Monforte de Lemos

Monforte de Lemos
Thursday March 19, 2105

View from the park to the Cathedral

We were very sad to be leaving Santiago.  It certainly lives up to its reputation as a beautiful city with lots of pilgrims and friendly hosts.  This morning it was cool and probably more typical of the weather that they normally have in March.  We did our morning walk, taking in our last photographs of city views and then returned to our coffee spot.  We finished our coffee and said our goodbyes and headed to the leather shop for that one purse that was calling to Cathy.  We found it and a second one started to mimic the first.  We packed up both and headed to the hotel to check out.  Lois was there and we told him how spot on his advice had been for all our visits and his recommendations.  The other people at the front desk were genuinely excited for us to be going to the Ribeira Sacra.  They shared their comments on going to the US and how they were excited to be going.  They knew of North Carolina and Michael Jordan at UNC and knew of Winston-Salem with our cigarettes.   I told them that I was disappointed to not be in Valencia today for the last night of Fallas.  They countered  about how the Valencian Fireworks specialists had come to Santiago to light up the Cathedral in 2011 for the 800th anniversary of the founding of the church.  Lois pulled out his cell phone showing us the video below on his cell phone with You Tube.  I urge you to watch this video and you'll see why the Spanish people are so much fun.  It is a little shaky, but I can't wait to see this on my large TV Screen.  I don't know how they didn't blow out every window in the Cathedral.  Awesome!  Since I couldn't be in Valencia for Las Fallas, I had to get my fix here for fireworks.

July 26, 2011 - Fireworks at Santiago Cathedral



We left the hotel and headed out to Monforte de Lemos, about an hour or so from Santiago.  We booked the Parador the night before for a good price.  On our way, we were going to go to the Adega Algueira to visit the bodega that has received excellent reviews from Robert Parker, from 90-94 points.  The weather was chilly, and the wind was strong, but we made it to the Bodega only a few minutes late.  The owner, Fernando González, greeted us kindly and then caught us up on the pours.  He had just returned from New York City the previous week where they presented wines at a large Import Show.  He then chatted with us in their Restaurant Castelo, about his wine and travels.  We left there feeling a much higher appreciation for the work that goes into making these wines from the mountainsides.

Grapes selected and carried down to the roads by hand.

Regina Viarum Bodega

We rounded the corner coming down from his restaurant and saw another bodega that had been recommended to us back in Santiago, Regina Viarum Bodega.  There were tractors that were plowing the hillside making even more areas to plant vines.  Any false move and these tractors would roll down the hill quickly.  We joined a tour that was coming and even though it was quick and in Spanish, we were able to see the picking of the grapes and enjoy their two wines that they presented to us, a young wine and a reserve.  I was not able to take the reserve because the driving is so precise in these mountains, it would be crazy to get observed.   We left there and headed to the Parador of Monforte de Lemos, just about 20 minutes away.

Vines are on very steep hills

The landscape quickly changed in those 20 minutes from mountains to flat highlands, with a larger hill with an impressive castle on top.  That was Monforte de Lemos.  Makes it easy when you can see your hotel from miles away.  We drove up to the top and parked in a large plaza next to the Parador and moved in for the night..  The paradors are a great way to see historic sights renovated and reborn.  I think of Quebec and all their churches that sit mostly empty now and could be used for something similar to this, at least the convents.  The 17th Century Palace was regal with large ceilings and a beautiful closed in courtyard with carved stonework.  Our view looked out over the city below with the knights tower for protection.  While too late to get into town for a walk, we did venture down the hill part way to get different views of our housing.  We made our way back up to the Parador and did some laundry and mapped out our dining strategy for the night.  With all the driving, I was happy to stay right there and enjoy a Parador meal, presented in a fine dining experience.  We split a mixed salad and an egg and chorizo pan fried dish with fresh baked bread.  For desert we shared a molten chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.  A la carte made it less than $35.00 for the two of us.

We returned to the laundry room to finish off our clothes and pack up as much as we could for our drive to the Rioja Alta Region again to get back to Abalos.  It would be about 5 hours to get there and we were spending Friday night in town to be ready to greet Carlos from Madrid.  He was part of the Wake Forest University program eight years ago that was sponsored by the State Department.  We've seen him a couple of times on our trips to Spain, and we invited him to come up to the Rioja to check out the area.  We were wondering where to visit, because Carlos said he had been to the Rioja region before.  I texted him to see what he remembered of his last visit, and he responded that he was 3 years old at the time.