• August 9 – Transit to Barcelona

This day we spent nearly the entire day driving to Barcelona. We arrived and checked in just around dinner time.

We went to a touristy place none of us cared for, but we drank a nice, reliable wine:

Turns out we’d need a day of doing very little when you see the list of things we’d do the next day…

• August 10 – Barcelona in a day tour

We felt the best way to quickly become acquainted with the city was to do a full day tour – Viator skip the line. The first half of the day the tour took us on a bus to a rapid fire set of sites:

-Through the Christopher Columbus circle with the famous statue (no picture, sorry)

-Montjuïc (site of the 1992 olympics)

-Catalunya National Art Museum … just for the views of….

-Plaça Espanya

Then a lengthy stop at Sagrada Famlia. The skip the line feature was awesome here. I’m not gonna put all our pictures or even more than 2 (click all pictures here at the end if you really want to see more… or google it). Nor will I write about it endlessly. But its a unique thing. If you can, go see it.

Then over to wander the Gothic Quarter’s Cathedral

and narrow streets through the Jewish Quarter, to the Royal Palace, the original 2,000-year-old Roman temple which left us by the commoner’s cathedral where we found a fantastic lunch spot – “Origens”. The food was locally sourced, mostly organic, blah blah, it was fantastic, this wine? Drinkable.

After lunch… back on the bus over to Park Güell. It was insanely overrun with tourists and street vendors. I guess this is one of the main stops for all the cruise line people. Yes it had some interesting features, but in only an hour and with hoards of people everywhere, I was not impressed.

Before ending at La Pedrera. Again, skipping the line saved us literally hours. Like Familia Sagrada, its a really unique building. Its interesting to stand around and ponder why something is one way and not the other. Some of the forward thinking aspects – like  a parking garage when cars were NOT the norm are surprising. The furnishings of the rooms were relatively as expected, its the building itself that really shines.

This night we went to a touristy place right on the marina. The food was actually pretty decent, but because the seating was outdoors, it was full of smoke. I forgot my phone in the room and don’t have a picture of the wine – which was only Ok anyhow.

•  AUGUST 11 – Museums!

We bought tickets online beforehand and got in early to the Picasso Museum.

No photos were allowed of course. Not sure I would have taken any! I can appreciate some art, but Picasso at some point relatively early in his career crossed the line for me. He no longer made art, he made garbage that rich snobs had to invent meaning for so they can say other people don’t understand it.

After lunch, which was non spectacular, we went to a museum in the gothic district touting artists it didn’t actually have. Instead it had artists loosely inspired by them… and overall it was a large disappointment.

Dinner in Gothic district at a Relais & Chateau hotel – The food was really hit or miss. Appetizers, side dishes and deserts were all fantastic. The main courses just used too many undesirable portions of the animals… without any warning of such on the menu. With the bread they served a volcanic salt and a special oil which when combined… tasted exactly like fried eggs.

We tried 2 different reds, neither was spectacular, but both were fine. The San Vicente was better.

• AUGUST 12 – Wandering and working.

Our final day in Barcelona, we slept in a bit – I had been up much of the night on some work issues.

We spent the mid morning again wandering the Gothic Quarter and ended up back at Origens for lunch – which was again fantastic. We had another soso wine there.

After lunch we wandered La Rambla all the way from the sea to where it kind of loses momentum. Then I headed back to the hotel to do some more work while Lethy and Magda went to do some shopping.

We ended the trip with a fantastic dinner at … I forget the name. The place was enormous and loud. But our server was very friendly and helpful and the seafood was great. We were recommended a white which we enjoyed quite a lot and the red was excellent – it’s one we’ve enjoyed before.

• August 13 – Fly home.

• August 7 – Transit to Bilbao

The following day we would wake up, stretch our sore legs, and make our way to Bilbao. The drive was not terribly long.

Lunch at the hotel had a nice tempranillo which was only 9 euros restaurant price, sadly not exported in any quantity:

After checking in to the hotel we would then proceed to our office in Bilbao while Lethy + Magda went to the museums.

Late that night we met up with the Getino family for an “I haven’t seen you in 25 years, wow you’ve changed” dinner. It was a very unique experience and was great to see them all doing well. Jaime could not attend and Enrique and his wife had to leave a bit early, but from left to right: Jose Luis Jr and wife, my mom and Lethy, myself and my dad, Pilar and Jose Luis Sr.

We went to a famous restaurant in Bilbao which honestly did not impress me. However the wine was excellent and was a bit of foreshadowing:

• August 8 – RIOJA!

Up early the next morning, Gorka and Jon had put together an itinerary in the Rioja region. Bea and the baby accompanied us.

First stop: Bodegas Carlos San Pedro Perez de Vinaspre

It is in the small town of Laguardia – which is known for its cellars under each house. They were originally built as a form of defense but as security improved, they became largely used for the production and storage of wine. He gave us a tour of their caverns, we got to peak into the cisterns…

and then a tasting of 3 of their wines…

Due to the low light, my photos sucked. We had the Crianza, the Reserva, and the namesake label (red/black).

They were increasingly good and I can not find any on the US market.

After the tasting we wandered the town some looking at the old walls, the bull ring with gates for a running, and some mixed in modern sculpture.

Next stop: López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Winery

This is a much larger winemaker in the famous town of Haro. We took a tour of their wine making facilities and their EXTENSIVE wine storage facilities.

They specialize in making wines intended for extreme aging. 20+ years for many of their wines, including whites.

I spent much of the time making sure I did not get mold or cobwebs on my head.

Alex was well behaved throughout, maybe he’d had a few sips? (just kidding)

We tasted a white and a red. The white I did not care for.

The red was quite good and should age even better.

Gorka and Jon got me a magnum which I am anxiously saving in my cellar for a day when they come to visit me and it has reached its peak!

Third stop: Dinastia Vivanco – Winery, Restaurant and Museum

Upon arriving I had my doubts, the parking lot was enormous and clearly designed to accommodate large crowds of tourists. We were all quite hungry and had reservations at the restaurant.

My doubts were all for naught, the food was fantastic – most of us had a leg of lamb and there wasnt a sliver of meat left behind. And the wine with lunch equally good at absurdly low prices.

The museum was IMMENSE and DETAILED. We spent 3 hours and only saw the first 3 sections out of many. The descriptive videos and hands on exhibits really made it nice. Any wine-o should see a place like this. I can’t pick a photo that exemplifies the museum, so if you want to see more, go to the link to all photos at the end (WARNING All means a lot).

Honestly I can’t remember the dinner from that day. I don’t think it was bad, I just don’t recall it.

All photos here.