Day 8- Wine tasting & Segovia bound

We ended our stay La Rioja with how many begin it: a bodega tour. There are innumerable options. We chose a tour and tasting at the venerable La Rioja Alta (recommended by a friend).

The winery was a beautiful sight in itself, as many are. We had forgotten how sophisticated the entire process is, the hard-won knowledge of centuries of trial and error. The tour was excellent and the tasting was fun. We feel guilty about saying this, but the wines were not our favorites. Try Cune or Muga instead….

This was our first day of truly footloose travel (i.e., no reservations) and we found the dog really limited our last minute options in Segovia, so we entered the fallback in times like these, which is lodging in Spain’s widespread casa rural (rural house) network. You never know what is going to happen when you make this fateful decision. To make a long story short we ended up in a stone lodge some 15km from Segovia. But what a 15km! A serpentine road through national parkland resulted in a 40 minute trek from the city. The town was a bit down at the heels, and they didn’t seem to understand our Spanish, so we are determined to spend a lot of time in Segovia…

The highlight of the day was actually an impulse stop en route: lovely Burgos. We left the convertible outside and took the Volvo to its extraordinary sandcastle cathedral, followed by one of our better lunches of super creative tapas (Central American fusion) and outstanding service. Trip Advisor does come through sometimes!

Looking forward to the famous Alcázar of Segovia tomorrow.Read more