Rioja

Continued from previous post.

From Bilbao we took the bus back to San Sebastian where we were reunited with our car.  We spent two days exploring San Sebastian, which is an eclectic mix of surfers, beach babes, retirees and designer-clad people.   There are four beaches in San Sebastian: Playa de la Concha, Playa de Ondarreta, Playa de la Zurriola and Playa de Gros.   It wasn’t really beach weather so instead we went for a walk around the headland and up Monte Urgull to the summit and the huge figure of Christ, from which the views were stunning.  We ate fish in a restaurant overlooking the harbour in the old town.  Hotel accommodation in San Sebastian is surprisingly expensive, so we didn’t linger.  Instead, we decided to spend the last couple of days of our holiday in Rioja. 

The drive from San Sebastian to Laguardia in the Rioja region took a couple of hours.  The scenery changed so much in those miles.  Laguardia is an old walled town perched on top of a hill.  It is beautiful.  Laguardia reminded us of Montepulciano in Italy, but I guess that is not surprising considering both places are famous for their wine.  We were staying in the fantastic Casa Rural Erletxe, which is built into the wall of the town.   The hosts were so helpful and arranged for us to go on two wine tours.  We also ate the most amazing breakfast of fresh fruit, homemade breads, jams and honey.  Laguardia is built on a network of caves and tunnels.  In fact, some of the tunnels and caves are so fragile that no cars are allowed within the village walls.  Many of these caves are now home to wine cellars.  Of course, being in Rioja meant we had to taste the wine – it would have been rude not to.   The first wine tour was to Bodegas El Fabulista, named after locally born fable writer Felix Maria de Samaniego.  The cellar dates back to the 12^th century and is using traditional methods to produce wine today.   The tour was in Spanish, but luckily, we had Martin a fellow visitor, also staying at Casa Rural Erletxe, who kindly translated the Spanish into English for us. 

The next morning we visited the Torre de Ona vineyard.  Inma was our host and was very knowledgeable and we learnt a lot – especially the best way to taste wine – you swill it!  The vines, some of which are 75 years old, are protected from bad weather by the mountains that rise in the distance.  They don’t water the vines, but let nature take its course.   The Reserva  was very good!  Afterwards we walked to the nearby Hector Oribe restaurant for lunch, which was delicious.

Then it was a walk to Bodegas Ysios, this time to look at the building, not to taste the wine.  The building features an undulating titanium roof designed by Santiago Calatrava.   Someone told us that the roof is now leaking! 

That evening there was traditional dancing and singing in the square.  We wiled away some time drinking wine and eating tapas with some fellow wine loving travellers – a great evening with good wine and good company!