Haro

The Hotel Teatrisso is nestled in the village of Cuzcurrita, on the banks of the River Tiron. Cuzcurrita is the town Hollywood would create for the ideal Spanish village. It has a cathedral, a Roman bridge, two plazas, a castle, vineyards, tree-lined paths, and of course the river running through it all, and maybe 1000 people. When we arrived late yesterday afternoon half of them appeared to be drinking wine in the bigger of the the two plazas. Amazingly, that plaza has a single bar, which is part of the town hall building, making it very easy to get a glass of crianza while paying your parking ticket.

The Teatrisso is the nicest place that we have stayed so far, a former palacio converted into a boutique hotel with an art and music theme. Our room is decked out in classic blues and jazz posters. After checking in we headed to the plaza for a meal and some cribbage —the one thing the town lacks!

After traveling for a week logistics caught up with us; it’s August in Europe and it took a bit longer than expected to find a pet friendly accommodation for the next leg of our trip in Segovia. Task completed, we headed into nearby Haro to sample some wine and local culture. Haro is the capital of the La Rioja región, known worldwide for its wines. There are bodegas (wineries) everywhere, and it seems that you can visit all of them. Many of their visitor centers are quite sophisticated, like Napa.

After Haro we toured a few ancient villages along a beautiful skyline of mountain ridges. As we did so we compiled the following hard-won wisdom on how to visit an unknown Spanish pueblo.

1) Identify the plaza in front of the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) since everything springs from this prime location. In 90% of cases, it’s called the Plaza de España, Plaza de Constitución or Plaza Mayor; identifiable by the four flags flying from the second floor windows: EU, Spain, province, city.
2) Locate a legal parking spot😉 In Spain, one is allowed great latitude in this determination.
3) If you are hungry, locate the bar or restaurant with the greatest number of people eating (an important indicator of kitchen skill, some restaurants are really just watering holes!) Order a caña (small beer) or cafe con leche in your best Spanish!
4) Sit back and absorb the ambiance. Each town has its own pulse and feel. Relax and let it wash over you.

The winner of today’s meandering was the walled medieval town of Laguardia, nestled on a hill beneath the mountains. It was a beautiful day and the first time we have been able to enjoy driving in the convertible together. We also stumbled upon a 6000 year old dolmen which Paul decided to lie down in so that he could channel the energy of his Neolithic ancestors.

We topped off the day back in Cuzcurrita, with a picnic in the banks of the River Tirón. At sunset the entire town, which is made of yellow stone, comes ablaze. The only way to legitimately douse the fire is with a glass of Tirón, the local label, in the plaza. Now you know where we are headed for the cribbage rematch.Read more