About Me

My photo
Troy Nahumko is an award-winning author based in Caceres, Spain. His recent work focuses on travels around the Mediterranean, from Tangier to Istanbul. As a writer and photographer he has contributed to newspapers and media such as Lonely Planet, The Globe and Mail, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Toronto Star, Counterpunch,The Irish World, The Straits Times, The Calgary Herald, Khaleej Times, DW-World, Rabble and El Pais. He also writes a bi-weekly op-ed column 'Camino a Ítaca' for the Spanish newspaper HOY. His book, Stories Left in Stone, Trails and Traces in Cáceres, Spain is published by the University of Alberta Press. As an ESL materials writer he has worked with publishers such as Macmillan and CUP.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Monumental Rock, Monsanto, Portugal


Perched high above a patchwork of olive groves and cork forests, a holy mountain juts 758 meters (2486 feet) from the surrounding plain. It's a sacred playground overlooking neighboring villages where naughty gods once used huge granite boulders as their croquet pieces, and left them scattered, forgetting to clean up after themselves. Over the centuries croquet balls morphed into houses, and then into a village. Be brave and dine under tons of rock on wild boar at the Restaurante Petiscos e Granitos, then siesta under a slab the size of a truck. Nobel Prize laureate Jose Saramago said it all when he insisted, “The traveler thinks he has seen stones of every type, that is until he sees Monsanto.

#smalltown #climbing #nature #forest #mountain #village #castle #getaway #geology #rural #local #mediterranean #rocks #rocky #stones #localfood #fruits #wildboar #landscape #legend #orchards #olives #boulders #oldstone #geologicanomaly #olivegrove #corktrees # #geologicalformations #geologyrocks #placestonap #cork #josesaramago

Originally published on Trazzler

No comments:

Dear America, we’re just not that into you

In  my latest piece over at rabble.ca , I explore how Canada's evolving relationship with the U.S. reflects much more than just politica...