Rioja, Spain

Following our amazing time in San Seb and along the coast, it was time to go inland, to conquer the Rioja wine region. Thankfully for us, August was pretty mild this year in the region, which made a tolerable excursion. I think it was 95 during the day we were there. Rioja is about 90 minutes from Bilbao down a scenic highway that slices and dices the mountains off the coast, which gradually subdues to beautiful rolling hills with lots of grapes! We couldn't resist to pull over and check out the look, feel and taste of the grapes.

We choose our afternoon wine tour to the town of Laguardia, a historic 13th century walled village that is in the heart of the region. Within the caves underneath the walled hill town is the resting spot of the terrific Bodega El Fabulista wines. We took an informative tour of the caves and did a tasting in a great spot in the caves. See below. The Bodega does their mashing the traditional method, by stomping the grapes. Don't look for the wine in your local liquor store, unless you live in La Rioja of course.

It was Monique and Kelly's first cellar wine tasting, and a memorable one at that.

We then took the scenic route to our hotel for the night, Viura, which is an ultra-modern located in an old village near Laguardia. We choose to eat at the restaurant, with pretty good food and amazing wine that was only like $15 for a bottle of amazing wine.

The next morning we went to do the a tour at this crazy looking winery, exactly the opposite of the one on the previous day. We unfortunately were a little late and locked out:-( We at least we got to check out the cool building!

Following the attempted tour, we made our way back up to the coast, closer to Bilbao where we flew out of. We decided to bypass seeing Bilbao and instead went to Bermeo, a coastal village that has a picturesque harbor.

We had a quick lunch and then headed over to one of the most beautiful beaches along the coastline. We were without question the only non-locals as it is hard to get to. You can see how unspoiled it is. 

All in all, San Sebastian is a great destination, with great food, wine, beaches, history and a laid back untouristy vibe.