Travel for Bliss

One of my dreams has always been to stay at an olive farm in Spain. There’s just something so dreamy and relaxing when you’re surrounded by the quiet beauty of olive trees.

After months of lockdown in Barcelona an escape to the wilderness was just what we needed. While I was searching for places to stay I came across a Cave House in Catalonia, Spain. It was located on an old olive farm and came with panaromic views over terraced mountains..

When we arrived we were greeted by the sounds of nature; birds calling, leaves rustling and the deep quiet of no civilisation. We were the only people for kilometers around, a novel experience in Spain. Terraces filled with olive trees stretched down and over the mountains around us. Their bases were carpeted by wild flowers and grasses. The house was nowhere to be seen until I realised that a chimney was poking out of the ground in front of our car.

The house was one of the cave houses you find in Spain. These are usually popular down south where the temperatures can get above forty degrees. This cave house was built into the olive terraces with a view down a valley of olive trees.

For dinner we lit the wood fired bbq and cooked potatoes, artichokes and buttiforra (a Catalan sausage) in the glowing coals. Everything was hot with a indulgent splash of local olive oil and the smoky flavour of the wood.

Baby slept so we opened the bottle of red the host had provided and toasted our stay at an olive farm in Spain and the freedom of finally being allowed to leave Barcelona.

Breakfast was pan con tomate toasted over the olive wood coals and sprinkled with flakes of sea salt. During the day we grazed on olives and cheeses and crunchy olive oil crisps. Baby played on the floor or enjoyed swings on the hammock.

During the days we explored the olive farms, walking through stone terraces and following dirt foot paths down the mountains. Stone ruins captured our interest and imagination and we explored them, peering in at glimpses of collapsed ceilings and rusted bed bases. Baby was happy to watch the world from his carrier before taking a nap with his head nestled against my chest while we walked.

We left with a promise to return and a boot full of olive wood to continue the bbqs at home.

If you’d like to enjoy the same experience here is the Airbnb that we booked. Domed Cave House in Catalonia.