My second trip ever to Europe happened earlier this month. Spain, France, and England. The report? Fantastic. Breathtaking. All of that. Another "trip you must take".
We flew with my father-in-law and his girlfriend to Madrid on Iberia Airlines. Nine and a half hours. We landed at six in the morning. I cannot sleep on planes so I was pretty beat, having been awake for essentially twenty four hours straight. But the above was the view from our hotel window in Segovia. I rested for thirty minutes and was ready to explore.
The roads to the Hotel Eurostars Convento Capuchinos were extremely narrow. So goes Europe. This is the old town portion of Segovia, with churches and the occasional cafe, all within walking distance.
We had lunch at Restaurante Jose Marie. The suckling pig is cut in sections with a plate in front of diners. The chef then smashes the plate on the floor. Everyone loved it. The pig was excellent, too.
Here's a view of the Segovia Cathedral in Plaza Mayor. I did the bell tower guided visit. You have to climb a very narrow staircase on the way. The guide did not speak English, but his talk was informative nonetheless.
We had a lusty tapas dinner (with amazing chorizo) right near the Aqueduct, which was built during the first century, A.D. during the Roman Empire. It is remarkably well preserved.
The next day we drove to Casalarreina in La Rioja. There are fewer than two thousand residents there. We stayed at this hotel, a restored sixteenth century monastery. There is a church right next door. The rooms have exposed stone walls. A moat runs through the breakfast room. The most rustic accommodations I believe I've experienced. I loved it. Finding the hotel among a labyrinth of one way streets was quite challenging.
Dinner was in Haro, where a wine festival is held annually. Wine barrels are stacked at City Hall. The town square was lively (despite the appearance of the above pic) and there was a concert that evening.
This view is from the front of the Hotel Eguren Ugarte in Laguardia, to which we journeyed the following day. It is a very modern place with a vineyard and wine making facility. We did an enjoyable tour which ended with fabulous tastings of their red, white, and rose offerings. Weddings are popular at the hotel and we looked down on one from our room. The reception went on well into the night.
Next, we traveled to Laguardia, which, like many towns in Spain, is enclosed within walls restricting access of its shops and fruits stands to pedestrians. In one area (El Gaitero Plaza), everyone stopped to watch the city clock, out of which figurines emerge and dance at various hours. Stop also by the Dona Blanca gastropub.
We later headed to St. Etienne de Baigorry in the Basque section of France and my father in law's beloved chateau. On the way, we stopped at Posada Palacio Beola, a restaurant in Almandoz, Navarra we had visited eight years earlier. Great wine and bread to start things off. I felt I had consumed more of both in the previous three days than I had in my entire life. The
chateaubriand was marvelous and too big to finish in one sitting. We finally reached Baigorry and spent a day at the chateau, which was built in the fourteenth century. You can scroll back to the 2010 entries to learn more about it. It is a marvel.
Next entry: onward to London!
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