matters related to “Driving in
Valencia.” The new arrival to our
community soon learns that Spain is a
gloriously varied country, rich in a
chequered history that lies as an open
book full of interesting historical facts
for the curious.
The flat lands of Valencia are where the
vast majority of humanity has settled
which offers a centre of much cultural
activities, but when we look to the
mountains that provide
‘the backdrop we find the authentic life
of el campo. If you have a car here is
where you’ll find a vast network of
narrow two-way roads to carefully
explore. Every village has a Patron Saint
to be honoured and many have festivals
that celebrate their economic reason for
being. By visiting the Internet or
Facebook page of the Ayuntamiento for
any selected village you will find their
programme of upcoming events.
For instance, on January 20th, 2018 my
wife and I paid a visit to the hamlet of La
Pobleta that is part of the Barronia de
Andilla. These are a group of little
villages that are connected to Andilla,
the principal one and include La Pobleta,
Osset, and Artaj.
To get to this area first locate the CV-35
northwest from Valencia City in the
direction of Ademuz until you get to the
turn off for Villar Del Arzobispo. This is
the next principal town past Lliria.
You then travel towards Villar and at
the roundabout entrance to Villar you
will see sign posted Andilla. Twentytwo
kilometres farther up the
mountain range you will encounter
Andilla with a population of 349
including all four villages, and they
stand at a height of 895 metres (2,936
feet) above sea level. The temperature
difference was 10 degrees cooler in
that region.
By following the V V-6203 and then
the V V-6123 along a winding
mountain road you will eventually
come to this cluster of villages and
hamlets. This is the true Spain where
it’s highly unlikely any tourists will be
found. We had gone there to enjoy the
truffle festival, or as it is called, “La
Feria de la Trufa.”