Laguardia and in and out of the Basque Country (Euskadi) of La Rioja

 The trip from Segovia to LaGuardia took us most of the day because there was plenty of spectacular scenery and interesting villages on the way. 

As we crossed the Douro, we came across this beautiful village/ town below the red cliffs above it.

I don’t remember the name of the town but there was a ‘mirador’ (lookout) with stunning views over the red-tiled rooves..

The road up to it started well but soon became narrow, leading past some fascinating cottages tucked into the cliffs.

The next part of the journey was gorgeous, with rolling hills, lakes and such lush vegetation.

The gorges we drove through were breathtakingly beautiful.  The few rays of sunshine breaking through the dark clouds lit up the rocky outcrops at the top.

I’m sure it was hard for Dennis to keep his eyes on the road, although I must admit we didn’t see much traffic coming towards us, it so reminded me of New Zealand roads!

We reached LaGuardia at 6 p.m. and were greeted warmly by the owner of our beautiful Apartment. We needed to get up to the town for dinner, but as it’s car-free, we were directed to a lift, which took us up to the pretty little town of LaGuardia. On their brochures they write ‘if you are passionate about travelling and discovering places, LaGuardia is your destination’ - oh so true!

How wonderful to use the lift and to exit it just outside the city walls, built in the thirteenth century. 

The picture above is The Plaza del Galiero with two tables of bronze works of art depicting travellers.

The cliff top town is a maze of narrow streets full of wine bars, bodegas, hotels, the occasional shop and residential homes. Actually, this must have been one of the only streets with no bars, and no people! The rest of the town was abuzz with locals and tourists seemingly yelling, but probably just rather drunk. we searched for somewhere to eat, but everywhere was packed or super expensive. We settled for some tapas and local Rioja wine. Only 1.30 euro per glass. Cheaper than food,

The next day we set out to enjoy an easy, but beautiful walk around the El Prao de la Paul wetlands. It was really fantastic, offering us expansive views of not only LaGuardia up on the hill, but also of the surrounding slopes, vineyards and mountains, as well as the wetlands which had a range of birds there and what sounded like thousands of frogs. They were deafening, and when they paused for breath, we could enjoy the lovely birdsong. It was idyllic, the lighting spectacular.

After a pleasant sit in the shade for our picnic

We took the lift back up to the town to explore the streets and the Bodegas. We were amazed at the size of the tomatoes 

And the asparagus. They were huge.

So, down to serious business, Wine tasting! Actually, the two tours we took were quite different, and both really interesting. The first was a small family business producing only about 40,000 bottles a year, compared to millions from some of the biggest producers. Both explained that under the town, under every house was a series of caves linked by tunnels. Originally they were used as defence but later were walled up so that one family could no longer get into the next cave. Then the many, 18, winemakers used these perfectly cool caves for their wine making and storage. Now part of the process is done externally but the caves are still extremely important.

The wine is stored in these huge tanks before bottling, and our first guide went up to get us tasters of the young wine, to be bottled in two weeks. Very good actually.

The second tour tasting was more upmarket but the caves also a fascinating maze it tunnels.

We had a much more elaborate and generous tasting, being shown exactly how we should taste correctly. 

All in all, we had a great afternoon and as a non red drinker, I have to say I really enjoyed the wines, but they left me feeling very dry. 

We both felt we’d had plenty to drink and headed home for a platter of meat and cheeses. As fate would have it, the couple who were in what looked like a garage below our flat , invited us in

To what turned out to be one hell of a party! These ex garages can be bought and used as party places. Jose and his wife had just had the whole family of 14 there for lunch. Jose used to work in the Bodegas in the town, so was thrilled to share his wine with us, along with local bread and cheeses. It was a fabulous evening of sheer spontaneity and hospitality. 

Before we left LaGuardia, we wanted to visit another vineyard designed by the same person who designed the Guggenheim, but they had only private tours, so we had to make do with views from a lookout above. 

Our final fantastic part of the visit to LaGuardia was to walk a little around another couple of lakes, biotops, with more water and far less sign of life. However, the views were amazing 

As were the many orchids amongst the grass

And the much clearer panorama of La Rioja area.

What a great place to visit.

We had constantly changed from Basque Country with its unintelligible language and Rioja Alvanesa to La Rioja Alta and Oriental area where Spanish is spoken, every time we crossed the river Ebro. 

We were sad to leave this wonderful place where we had had so many different experiences.

It was also time for us to go our separate ways, Dennis back to work and me on my own to the north. What a marvellous few days we had had! Thanks Dennis for your great company!