Eating in Piedrahita:

Breakfast

Breakfast is served every morning in our kitchen from 9am onwards. You can help yourself to tea, coffee, juice, cereals, toast, marmalade, jams, and honey from our own bee hives. After a few days most people are very familiar with the kitchen. You can make tea or coffee at any time.

Lunch

Spanish people have lunch around 2-3pm and it is the main meal of the day, with two or three courses with dessert, coffee and liqueur. However, it is unlikely that you will enjoy such feast, since we expect to be out walking. When we visit the cities, we can also take advantage of the bars and restaurants and enjoy their tapas bars and the local specialities.

If you want to buy your own groceries, be aware that in Spain shops are open from 10am to 2pm and from 5pm to 8pm in the evening, with a lunch break in between. On Sundays, supermarkets are also closed.

Dinner

The evening of the arrival day you will have dinner with us in the house. We enjoy these very much because it gives everybody the chance to get to know each other on their first night here.

It is like a family dinner, which in Spain is a very important part of the culture. The dishes depend on which ingredients are in season, most are traditionally Spanish and are more what a family would eat at home every day rather than what you are likely to find in a restaurant. If you have special dietary requirements or there is something you do not eat please let us know.

Local Restaurants and Bars

The other four evenings you can try the local cuisine. For its size, Piedrahita has a large number of restaurants and bars, most offer the traditional Avila cuisine.

The choices range from:

• Restaurants that offer the menu of the day, with a choice of two or three dishes for each course. This is normally the cheaper option and prices are often around 10 euros
• More expensive restaurants. They serve more elaborated dishes and a good selection of wines. This area is especially well know for the quality of the veal, from cows raised and bred in the mountains and fields, so a big steak is part of the experience of visiting this part of the world, and well worth trying.
• Platos combinados: More like the British type of meal, with some kind of meat or fish in a plate and vegetables, chips or salad as a side dish.

• Tapas and raciones: Any bar will have a certain variety of "tapas". Best time is before lunch when they are freshly cooked. Cured ham, Spanish omelette, egg in breadcrumbs, stuffed peppers…and if you are more adventurous you can try pig´s ears, pig´s nose, or tripe. 'Raciones' are 'tapas' on a bigger plate.

Vegetarians

This part of Spain is not particularly easy for vegetarians, since the choice is not great and you are likely to find some kind of animal produce in any dish, even if it is a salad. However, in Piedrahita most places respect vegetarians and look after them if you make yourself understood. "Nada de carne o pescado" is the phrase to use. Let us know if you are a vegetarian when you book, so we can take that into account when preparing our meal.