La Rioja Region

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We left the coast and entered a flat, hot valley, not unlike Yakima valley in Washington. As we topped the last hill before entering La Rioja, we could see colorful patches of vineyards and crops, small hillsides, and winding highways curling across the valley. The air was drier and a lot hotter. Compared the coastal climate, it was now in the high 90´s to low 100´s. Quite a change! We stopped along the way at Laguardia, a quaint (we keep saying that don´t we...) town perched on a hill top and enclosed in castle walls dating back to around the 1500´s. We walked around town and took in the views. We then continued our journey southwest to Calvijo, our next destination. We weren´t sure if we would have a place to stay that night as the owners of this Casa Rural didn´t take a deposit or any information, stating it was fine and that they would be on vacation until we got there. We eventually found a small, unmarked road that wound its way up a steep, red rock, adobe looking hillside. We kept going and going and going.. until we found ourselves in the small village of Calvijo, situated behind another old castle. See the picture! We were right behind that wall on the other side. The casa was clean, three stories, painted bright colors in each room. Our hosts were VERY talkative and told us cool places to visit. Enyaki, turned out to also teach cooking classes during the day, so our dinners there were great.

While in the La Rioja region, we managed to take a cool hike through a natural park area that started at a monastery over run by cows, to a small waterfall. We also were able to wine taste some. That proved to be more challenging than we thought it would be, as the norm here is to call and schedule your tasting, rather than just drop by like we do in the states. Still, through luck and the welcoming nature of the people here, we saw some amazing vineyards and tasted some different wines than we get in the states. I wish we could bring a case home on the plane.. we had to get the distribution information instead so we can share with you! One night in Logrono, after a day at a museum and sightseeing, we haphazardly found a plaza that was set up for an outdoor movie! Expeciting some sort of modern show, we found a table and waited for it to start. We were surprised when the feature turned out to be a ballet from Paris! >It was quite bizarre to be watching that in a plaza in a small town in Spain, and because the plaza had an arterial street where the projector was set up, garbage trucks, scooters, mini vans, and people kept passing in front of the screen and waved or honked at us all.

Along the way and everywhere in between, we saw small villages perched on hill sides, with ancient churches and castles. We had a lot of fun scrambling around and shaking our heads in amazement at buildings that were so old.

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Comments

[Jill]

Great Reading!
Looks like you two are having a wonderful time. When do Ann and Zerian arrive? Tell Ann the cats are still alive. We are jealous! Jill

[dadster]

Rioja
looks really interesting--are your travels going to take you to Extremadura?