[Leica] Nathan's PAD 2/10/2021: a visit with Lili the Swiss Goat Cheese Pusher

[Nathan Wajsman]

On Saturday morning I had good legs, so I went for a longish bike ride in the mountains, with significant climbing. My destination was the village of Tibi, where Lili (originally from the German-speaking part of Switzerland, but in Spain for more than 20 years) makes delicious goat cheese with the milk sourced from the goats tended by her husband. I have known her for several years but had not visited her shop for a few months.

After huffing and puffing after 42 km with a brutal 2 km climb up to the centre of Tibi, I arrived at Lili’s shop and to my delight, there was a customer there. To my delight, because I had been concerned about the state of her business during the pandemic:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-nT2czz7/A

As is apparent, Lili sells other things than her cheese in the shop; she also gives shelf space to various artisanal products made by people in the surrounding area.

Lili cut me a slice of a delicious, strong cheese:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-hvPJJGn/A

And I bought two other cheeses from her, including a delicious spreadable cheese with chives, visible on the counter:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-Xt6Dv7q/A

Lili told me that during the past year, with the slowdown in the restaurant business, she decided to slow down and just focus on her shop. Before, she would spend most of her days driving around to restaurants all over the province, trying to market her products. Now she just sells to a couple of local restaurants and relies on walk-in traffic at the shop. She told me that she is enjoying the calmer life and still makes enough to get by. Sure enough, just as I was leaving, a group of six customers, visitors from Madrid, arrived.

This is the storefront, with my bicycle parked in front, and the brown bag with my cheeses sticking up from my handlebar bag:
https://www.greatpix.eu/All/Picture-A-Day/i-VnQ7Fg9/A

I said goodbye to Lili, rode a few hundred meters to the town’s grocery store, bought a Coke and took a break before riding home. To get out of Tibi there is a 2.5 km climb up to 730 meters above sea level, a pass called Puerto de Tibi which featured in this year’s Vuelta a España. So I felt pretty good. For those interested, this is my ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7589508150

Cheers,
Nathan


Nathan Wajsman
photo at frozenlight.eu

http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.frozenlight.eu

YNWA