Rioja Time!

We had a two hour drive south to the Rioja region. I didn't expect the area to be so green and mountainous. So beautiful. The rainbow didn't hurt, either!

We had already made our wine tour reservations in advance, so we headed straight to Ysios winery in Laguardia. I was thrilled to see all of the spring trees in bloom. We were a bit early so we walked first through the sleepy town (siesta time!). 

You can't miss this vineyard as you approach it. It was designed to be modern, but to blend into the countryside. The roof is meant to mimic the mountain range behind it. The name is a combination of the Gods Osiris and Isis.

I'll put "tour" in quotes because we were basically walked into the building and shown the barrels and that was it. The tasting was a bit more in depth and held in a room with great views over the vineyards back to the town of Laguardia. We tried two of their wines (priced at 45 and 60 euros each, respectively). I, for one could not taste the different between these wines and the 10-15 euro bottles we usually get. The other people on the tour, a Parisian couple and their baby living in London with a wine making father in Bordeaux had other opinions! The Iberico ham with this tasting was 100% though!

From the winery we went to our hotel for the next two nights, Finca de los Arandinos (also featured on the Bachelorette of course). They had a "low price deal" (actually called that, didn't we feel classy checking in ;)), which included hotel, breakfast, dinner at their great restaurant including their wine, and a discount on the use of the spa. The hotel room was really cool with a bathroom that came out of nowhere (you had to fold out all of the doors to create the spaces).

It was sunset when we arrived so we took a walk around the property, taking in all of the beauty!

We settled in for dinner at the early bird seating of 8:30pm! And we didn't leave until midnight. Audra is good company and apparently we had a lot to talk about! Plus we had to get through all of the wine they served us.

 The theme of the day Saturday was pink. Fitting for a girl's trip, no? It should be clear to see why!

Balcony view. Good morning, Rioja!

Long breakfast followed by the morning spent at the spa.

Rose in the sun

We had our next wine tasting at 4pm and Audra humored me on an adventure to find this beautiful field of flowering trees that we could see from the hotel. The concierge gave me general directions how to find it and we went off roading! Turns out they are almond trees and while they looked purple from a distance, they were a gorgeous pink up close. 

Then it was onto our tour and tasting at Maques de Riscal also near Laguardia. This tour was really informative and they took us around to almost all of the buildings on the property dating back to the 1860s! All of the wine is still made and aged on site. The 4 million bottles are aged under the striking hotel designed also by Frank Gehry. The tri colored metal roof is meant to symbolize the local sandstone, the wine and the bottle top.

We stopped in the town of Navarrete on our way home and went into the cathedral. We were blown away by the glitz of the altarpiece. It was so tall and so gilded, especially for a relatively short church.

Home for another sunset and long meal. The next morning we savored our hotel breakfast and then high tailed it back to Bilbao to head home. I'd say it was smooth sailing, but it was not. Our descent was really rough as the Netherlands was covered in low lying clouds and there were high winds. We were lucky to make it home though as other friends traveling that weekend had cancelled flights. So grateful for a safe and wonderful trip!

And grateful for our husbands for making the trip possible!

Look at that healthy spread and clean house! Well done, Pete! 

Girl's Trip with Audra to Spain!

Audra and I love our families, but boy did we have a great weekend without them! She and I had never been on a girl's trip together and I certainly hope it isn't the last! 

We chose a trip to Northern Spain. I was inspired to go to the Rioja region and also to a remarkable coastal site, Gaztelugatxeko (got to love the Basque language!) after watching Rachel's season of the Bachelorette :) Audra wanted to see the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and the site of Dragonstone from GoT so it was settled! 

I left my house in rainy, cold Amstelveen around 1pm and we arrived at the Guggenheim museum in sunny Spain at 5:30pm! We took a spin around the museum, which was designed by Frank Gehry, admiring the architecture as much as the modern art exhibits, which are often lost on me! 

Massive metal structures that you can walk around and through.

We were really impressed by what we saw in Bilbao. The river walk was bustling with people on their evening passeos and everything was so modern and clean. So many fun playgrounds, too (the things you notice once you become a parent).

Our other Bilbao must-do was pintxos (tapas) hoping around the old town. Audra found two great little spots and we feasted for a dime!

Good morning, Bilbao! Big day ahead. We went back to the airport and rented wheels for the remainder of the weekend.

First destination, Gaztelugatxeko, an islet on the Biscay coast, connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge. 231 steps lead you to the top where there is a little church that dates from the 10th or maybe even the 9th century. It was as stunning as I'd hoped. The passing clouds kept changing the light on the islet and the color of the water. 

Lisbon was great hill training for this climb! Once at the top, we took turns ringing the church bell 5 times each for good luck. A rain shower appeared and the disappeared as quickly again.

We had taken quite the round about way down to the site, not realizing that there was more direct access via a staircase. So we headed that way back and were thrilled to see a restaurant at the top with Spanish omelettes. It was next to a beer garden and a sweet playground! I wouldn't recommend this journey with small children, but they would have had fun there! 

To be continued with a second post on our time in Rioja!