Just outside of Sant Mateu, the capital of the Maestrat region, is a hermitage where we had a delicious lunch. And here in Spain, lunch starts at 2 o’clock and you eat until you pop. That happens around 5 o’clock!

Our lunch was so delicious, that we even asked the kitchen staff to sell us the porcelain dishes they served the food in. And they did! Guess which one?

And then it was 5 o’clock!

After lunch we visited an olive orchard, but not any olive orchard. This area has the highest concentration of monumental olive trees in the world. And that means olive trees that are more than 1000 years old! That orchard has 89 certified monumental trees. And that is measured by the circumference at a height of 1.5 meters. If that is 3.30 meters or more, the tree is considered to be 1000 years old!

We had a very interesting talk with the owner of the orchard who gave us a lot of interesting insights! We toured the production facilities and we also had an olive oil tasting – with food. Because it was already almost 7 o’clock and we hadn’t eaten for 2 hours!

We splurged by buying a bottle of oil made with olives solely from trees that are 1000 years old (and some of the trees there are even 2000 years old!) Needless to say that his olive oil ranks as one of the 10 best olive oils in the world! 🤩