On Friday night the town of Elciego was dead. There were only two restaurants and both opened at 8.30pm: too late for me, so I went back to the Casa Rural Rojanda and prepared a mushroom cup-a-soup from my emergency rations.
The next morning was dull and misty and there had been a shower before I got up. The way to Laguardia was on a quiet country road (no Camino tracks here) and mostly uphill for 6 kms. This is the Rioja wine country, with grape vines as far as the eye can see, now turning red and brown in their Autumn colours. I saw a group of pickers arrive in 3 white vans to start work at 9.00 am. The grapes are put in a cart on the back of a tractor. It is lined with a yellow tarpaulin in my photo. The load goes straight to the crusher in town.
Laguardia is another hill town and it took me some time to climb up there and locate the Hospederia de Los Parajes. This is my Saturday night splurge! (Booked weeks ago). The town is full of tourists who've come for the weekend. Everything is about the wine, even the toiletries claim to be made from the stuff!
The hotel has a wine cellar, two floors below ground, where I had a late lunch of goats cheese salad. One glass of wine was on the house. I sampled some Verdejo and some Albariño. Both were delicious! Then a siesta was called for!
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