Category: Rioja

We spent our last day in Rioja enjoying two or our favorite things. Armed with research from Ton and advice from a Scottish/Irish couple we have been sharing campgrounds with we headed into town to do a run on the Tapas and Pinxto bars on Calle Laurel.

We left François at 11:30, because Ton wanted to check out some of the Santiago Camino infrastructure. All of northern Spain has tremendous infrastructure to support the pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Campostelo. Historically Logrono was one of the main stops on the camino and they have a lot of hostels to cater to the pilgrims.

As we were walking up the street we saw a group of mostly older gentlemen gathered on the street in front of us. They were dressed in capes and berets so we walked up curiously. Ton whispered to me to pretend to look at something so she stealthily take their picture. Before we could execute our plan; one of the gentlemen came over grabbed Ton and called over some of his friends to pose for a group picture. We had a good laugh together and after the picture there was much handshaking and goodbyes. Another time when we wished we could speak Spanish.

Now it was time for the main part of the day-eating. We had a plan for Calle Laurel , we would only have one dish and one drink in each bar. We would split the dish and the drink and then move on to the next bar. This plan was helped by the fact that several of the bars only offer one dish, but they are very good at it.

The only place on the list I picked was the first one. The only dish they offered was roasted potatoes. In this place we each got a glass of wine to set a base. Our next stop was about 50 feet up the street and the only dish they offered was roasted mushrooms. This time only one glass of white wine.

We spent the next hour working our way up Calle Laurel from one place to the next. We weren’t the only one, there were hundreds of other people doing the same thing. You walk in to a bar find a place at a table or a counter, go up to the bar order your tapas and a drink, pay, eat and when you are ready to move on take your glasses and plates back up to the bar. In every place as soon as we cleared our table another couple would step up and grab it and continue the routine.

We continued this routine for a total of 6 places. The total spend for 6 plates and 5 drinks was €23. We were full and very happy. The tapas culture here is fantastic. We did not see an unhappy person even though all the places are packed. The Spanish really have something special here.

After our trek up Calle Laurel, and under the threat of thunderstorms we returned to François for a well earned siesta. The thunderstorms rolled in around sunset, but we were too stuffed to care.

We have arrived in the capitol of Rioja where we are planning to wrap up our visit to Rioja. Rioja is the smallest Autonomous Area (kind of like a state) in Spain in size and population. The population is under one million for the region, and half of that is in Logrono. This region along with Extremadura, and La Mancha are know as the empty region.

The population is low and has been falling since the 20th century as the younger population is moving to the cities, or immigrating. For the last two days as we have driven through multiple small villages we did not see one child, and the vast majority of people we did see were our age or older.

The villages have an all most ghost town feeling with many of the apartments and homes looking well maintained but closed up. I understand that a lot of Spaniards maintain a home in their ancestral village even have they have moved to one of the cities, but they may only use it for a few weeks per year. Most of the villages have no services outside a bakery and maybe a butcher shop/grocery store.

On our way to Logrono we made a short stop in Ezcaray which was described to us as a resort town with a ski resort. It was larger than most of the towns and villages we passed through and still had banks, grocery stores, and even a few touristy shops. But it was also very quiet and again walking through the streets we saw no children at all, and very few young adults.

But Ton and I love Rioja because of the remoteness. The land is beautiful with wide valleys and mountains. The Ebro River and it’s tributaries cut through it and pop up in unexpected places. The land also seems very fertile and as we were driving around today the potato crop was being harvested so there was work in the fields. The people we have met have been open and welcoming and we have really enjoyed them.

We arrived in the only campground in Logrono about noon, it has a great location about 10 minutes from the heart of the city, but the layout is pretty tight and weird. At first I wasn’t sure we were going to get in as they were pretty full. First François was given an inspection by two of the workers, then they had an intense discussion in blistering Spanish about whether he would fit. I was becoming concerned we were going to get turned away when they guy gestured for me to follow him and walked me to a site and said we could park here. It was one of the bigger sites so in the end we did well.

Right after we got François parked another van was trying to squeeze out of a tight spot, and he maneuvered around a tree with about 1/2 inch to spare. It was impressive driving. I gave him a thumbs up and he said I knew I had it in an American accent. Every trip we usually have one encounter with an American in a campground. We had a short conversation as they were departing, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

By the time we were settled it was 2pm and well into siesta time. So we had a lunch and I took a nap. We headed into town about 4pm which was still too early as the streets were empty. We found a couple of churches to pop into and visited the Rioja Museum which was excellent.

When we came out of the museum the shops were opening up and the empty streets were beginning to fill. But it was time for us to head back to François for dinner. The Spanish have such an unique internal clock. Most of the restaurants showed that their bar was open at 4pm but the kitchens were not open until 8 pm. We eventually get used to eating lunch at two pm, but we never have mastered the 8 pm dinner.

We have visited many Cathedrals, Abby’s, Churches, and Monasteries in our visits in Europe so when we set out to visit the Monastery in San Millan this morning I was a little blase. What I did not expect was one of the best experiences we have had in all of our travels. Days like this I wish I was a better writer so I could share the magic that happened with others.

The Monastery in San Millan is known as the birthplace of modern written Spanish. The monks at the monastery transcribed books as one of their tasks and in the margins of some of the texts the monks would translate the Latin text into the common spoken language. This is the first known example of written Castilian Spanish. At least one of the monks was Basque as in 5 of the texts there are also the first known use of written Basque. For Spanish and Basque linguists this is a very important place.

We walked from our campsite in Bercia (named after the first Spanish poets known by name who was from here) to the monastery through a very quiet village. Like yesterday in Briones hardly anyone was in site and no one under the age of 50. So my expectations for what we would find when we arrived at the home of Spanish did not grow.

But suddenly the monastery appeared in sight and it was very well preserved and much larger than I expected. There were a couple of people in the courtyard but otherwise it was still very quiet. But I was surprised by the state of preservation and beauty of the building.

We went to the ticket office to buy tickets and were greeted by a very attentive gentleman who came around to explain that there was an English tour in 45 minutes. He told us that there was a coffee shop in the hotel where we could wait until the tour started.

Spain has a program where historical buildings such as castles and monasteries are converted to hotels. So we went into the part of the monastery that had been converted to a very posh hotel. Again it was very quiet but the building was impressive and the conversion to modern usage was very elegantly done. I was impressed enough to give serious thoughts to staying in the hotel tomorrow. The day was becoming more interesting.

We joined 3 other Americans for the tour, and as the guide was explaining the general run of things I thought I heard him say that this was the first English tour since the new museum was opened yesterday. Since I was still adapting my ear to his accent I wasn’t sure I had heard it correctly. It turns out I had.

Today was the first day that the museum had been reopened to the public since it underwent a major renovation and expansion. The official opening is Saturday and it appears that we had stumbled into their soft launch. The day was getting more intriguing.

As we started the wife in the other couple told the guide and us that her forbearers had immigrated to Guatemala from San Millan in the 1750’s, so it was a very special visit for her. In addition to being a special day for her it was a special day for the guide who was experiencing the upgrade in the displays for the first time and was truly excited and enthused by what he was showing us. I now knew this was not going to be just another walk thru an old building.

The monastery had been sacked by Napoleons troops in the early 1800’s and several pieces of early art taken then are in the collection of the Louvre in Paris. While the Louvre has not returned them to the monastery they have lent them for display and we were among the first to see them.

But the tour was not confined to just looking at an old building, books, and relics they have added modern audio visual displays. As you enter the building there is an ornate stair case. They have an amazing light and sound show that is projected onto the stairs. At another point they have a virtual reality room where you don an elaborate head set and walk through a VR story of how books were produced during medieval times. I was skeptical at first, but it was a much better visual experience than I expected. Also, the information presented was well done and educational.

Our next stop was the library which had not been open to the public until the redesign. It contains over 1000 texts from the middle ages. To make it accessible they have built a glass walkway into the center of the library. It allows public access while preserving the temperature and humidity of the room in a way that allows for the books to be preserved.

The last stop was the chapel. It had some interesting religious art but for me the most interesting thing was the design. There was a kind of wall with a door in it that divided the Nave (where the people sit) into two parts. Originally when there were about 80 monks living here the monks sat in front and the lay people sat in the back half. Today there are only 7 monks living on site and the youngest is in his 60’s. So the seats in the lay part of the church have been removed and everyone uses the front. Ton asked what happens when the 7 monks die and the guide said that it could be a big problem and hopefully some younger monks will come in the future.

If the day had ended at this point it would have been remarkable. But more was to come as after we said good bye to the guide the five of us on the tour did not want to move on. So we continued to chat in the courtyard. The other couple on the tour were walking the Camino de Santiago for the third time and were retired park rangers from Yellowstone. They had served there at the same time that our son Dylan had been a ranger there and new of his experience with the Grizzly though they don’t remember meeting him. The wife managed the visitor centers in Yellowstone and said at the end that what she had just seen blew away any visitor center at a National Park in the US.

The other lady on the tour was an 80 year old from New York traveling by herself. On a whim she had taken a taxi from Logrono which is about 50 kilometers away. She said she was nervous but was now very glad she had. The five us continued to talk about what we had just seen for about 30 minutes when the rangers told us they needed to head to their room.

Ton asked Lauretta what time her taxi was coming from Logrono and she said 4 pm and she asked us if we would mind joining her for lunch. We both said of course. We asked the gentleman we had bought our tickets from if he could recommend a place-he said of course, and walked with us to the parking lot, he pointed at one restaurant and said he worked at that one from when he was 16 until he went to University, then he pointed at another restaurant and he said he worked at that one for the last 8 years because his wives family owned it. I asked if he was still married and he said yes so we went to the one owned by his wives family.

We spent the next two hours sharing another delicious Spanish meal and talking about travel and life. It turns out Lauretta who is a widow had been on a tour with some friends and one of the friends asked her to extend the trip to visit his son. But when the arrived in Logrono she noticed he wasn’t breathing well and she insisted he go to the hospital. It turned out his blood oxygen level was extremely low and they admitted him immediately. She had spent the last three days taking care of him and had not had a proper meal. Last night he was officially out of danger and his son insisted she take a day off so she had come here. We were both very impressed with her stamina and her bravery to travel on her own. She remarked that today had been a good day for her and thanked us for joining her for lunch as she had enjoyed the chance to relax and speak with us.

Most days traveling are interesting and fun, a few days are annoying, but the good days outweigh them and keep us going. Then once in a while something magical happens like today. A day that you have low expectations for turns into a day that you will carry with you forever. A small village in Rioja where we saw one of the most innovative and interesting museums, that we shared with 3 fun and warm Americans as well as two proud and helpful Spanish workers will be a day we will remember for the rest of our travels.

When we arrived in Rioja Ton gave me a list of places we should visit so today we moved 7 kilometers to the next stop. Briones is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. It is set on a hilltop on the border of the Basque lands and Rioja with a commanding view of the Ebro River valley where much of the grapes for Rioja are produced.

We found a good parking lot at the base of the hill and then began a strenuous climb to the center of the village. Google said it would take 15 minutes, but they don’t factor in elevation gain.

It is a picturesque village that has retained most of its original buildings, but it was eerily quiet. Most of the buildings appeared lived in but unoccupied. There were no kids on the streets, no sound of a school, and everyone we came across was at least 50 years old.

There were a few tourist oriented businesses, a couple of hotels/B&b’s, and a few restaurants. There was also a nice museum showing what a middle class home in Rioja looked like in the 1800’s. But no other sign of commerce or non-tourism businesses.

It looks like the town has lost its bank as there was a truck parked on the main square with the logo of one of the main banks in Spain calling itself a mobile bank. In the right place this town would be teeming with tourists. Ton and I were quite startled with how very quiet it was.

Looking down from the town I saw a very large and modern structure. Ton had mentioned a wine museum near Briones, and this turned out to be Vivanco Winery which is the site of the wine museum. After finishing our walk through Briones we decided to head there.

When we entered the winery and inquired about the museum entrance fee the lady at the counter told us the price and then said for €10 more we could also do an English tour of the winery. Ten minutes later we were on the tour.

The tour guide was awesome, there were 4 couples on the tour and we had all done a wine tour before. He said great then he would focus on winemaking in Rioja instead of beginner winemaking. It was perfect. He started by saying this was the earliest harvest in the history of Rioja. Most of the time because of the geography of the valley harvest is spread out over 3 months with the grapes around Briones being one of the last to be brought in. I learned a lot about the bureaucracy of winemaking in Rioja which was both interesting and perplexing.

This winery is new for Rioja having been founded around 1990. The facility was very modern and beautify designed. While the buildings are modern the process they use is traditional for their Crianza’s and Reservas which are the standard Rioja wines. But they produce 14 non-traditional wines that they use modern methods on.

After our tour we headed into the museum for what we thought would be the anti-climax. But the museum was amazing. It focused on different technologies needed in wine making and consumption including pressing, lab machines, storage vessels, and the largest collection of corkscrews in the world.

We spent much longer in the museum than we planned and before we knew it was 4 pm and time to move to our next campground on the other side of the Rioja valley.

We had a couple of chores to run in the morning. So we set off to the post office about 10 am to send a postcard back to the US. We got to what I believed to be the door of the post office to find it locked with a note on it. The way I interpreted the notice was that the post office was only open from 1 to 3 pm today and tomorrow. If I was not illiterate I would have known that this service door was closed but that the rest of the post office was open. But based on my illiterate reading of the sign we wandered off trying to find something to do for 2 hours until 1 pm while muttering about Spanish productivity.

Our other chore was to try to find a step stool to help boost us up into François. Near the post office was a large Chinese Store. In Spain most towns have Chinese Stores that sell everything under the sun. And as the name implies they are usually run by Chinese families. The one here was quite large and stuffed to the gills with everything you could want from kitchen gadgets to clothes. Unfortunately their assortment of stools were all a little too tall for our needs so we failed there.

We still had 90 minutes until we believed the post office would open so we decided to head towards the bull ring in town to check it out. When we arrived it was also closed. So far our morning had not been very productive.

While our day had not been productive it had involved quite a few steps and a fair bit of climbing. We still had an hour to kill so Ton suggested a bar she had noticed across from the post office. As we arrived at the bar I noticed someone entering the post office from another door so we headed over there and entered into a very open and active post office. So I had egg on my face but we did get our postcard mailed.

Now that we had accomplished our chores we could move on to the fun part of the day which was wine tasting. Our first stop was a big high end winery. We enjoyed the wine but felt a little neglected by the staff so after completing our tasting we decided to move to smaller winery.

Tihom winery is a smaller winery than our first stop, but it had excellent reviews. As soon as we arrived we liked the vibe there. As we were settling we noticed the couple at the next table had gone through most of their wines. I asked them which they liked the best and I ordered a bottle for Ton and me to split. We struck up a conversation with them and they were a Brazilian-American couple from Mission Viejo California. We hit it off and a chance meeting turned into a full afternoon of conversation about traveling, driving a RV in Europe and how best to manage retirement.

After we finished our bottle at the winery they joined us in going back to François to try one of our Belgian beers. By this time we were all a little hungry so we decided to head into town for a late lunch. What we didn’t know was Tuesday was the day all the bars in Haro shut early. There was only one bar left open and it was shutting down. They were nice enough to let us pick a couple of Tapas, and offered a plate of tomatoes and cheese soaked in olive oil that was delicious. We continued our conversation with our new friends until nearly 6 pm when they had to work on getting a taxi back to a hotel in a village about 5 kilometers from Haro. So our frustrating day turned into a wonderful afternoon with two new friends.

We are in one of our visions of heaven. Ton came up with a plan to spend the next several days in Rioja which is a very famous wine region in Spain. Rioja wines are one of our favorites and today we are in Haro which is the center of the Rioja wine region.

It was a short shift to Haro from Burgos. Strictly speaking our planing for this trip has not been great. Today we are closer to Vitoria than Burgos so we have doubled back significantly. But I guess at this point our travels are not about efficiency but enjoyment.

After about an hours drive we settled into our campground and headed into town on a reconnaissance. Because it was Monday we knew it would be quiet as many of the restaurants and businesses close on Monday.

We did find a very nice restaurant open on Monday and as it was the only one open it was doing good business. We grabbed a table and I went to the bar to impose my bad Spanish on another patient Spaniard. Despite my stumbling Spanish we got what we wanted. I have been impressed about how nice the Spanish have been when I break out my bad Spanish on them. They are clearly fluent in English, but go along and even encourage me to try to speak Spanish instead of switching to English.

There are several wineries here in town that we plan on exploring tomorrow. We made a quick run out to the wineries and saw one Bodega open. We popped in and while they didn’t sell wine by the glass they were happy to sell us a bottle that we could pour a glass from and take home the rest . When the server delivered the bottle he also brought a nice plate of sausage and almonds for us to eat.

After we sipped our glasses of wine we packed up the rest of the bottle and headed back to François. Just as we returned there was some ominous thunder off in the distance, so we settled in for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed.