Read more about the article La Rioja – Spain
La Rioja - Spain

La Rioja – Spain

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Birthplace of Castilian and Basque languages

Another weekend, and another excitement for getting to new places never been before, with the addition of those being in Spain, at the world renown region of La Rioja, from where some of the world’s best wines are produced. Spain might not look like a huge country, but it’s big, with each of the 17 autonomous regions very clearly defined with their own traditions, culinary and even architecture. And for me as Spanish that I am, it’s been so far impossible to be on every capital of province nor every region. That’s good news anyway as it means there are many trips to Spain to look ahead in the coming years.

Logroño is the capital of the autonomous region of La Rioja. A very small city which does not require any longer than half a day to visit in full, but the perfect base in order to visit some of the most famous wineries in the world. Not only for their exceptional wines, but for their incredible breathtaking 21st century architecture blending with the ancient buildings. More and more is this trend of getting a top architect to create a new masterpiece, and the “wine route” is nowadays both ways: for the wine lovers itself, and for the architecture lovers.

This was our main point on this weekend where apart of visiting the city, we also managed to go to the top 4 wineries, each of them by an incredible architect. It is sadly to mention here the death of one of the architects just few days before, Zaha Hadid. Her pavillion added onto the historical buildings of the Bodegas Lopez de Heredia in the village of Haro is one of the most delicate I’ve ever seen. (more…)

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Read more about the article Jerez – Spain
Jerez - Spain

Jerez – Spain

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Phoenician Xera

Coming to the last city we visited over this weekend: Jerez de la Frontera. In my opinion, the most beautiful from the three we visited (being the other two Tarifa and Cadiz), and a pity not to have had more time to enjoy it even further, with the visit to some of the wineries. Good weather, great cafes and terraces, nice bars; it all crawls for a great glass of sweet wine, the sherry wine this region is so famous for. In any case, this means a returning to the city is a must then.

A few and key facts to understand the past importance and monumentality. Jerez was the very first Spanish city to have street lighting. The first savings bank in Spain (Caja de Ahorros de Jerez). It is the world’s capital of sherry wine; a small walk along the city and you will see how many wineries you find in the way. And culture and tradition-wise talking, it is the center of horsemanship and flamenco dancing in Spain. Home of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, school comparable to the world famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

In any case and with such rich history you might think the city must be splendid everywhere, but unfortunately it is not, in the sense of the large amount of abandoned buildings, many of which are now slowly been taken and refurbished. Some of them really shocking to see falling apart. Not worrying too much, this situation will change in few years’ time. (more…)

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