Burgos view, and a day in La Rioja
Now that I’ve shown you the old part of Burgos, and a bit of the town’s architecture, I want to share with you some of the images taken from the view platform above the cathedral, a must-stop for a visitor of Burgos.
Burgos castle (photo source: Expo Castilla)
Just above the cathedral of Burgos, there are ruins of a castle, built all the way back in 9th century as a defense against the Moors. The castle was destructed in 1813 by the army of Napoleon and what you can see there today, is merely a remaining wall of what once used to be a great fortress. Unfortunately we couldn’t enter the castle, since the visits in the cold part of year must be previously arranged. Protected by coniferous woods, the castle spot provides an awesome view of the town of Burgos, as you can see in the following photos:
At the view platform
The view platform offers a half-circle display of the major sightseeing points of Burgos. Here you can see the cathedral on a display - and the real one in the background
Spain is the world's third biggest producer of wind power - if you look carefully, you will see a wind farm in the background of the photo
A compass at the view platform
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La Rioja is the east-neighbor region of Burgos. I’ve been there once before and totally fell in love with the landscape. Probably because it resembles a bit the environment I grew up in, with lots of green everywhere (Castilla y León is green too but not as much as La Rioja. I still long to visit Asturias and Galicia, the greenest parts of Spain.)
The view of Riojan landscape from the car - vineyards everywhere
So, one day of our short stay in Burgos, we made a trip to the north-west of La Rioja, to a village called Briones – home to Dinastía Vivanco, a renowned Riojan dynasty of wine makers who have built the Museum of the culture of wine, an incredible collection of everything wine-related – this museum is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions (located next to the bodega and covering 9000sqm of space), where one can learn about origins of wine, from the beginning of wine-making more than 10 000 years ago, the tools used throughout history, the different techniques applied in the process, learning to define wine’s character, and about instruments and materials used in the maturing of wine and bottling process… Not to mention the huge collection of corkscrews (3000 pieces!) from all around the world. The Museum is simply stunning, I’ve never seen something similar in my life. There’s also a restaurant and a shop inside the Museum. Absolutely worth the visit if you ever find yourself in La Rioja. Unfortunately, photo cameras were not permitted inside the building, so I only have these photos for you that were taken outside:
The visit at the Museum made us hungry, so we drove off to a nearby village Haro to try some regional specialties in a restaurant with long tradition, known specially for their cordero asado (roasted leg of lamb).
When you enter this restaurant, you find yourself in front of the big oven, where all the lamb legs are being roasted right in front of you. The kind cook allowed me to take some photos of the place:
Most of the dishes at “Terete” are served in rustic clay pots which gives an even more delicious look to already very tasty food. The place was completely packed with people even if it was a workday. No wonder, with all the plates they serve! Check it for yourself:
Pochas - butter bean stew with chorizo. Juanpi can not forget it, so good it was
Menestra de verduras - vegetable "minestra" (=a soup) which was nothing alike the Italian one as I know it: this one had almost no liquid, the vegetables were fried (mushrooms, roasted red peppers, artichokes, beans...). Very tasty but quite filling for a starter
Cordero asado - roasted leg of lamb, the star dish of the house
Pimientos rellenos de setas - mushroom and bechamel stuffed roasted red peppers in red pepper sauce
Pimientos rellenos de ternera - roasted red peppers, stuffed with minced veal: both plates of stuffed peppers were excellent. La Rioja is well known for its roasted peppers with a stronger, smoky flavor
The food was, of course, flushed down with a bottle of local drink. This was one of the best restaurant lunches I’ve had in a long time (says a person with rather demanding palate) and I hope to return there one day.
Our day in La Rioja did not end with lunch – off we went to visit another lovely village on the border between La Rioja and Basque country…
(continues)
