In the middle of August we went north to Paso Robles again. The main thing we wanted to do was go back to that olive oil farm that had been closed the last time we were there. It’s called
Pasolivo. They have 45 acres of olive trees and the press is there on site. They said it was less than 3 hours between picking the olives and pressing the oil. So when they say it’s fresh, it is. They had a little tasting bar and as it turns out olive oil that fresh just isn’t to our liking. It tastes bitter with an after-taste of twigs. Even their flavored oils – lemon, lime, tangerine – still tasted mostly like bark. Too bad. It wasn’t a
complete lost however because they also had
Katz brand vinegars. We sampled them as well and their red wine vinegar made from zinfandel wine is so good. It’s spicy and such an intense flavor. It’s the best red wine vinegar we’ve ever tried. It’s
at least twice as good as the next one we know of.
Only six miles north of Paso Robles is another mission. This is
Mission San Miguel Arcángel in the very small town of San Miguel. We headed on up to see our seventh mission. San Miguel is known for its un-restored, and un-renovated interiors. It looks about like it did when the place was first put up. This refers mostly to the interior of the church, but applies to the rest of the mission as well. To this we can attest. Going inside the museum section is quite a step back in time. All of the other missions that we have visited have either been in continuous use and frequently updated (San Luis Obispo), have been restored to their original pristine glory (La Purísima), or were really nice to start with (San Juan Capistrano). At San Miguel it looks like everybody got up one day and left leaving everything behind. Everything is so obviously old. The old-ness goes deeper than that though, the amenities at San Miguel were really meager to begin with and have only gotten more spare-looking in the 200 years since. Dirt floors, dirt walls, few windows, just hides on the ones there are, cramped quarters... The fathers and at La Purísima appear to have lived a hard but not unpleasant life. Those at San Miguel look to have lived just a hard life.
The mission was founded in 1797 but was essentially destroyed by a fire in 1806. The current buildings date from 1807. The mission fell rapidly into dis-use and dis-repair after the land was secularized by Mexico in 1836. There was not even one padre assigned to the mission for a period of almost 40 years. The church was officially returned to the Catholic Church by America in 1959 but it was not until 1878 the any staff was assigned to it.
Today the church is once again administrated by the Franciscans who originally founded it. Not
the very same fathers, obviously! The old parts of the mission, the church and some of the work spaces, that remained in 1878 are now the museum area. The rest of the quadrangle has been rebuilt and is living and working space for young men training in the ways of the order. Those areas aren’t open to the public. The church also serves as a local parish church. That is, it did until 2003. An earthquake in December 2003 damaged the church itself to the point that no one is allowed inside. Money for repairs and re-enforcement of the walls is ongoing but as of now the church is closed. All the stucco has fallen from the façade as well. That’s just part of life in California.
In the middle of August we went north to Paso Robles again. The main thing we wanted to do was go back to that olive oil farm that had been closed the last time we were there. It’s called Pasolivo. They have 45 acres of olive trees and the press is there on site. They said it was less than 3 hours between picking the olives and pressing the oil. So when they say it’s fresh, it is. They had a little tasting bar and as it turns out olive oil that fresh just isn’t to our liking. It tastes bitter with an after-taste of twigs. Even their flavored oils – lemon, lime, tangerine – still tasted mostly like bark. Too bad. It wasn’t a complete lost however because they also had Katz brand vinegars. We sampled them as well and their red wine vinegar made from zinfandel wine is so good. It’s spicy and such an intense flavor. It’s the best red wine vinegar we’ve ever tried. It’s at least twice as good as the next one we know of.
Only six miles north of Paso Robles is another mission. This is Mission San Miguel Arcángel in the very small town of San Miguel. We headed on up to see our seventh mission. San Miguel is known for its un-restored, and un-renovated interiors. It looks about like it did when the place was first put up. This refers mostly to the interior of the church, but applies to the rest of the mission as well. To this we can attest. Going inside the museum section is quite a step back in time. All of the other missions that we have visited have either been in continuous use and frequently updated (San Luis Obispo), have been restored to their original pristine glory (La Purísima), or were really nice to start with (San Juan Capistrano). At San Miguel it looks like everybody got up one day and left leaving everything behind. Everything is so obviously old. The old-ness goes deeper than that though, the amenities at San Miguel were really meager to begin with and have only gotten more spare-looking in the 200 years since. Dirt floors, dirt walls, few windows, just hides on the ones there are, cramped quarters... The fathers and at La Purísima appear to have lived a hard but not unpleasant life. Those at San Miguel look to have lived just a hard life.
The mission was founded in 1797 but was essentially destroyed by a fire in 1806. The current buildings date from 1807. The mission fell rapidly into dis-use and dis-repair after the land was secularized by Mexico in 1836. There was not even one padre assigned to the mission for a period of almost 40 years. The church was officially returned to the Catholic Church by America in 1959 but it was not until 1878 the any staff was assigned to it.
Today the church is once again administrated by the Franciscans who originally founded it. Not the very same fathers, obviously! The old parts of the mission, the church and some of the work spaces, that remained in 1878 are now the museum area. The rest of the quadrangle has been rebuilt and is living and working space for young men training in the ways of the order. Those areas aren’t open to the public. The church also serves as a local parish church. That is, it did until 2003. An earthquake in December 2003 damaged the church itself to the point that no one is allowed inside. Money for repairs and re-enforcement of the walls is ongoing but as of now the church is closed. All the stucco has fallen from the façade as well. That’s just part of life in California.
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