Where Is Joey Today?

Bilbao Draggin

Our initial jeg lag was still sort of with us by the time we got to Spain. A crappy night sleep on the plane and loud accomodations on the first night at the hostel combined with a nice accomodations but a short night the second Trisha and I scrapped our plans to check out the Guggenheim in favor of just heading to our heim in La Guardia.

But first, a cafe con leche and tortilla español. I mean there are a few first things first.

En Harto de Haro

By the time we got to the Bus Station in Bilbao we learned we missed the only bus to La Guardia. Hehe oh man. So they recommended that we head to Haro and from there there would be another bus to Logroño that would make a stop in La Guardia.

We got to Haro in the heart of siesta time. There were a few nice blocks to wander in but the town was nearly silent and naturally the bus station was completely unattended. We tapa'ed off for lunch and did some journaling. Two hours or so there was more than enough. We spent about 5.

By the time the station opened up, we found a bus that would head out around 6pm. 

Basqueing in Rioja

Somehow modern day gated communities just don't have the same allure of a medieval walled city. Glad to be in the same spot for two days, Trisha and I headed out for a wander around the 4 streets in town and for dinner. We ended up at a Tapas place where we have Croquetas de Espinaca y Gambas and Queso Manchego with two glasses of vino Crianza all for 18 euros. The northern parts of Spain are exceptionally reasonably priced. 

Evidence? Our 3 star hotel with a 40 square balcony or so that overlooks the city mountains to the right, mountains to the left. 40 Euros. La Marxia was one of 3 hotels in town it appeared. We walked back happy and full eager to have a long night's sleep which we thankfully got.

The next day we signed up for a self directed tour that would visit a modern winery (Ysios), a typical Riojana lunch at the hotel,  a cathedral in town famous for is portico and a statue of Madonna and child, and a tour of a very traditional winery (El Fabulista).

I am a beer guy but when I do go for wine I love Rioja. The more we toured the various facilities the more I saw it had in common with my alcoholic beverage of choice and I definitely gained a new appreciation for it.

Ysios specializes in Reserva and Gran Reserva wine which means that it has to be 3 years old with something like 12-18 months in the barrel fermenting. It was delicious. The facility stands out in the country side. It was designed by Frank Gehry (of Guggenheim Museum fame) and it is almost too clinically clean. 

By lunch time we were pretty hungry. We were treated to a 4 course meal. Asparagus, Roasted Red Peppers, Stew of potatos and chorizo with some other type of pepper, some type of tender delicious meat (which I enjoyed two person's quantities of), and a creme puff type dessert. All of that was accompanied by a bottle of Rioja cosecha (which is 'young' wine: literally translates to of the crop) 

We went up stairs and napped thereby missing our tour of the church. Both of us have seen our share of cathedrals and statues we would survive. Fortunately we woke up in time of our tour of El Fabulista.

The winery gets its name from Felix something or other who wrote fables blah blah. So the wine itself. Theirs is a little different. Unlike Ysios they make the wine with the stalk. It gives it a distinct flavor which is actually pretty good. We bought three bottles. The tour of the bodega is takes you down into mold covered walls where the fermentation happens like it has for centuries. The tour guide, a student from Baja California, gave an amazingly thorough process description and gave good tips on what to taste for. I always thought people swirling their wine were just snobs but man does that change the flavor. Radically change the flavor! And smell!

He recommended only pairing wine with cheese if you have had the wine before as it makes it more difficult to taste. Wonderful. That night we bought sheep cheese special to the region, had some bread, some chocolate and a bottle of wine each while we enjoyed our patio and our amazing view. Now that's livin'

The Wrath of Grapes 

The whole red wine being good for you probably has some limits. We woke up fairly hungover. The bus we knew came around 10 so we decided to head down with 10 minutes to spare. As we checked out the woman thought we had 2 rooms. Of course we didn't and being that we were in a hurry we agreed we would pay the five euro comission that they have to pay booking.com just to get out of there. Good thing we did. I had to do a wind sprint to catch a bus that arrived early and was going to depart early. What the heck part of Spain is this!!?!?!

The day was bound to be long. A bus to Bilbao followed up by a 5 hour trip to Oviedo which was followed by a 5 hour trip to A Coruña. We'll pick it up here next time.

--Joey