Thursday March 26, 2015
All good things must come to an end, and today was our last breakfast at a hotel Abalos Spain before our exit. Cathy found a Air BnB spot that is about 30 minutes from where we are staying that is less than $100 / day and it has Internet access and it is big enough for us to spread out and finish our work on the blog and get our thoughts together. Even though we drove by to just check out the area, we couldn't see inside. So far Air BnB has been really good, and there wasn't any reason to think that this wouldn't be just as nice. We arrived early as we could to meet with Nadine and Oscar, our hosts who have been restoring the 18th Century house that is in the first main square upon entering the small town of Sajazarra. The name to me sounds like a old Muslum city in the middle of the desert. It isn't, although it does have the history that speaks to you around all the corners in this quaint village of just a couple hundred full time residents.
We left Abalos and went to visit Miguel Merino - an owner of his own Bodega and man who has ties to North Carolina. We had visited him earlier in our trip, and went back to get some pictures and finish our questions on what he wants to have to people think when they drink his wine. He is so animated and gracious - it imparts into the wine he produces. His main purpose for wine is that it is enjoyed. Wine is at all great events, and he wants his wine to contribute to the best of times that we all have around a table with food and wine and happy memories. That would be the one thing he would like to have remembered about the wines he produces.
We got to Sajazarra right around lunch time and we stopped at Asador Ochavo. The pictures say how good lunch was for us.
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| Fresh from the farm |
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| Chorizo on the grill |
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| Blood Sausage - not our favorite |
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| Awesome main course of Cod and Pork! |
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| Screaming for Ice Cream! |
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| 12 euros and well worth it. |
We've been around the block here in Rioja for a while. We love Abalos because of its location in the Rioja, and Sajazarra is one of those small areas where you could base yourself to visit lots of wonderful town. The larger towns like Haro and Vitoria are less than a hour away and there is always Briones and San Vicente de la Sonsierra that are less than 30 minutes away. The town doesn't have a main store, so it is serviced by food trucks that come into town and beep their horn to let you know they're open for business. They hit a couple of spots and fresh bread and all kinds of essentials are there for you to buy out of the back of the truck. A scale slides out and you can buy all kinds of frozen goods, milk, yogurts and cold cuts. Then you can go to the city of Haro in 20 minutes for a larger stores for bigger supplies.
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| A place we'd like to call home. It is for someone! |
Even better - the nights provide a sky like Montana. Far from the city, the lights are out and you can see the twinkle of distant hill top towns that have just a dozen or so occupied homes. People are moving out to the country though to restore these houses to their former glory. The "crisis" has slowed the renewal, but it hasn't stopped it. And even in this small town of less than 100, you can find 2 mid-sized wineries - and a full fledged medieval castle with a winery that is the only one with a miracle attached to it.
We found a small restaurant that was offered all kinds of grilled food over a fire from the twigs and roots from the vineyards. We went for lunch and had a very nice bottle of Rioja Tempranillo that cost only 12 euros. Lunch consisted of 3 appetizers; tomato and onion salad, small chorizo grilled, and a blood and rice sausage. Second course was your preference for meat or fish grilled, and then a dessert of your choice. The feast costs only 18 euros and was a great value. Cathy had a Riojan Cod and I had the special Pork cutlet that was like boneless pork ribs. Intertwined with fat and dripping with flavor, the pork was the clear winner. Cathy did say that she was glad to have some fish for a change, even if she were a little jealous on the pork.
We went back to the house on the square and settled in to the comfortable surroundings. With a real washing machine, we decided it was time to do some laundry. After hanging out all the clothes throughout the house to dry, we climbed into the bed and went to sleep after another great day. Glad to know that we did land softly from our Abalos comfort spot.
