Rioja: Elciego & Laguardia

Right across the Ebro from Logrono is the Basque province of Alava, home of Rioja Alavesa, one of three Rioja wine regions (the other two, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja/Oriental are in La Rioja). This took us quite a while to deduce.

Our approach to the wine region was to bypass tasting, walk from village to village, through vineyards and by bodegas. We first took a bus from Logrono to Elciego, home to a bodega with a hotel designed by the architect Frank Gehry, which makes two Gehrys in five months for us. The truth was the architecture was rather underwhelming. Then we went on to Navaridas and Paganos, and then by way of another modern bodega, we ended up in Laguardia. Laguardia is a walled hilltop village, rather atmospheric, overlooking surrounding vineyards. A quick bus ride, we were back in Logrono. We were rather satisfied with our tour of Rioja.

First vineyards of the day as seen from the bus window. Yep, we are in the middle of the Rioja wine region.

Our first stop is Elciego most known for the Marqués de Riscal Vineyard Hotel designed by Architect Frank Gehry.

But the town also has a quiet plaza and a solid church.



Here's the Gehry Hotel from another angle...

It sits at the edge of town, and although not especially tall, can be seen from miles around as we found out as we walked to Laguardia.







The walk to Laguardia turned out to be more pleasant than we imagined. The secondary paved roads turned into smooth, soft dirt roads, with vineyards in every direction and the church spires of nearby towns on the horizon.

Looking to Laguardia, our final destination.

We had not planned to walk through Navaridas but when we saw the church in the distance we made a slight detour.





We stopped and ate our lunch on the bench in front of this small, obviously loved church just outside Navaridas.

Back on a paved road to Laguardia.

More stone huts. One imagines that these huts have stood there since before the Romans came to Iberia.

That's not an old brick factory but Hotel Bodega Eguren Ugarte near Paganos.

Just outside of Laguardia Old Town is the striking (or is there a better word?) Bodegas Ysios (Ysios Winery) designed by Santiago Calatrava.



The museum and site for the pre-Roman La Hoya Settlement was closed. Bummer. We could only look at the signage.

But this nearby ancient Dolmen was "always open".

Finally we ascend the hill to Laguardia Old Town.

Up top, near the bus station, there is a mirador with a view back to Elciego and the Gehry building.

And at another spot, a view of Bodegas Ysios.

Walking in a small park above the city walls.

Monumento al fabulista Samaniego.

The narrow streets of the Old Town.

La Rioja: Logrono

From Aviles, we bus halfway across the country to the wine region of La Rioja, giving the Basque Country a miss, which I now deem to be overhyped, overtouristed, and not particularly welcoming, not that I'm particularly excited about La Rioja either:

• Home of Rioja wine. It seems there is nothing else to do besides wine tasting at bodegas.
• Capital Logrono is on the French camino. Getting into town on the Saturday before Mother's Day, we had to have a 4-night stay in order to secure our lodging.
• Logrono, on the Ebro, borders Basque Country to the northwest, and Navarre to the northeast. The tourist office in Logrono more or less disavows the existence of their neighbors, let alone being forthcoming with helpful information.

After much deliberation, we ended up having one day trip to Basque Country, and one to Navarre, and spent the rest of our time in town, eschewing outings in La Rioja, including missing an opportunity to bag a couple of UNESCO monasteries.

Logrono is a pleasant enough town itself. Being the capital of an agriculture center, it is not particularly long on cultural heritage and venues. Drinks/tapas and shopping are featured prominently. Having stayed away from wine tasting, we got an unexpected wine tip. We were coming back from Monte Cantabria, passing by a community garden, and happened to strike up a conversation with a man who just finished working his plot. Pretty soon, he recommended La Rioja Crianzas, "can be had for 1.5 euros - oh, you Americans probably don't care about cost." Really?! I have been wasting our money on Reservas?

Luckily we had an early bus to catch to Logrono as we were awakened not-the-first-time-this-trip by the street washing crew outside below our room window. There was no direct bus so our route was Aviles to Ovideo to Burgos to Logrono.

Yellow rapeseed fields, green wheat fields, and vineyards on each side of the road as the bus gets close to Logrono, La Rioja, Spain.

Sound check for the evening concert (15 second video) in front of the Cathedral. Welcome to Logrono!!!

We arrived in Logrono around 4PM, just as a few of the city's free museums were reopening for the "afternoon". This painting titled el chiquillo (the kid) by José Pueyo Matanza caught our eye.

A Saturday wedding in the bustling Old Town.

Various bridges over the Rio Ebro. First the Stone Bridge at night.

The Iron Bridge, night and day.

The French Camino goes right through the middle of Logrono.

The rock concert, presented by City Hall, is about to start. We take a seat on a park bench behind the drummer.



A few architecture pics. First the Teatro Breton.

The Market Hall - Mercado de San Blas.

Fountain.

A mural.

The Bus Station is an Art Deco building.

May 1st is Labor Day in Europe and this year it's also Mother's Day in Spain; the first Sunday in May.

A short 10-second video of the May Day March.

And another 22-second video.

Check out this guy's sign holder rig. It reminds me of a battle flag in Kurosawa movie.





There is a musuem with a very cool animated "show" located in remnents of the old city wall.

There are 2 free wine museums. One features winemaking dating back to Roman times; and another, old underground wine cellars that backed up to the Ebro River.

One day we walked, partially on the French Camino, up through vineyards and wheat fields to an old fortification on Monte Cantabria for a view of the city and windmills on distant ridges.



Myself at the Monte Cantabria summit pole.

Windmills.

Fellow walkers.