Category: Portugal/Spain, Fall 2018

Just a few observations we have had since being here for the last month.

The Spanish really like the following music:  George Michael, Madonna, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry be Happy”, John Lennon, Supertramp (a LOT of Supertramp!), the music from Flashdance, The Police, ACDC, The Scorpions (I think I’ve heard “Still Loving You” at least four times) and REM.   At one point we heard on the radio that Stevie Nicks had died, so we heard about 6 of her songs, until they realized it was a hoax, and moved on to “Don’t Worry be Happy”.

The Spanish do not drive in the fast lane unless they are passing.  They aggressively move back into the slow lane after they pass you, even if they KNOW they will have to move over again in 10 seconds.  I’ve had to break several times as they are barely past my front bumper when they pull in front of me.  The faster drivers are going 100+ MPH, and are ususally driving a BMW or an Audi, so I guess they can afford the tickets.

Spain loves traffic circles!  Wow….they are everywhere!

Spain loves their road signs.  When you are travelling somewhere, you never need to wait long to know how far to your destination.  In many areas they post a distance sign EVERY kilometer!  They have signs showing a tunnel before the tunnel, and then ANOTHER sign showing that you have left the tunnel.  Is that really necessary??  Is somebody out there wondering where the tunnel went and needs a sign to appease them?  They even have a sign that tells you how long the tunnel is in meters.  I think there must be a lot of tunnel phobia here.

There have been some tunnels no more than 50 meters long (I know how long, there was a sign) that have a sign for headlights before the tunnel, and a sign reminding you to turn off your headlights upon exiting….and then there is another tunnel about 300 meters later!  Sign creation and installation must be how they keep their welfare recipients employed.

Everybody in Spain has been super friendly.  It doesn’t matter where we have been, big city or small or the middle of nowhere….they have been spectacular!

Any sort of tip is vastly appreciated.  A tip of more than a few euros often has them wondering if something is wrong with you.  We met two older ladies at dinner the other night who gave us a ton of tips on restaurants in the area, so I picked up their dinner tab (it was not much).  The staff in the restaurant kept asking me “what do you want to do?  Why?  Where are you from?”.  They just could not comprehend this gesture.

There are feral cats everywhere, and everybody is taking care of them.  Whenever we see the cats, we see huge tubs of food and even some home made shelters.

Spain still has fuel attendants to pump your gas.  I don’t know if I’m parking on the wrong side of the island or what, but I always have somebody running out to pump the gas for me.  Spain does NOT have window cleaners at their gas stations.  They sometimes have a scrubbing brush.

I think 90% of the people here smoke.  Most of these are chain smokers.  We usually like to sit outside at restaurants, but it’s nearly impossible to do so here if you want to breathe.

Nearly all of the Airbnb’s we have stayed in have washing machines, which are located in the kitchen.  Nobody here has a dryer, and they line dry everything.  We have seen so many clothes on a line….sometimes out in the rain.  One place we stayed had the roughest towels (due to line drying) I have ever experienced.  It was like drying off with 120 grit sandpaper, or what I can assume it would be like to have a cat lick you dry.

Did I mention they like to eat late, and stay up late?  A lot of the restaurants don’t even open until 9:00 PM.  Our friends Tom and Nancy would love it!  If you’ve eaten at their place you know what I’m talking about.  We are in San Sebastian and for the last two nights we have heard drunken men singing in the street at 4:00 AM.  I’m guessing they just left the restaurant!

Just a quick note.  Spain is really big….like a lot bigger than I thought it was.  Driving from Cordoba to Cuenca was 4.5 hours, and driving from Cuenca to Logrona was just over 4 hours.  This is not some small country you can see in a week.  Also, it looks a LOT like California.  We could have sworn several times we were driving through Livermore or along the 101 on the coast.  There is a huge amount of undeveloped space….more than California!

We booked an Airbnb in Logrono, and it was a beautiful space with some nice views. 

We made our way to a nice little Tapas place in a region of town called Calle del Laurel.  This area was PACKED!  Yes, I kept a hand on my wallet the entire time.

If you see this wine in a wine store…buy it!  Wow!  I think the bottle was 9 euros.  Highway robbery I tell you!

The next morning we drove to Haro (pronounced arrow), where there are several of the most famous (and oldest) wineries in Rioja.  First stop was Bodegas Muga.  I’m not a train guy, but with that sort of cargo I can become one!  We found out later during a tour of a different winery that the train station was right in the middle of all of these wineries, which is why they all ended up being tucked so close to each other.  Three of the most famous wineries in Rioja are within 100 yards of each other.  We tried 5 wines here and they were all pretty good, with the best being their Reserva Seleccion Especial.  Bodegas Muga dates from 1932. so it’s been around awhile.

The next winery was Bodegas Roda, where we didn’t do a tasting but a shared glass of wine.  Really quite good, but the tasting might have been influenced by the view and the ambiance of the cellars.

Then we were off to our 1230 appointment with Lopez de Heredia, one of the oldest wineries in Spain.  The below  tasting bar was built for the 125th anniversary of the winery for the Food and Drink Fair in Barcelona.  They have now built a structure around it for their tasting room.

The idea for a winery started in the mid 19th century when French “negociants” (winemakers who don’t own their own vineyards) visited the Rioja region to find quality grapes since phylloxera had decimated the vineyards in France.  Don Rafael López de Heredia saw the potential market based on the French need, and started the winery in 1877.  After our tour, I can say they haven’t changed much since 1877.

Our tour guide, Augustino (I think I remembered it correctly), shows us the fermentation vat room.  Some of these vats are over 100 years old.  The insides of the vats have a lining from years of use that looks a bit like concrete (and feels like it too) that they leave in place to help with flavors and fermentation (the layers apparently have some yeast in them, but that didn’t make sense to me…I figured all yeast was exhausted during each fermentation).  This photo is a piece of the vat lining that had fallen off.

When they move the wine from the fermentation vats, they filter it with a band of grape canes to remove any seeds or other objects.  These bundles of canes are inserted into the vats lengthwise right at the vat outlet before the grapes are put in.

This place has their own cooper.  Let me state that again for emphasis.  They have their own COOPER!  They make all of their barrels in house, as well as all barrel repairs.  One guy makes about a barrel per day.  This is for a place that uses maybe 0.5% new oak…..nearly all of their aging barrels are decades old.  The cooper is only replacing barrels that can no longer be used.  The old barrels are burned to toast the new barrels….the circle of life!  We were there on a Saturday so we couldn’t see him in action.  Something we have found quite the norm here in Spain….they use American oak, from Mississippi and Ohio mostly, as they like the influence on the wine versus French oak.  Of course, when you are using decades old barrels, there is no influence, but I digress.

Here is a shot of all of these old barrels, all of them filled with wine.  They each have two holes with bung plugs in the side so they can transfer wine from barrel to barrel every year.  They have two holes so that when they start getting sediment from the first hole they drain the rest of the barrel from the second hole (he said they use it for fertilizer).  I’ve never seen this anywhere else.

These ramps are used to move barrels from one level to another.  I can just imagine a few barrels got away from the handlers over the years!

A door is dated 1892 in the cellar.

This is just part of the family stash….there must have been 10,000 bottles in their private cellar.  The original owner had 15 kids, so they have a huge (and apparently very thirsty) family.

They like their spiders in this place!

Our private tasting area after the tour.  The Vina Tondonia Reserve was definitely the best wine of the bunch.  All of their wines are aged for 4 years in barrel, then 4 years in bottle before release.  The 2009 is their latest release, but they were pouring the 2006.  As part of the tour, each person was given a bottle of the 2006 to take home.  The tour was 30 euros, and the wine sells for 25 euros.  Not a bad deal!

After much begging and pleading by our tour mate Tommy from Texas, Augustino opened a 1969 white wine.  I’ll say it was “interesting”.  Old whites don’t generally get my stamp of approval.

We then drove to Marques de Riscal, where we were supposed to have a tour, but decided against it when we saw the size of the tour crowd.  A lot of these tours get pretty redundant.  We did go out of our way to find a spot to take a photo of the winery/hotel/restaurant as it was designed by the world famous Frank Gehry.  The first photo is a stock photo from the hotel.  If you aren’t staying here (for $400+ a night) or eating at their overpriced restaurant, you aren’t welcome.  The lower photo is one I managed to take after nearly killing myself trying to find a good vantage point in the adjacent vineyard site.

We happened to be driving nearby another winery on our way out of town (Bodegas Ysios), and even though they were closed, the place is truly gorgeous.  The roofline was designed to mimic the mountain backdrop.

Off to San Sebastian and Basque country!