Day 12 - Exploring the Rioja area

Today's plan was for a relaxing day! Breakfast was provided by the accommodation but not until 9, so it was a slow morning. We headed out in the car to explore. First stop on the agenda claimed to be one of the most beautiful villages in Spain and was recommended by the receptionist here at the accommodation. We got there at about 10 - which worked out well as we discovered towards the end of our visit that buses of people were arriving! The town - Liguardia, is located on top of a hill and is surrounded by a wall. Its foundation dates back to the 10th century as a castle for the Kingdom of Navarre. Cars cannot enter the walled area, so the cobbled streets and narrow alleys are only accessible on foot.

There were cute little shops and the locals were out in force, getting their bread from the Panaderia Artesana - we also got some for our dinner. I think they might've been getting in before the bus loads swarmed in.

We did a bit of wine tasting and bought a bottle of white and a red for later in the trip.

After a walk in and around the town, we a went back around the outside of the walls. It certainly was a beautiful place.

Then it was onto Lognoro, this town is on the path of the Camino de Santiago and was also recommended by the receptionist for a visit - it's the closest city to where we are staying and it's the capital of the La Rioja area. It sits on the River Ebro.

It still has an active bullfighting ring, they were advertising an upcoming event throughout the town.

We got some supplies for tea.

Then back home for a relaxing arvo. It's a sunny, cloud free 24 degrees - beautiful compared to what I read Tassie and Victoria are experiencing this weekend!

A platter and wine for dinner and a late evening walk. The weather is so mild and there is no wind.

To increase my fibre intake, on the 3km walk around the vines, I find a few ripe figs, an apple and we find some more almonds. We sit down and shell them and take one bite and instantly spit it out. I have never understood why they claim marzipan is almond flavored. I've never had a almond that tasted like that, until today! Yuck, it was so strong. It turns out there are sweet almonds and bitter almonds, and we found some bitter ones. Apparently they can kill you, they have cyanide in them and that's the marzipan taste. So if we're dead in the morning, it was the almonds (apparently an adult would need to eat quite a few, which nobody would do, they were truly terrible). Here are the 'happy with our haul' before shots 😂.

Tomorrow we're driving to Bilbao and dropping the car off. It's public transport for us for the rest of the trip!