Although I'm two months late, I still wanted to write a blog post about our "fall" trip to La Rioja, the wine country of Spain. Ever since I saw the beautiful fall colors of the grape leaves on a friend's blog last year, I've had a burning desire to return to this part of Spain for its autumnal charm. So this year, a group of four of us got together, rented a car, and headed up to La Rioja for the weekend!
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| Just a taste of all the beautiful landscapes we saw! |
Aside from its beautiful landscapes, the largest draw of this region is obviously its wineries - bodegas in Spanish. Most wineries offer cheap guided tours that include a sampling at the end. We were ambitious and booked two wine tours for the same day, neither of which did we actually end up doing - we arrived too late for the first one and I got mixed up about the location of the second. However, we were still able to do a tasting at the first and buy some reasonably-priced bottles at the second, so it all worked out in the end!
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| Sampling wine inside the Bodega Baigorri |
The winery where we were able to do a small sampling was called Bodegas Baigorri and was housed in a really cool, sleek, modern building. The surrounding vineyards and neighboring medieval town made for a breathtaking backdrop to the delicious wine.
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| The quirky, modern Bodega Baigorri, with its beautiful surroundings |
After sampling wine in the bodega, we headed to a small town called Laguardia (like the airport) where I thought we were supposed to have our next tour. It turned out we had reservations at a different branch of the winery in another town, but we visited the gift shop and the lady gave us some helpful advice on where to park the car when we headed into the tiny medieval village of Laguardia. We really enjoyed this quaint, medieval town, with picturesque, narrow alley-like streets and beautiful old churches.
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| Exploring (and being silly in) Laguardia |
There was also a park that ran all the way around the outside of the town where we played with the fall leaves and generally acted silly. As the town is located on top of a hill, there were also some amazing views out onto the surrounding countryside, although it was difficult to adequately capture on our phones.
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| Playing in the park in Laguardia |
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| The countryside surrounding Laguardia |
After leaving Laguardia, we headed to the place we were staying to get the keys and drop off our stuff. We had booked a room in a Casa Rural, or Rural House, which turned out to be something like a mix between a lodge and a bed and breakfast. The lady who owns it was incredibly friendly and helpful, and gave us lots of helpful advice. The house was really lovely and cozy and, like everywhere else we went, surrounded by natural beauty.
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| The Casa Rural |
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| View from in front of the Casa Rural |
That night, we headed into Logroño, the capital and largest city of La Rioja. It's famous for its cheap wine and tapas, so instead of having a proper dinner we went around to several bars and tried their tapas. The best was a place known for its mushrooms, which were grilled in a garlic-butter sauce; we all agreed they were probably the best mushrooms we'd ever had in our lives!
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| The famous mushrooms of Logroño |
The next day, we got up early and drove to a small town called San Millán de la Cogolla. This somewhat obscure village is the home of two very important monasteries, where the first words in the Spanish language were ever written down. The original and oldest monastery, called the Monasterio de Suso, is up on top of one of the mountains which surround the city on three sides. Down in the town is the somewhat newer Monasterio de Yuso.
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| Monasterio de Yuso |
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| Beautiful artwork inside the monastery |
We got to do a guided tour of both of the monasteries, which was really interesting. I had wanted to visit this town ever since I learned about it last year; having studied Spanish literature, I was obviously really eager to see the "birthplace" of the Spanish language, so to speak. The old monastery on the hill was also interesting because it is built into the hill and makes use of a system of caves within the hillside. It was a bit creepy, but it was really interesting to think how passionate and determined the monks must have been who decided to live in such primitive conditions.
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| Monasterio de Suso |
So, as you can see, although it was a quick trip, we managed to squeeze A LOT in. Plus, the best part was simply hanging out and spending time together; we had a great group, which obviously makes all the difference!
