Recover and Rest
Wednesday March 25, 2015
Sometimes you just have to take a rest on vacation. We were both so exhausted after yesterday's large meal and indulgence on wines that we both were just ready to relax and enjoy the day. We were both a little under the weather and fighting a cough that was lingering since the weekend. It was good for us to just hang out in the room and get in some much needed sleep and shut eye.
During the afternoon, we decided to take some photos of the areas that we have been too before, but haven't spent that much time this visit to the Rioja Alavesa. Things were now melted and only the distant mountaintops were covered in snow. The rest of the land was wet with melted snow and small puddles of mirrors reflecting the blue and white skies above. The weather was as the Irish would say, changeable. One minute it was sleeting or snowing, and the next it was raining. Followed by a few minutes of strong sun and all the while wind whipping up and down the hills. You could see the fog forming on the mountainside with the snow as if dry ice was mixed into the hillside.
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| Sunny - yet cold and even snow and sleet falling |
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| Sky captured on the ground too. |
We were able to get by and see Eduardo Monge and get a few bottles of his wine too. We were first introduced to his wine in Valencia by a wine market merchant in the Mercado Central. We finished up one of his bottles of Ane, named after his daughter, this afternoon while writing the blog. A very nice find in Rioja for an almost one man shop. We had bottle of his white too - but we had to drink that before going home because the labels were not ready, so we worried Customs would dump it on us. So more for us to have while in Rioja. It was a mix of over 12 varieties of whites. Very good, but still young as he promised it would taste. He recommends to have it at Christmas. Sometimes Christmas comes early - and this year it was in March.
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| Eduardo Monge at Viña Ane |
When we were able to eat again, we had a light tapas in the hotel of salad and caramelized goat cheese that swayed us back to the table. We would be leaving the next day and Jose Luis was serving us that evening. We decided to break out one of our Albariño wines to share with him and Merche. It was good to just really unwind in the hotel. We were the only guests that night, and it was very quiet. Great to just relax and melt into the beds.
