Haro - Spain

Left France on Tuesday 19th, crossed the border into Spain and to our next destination, Haro, which is the capital of La Rioja's wine producing region. Most people seem to use this camp site as a stopover as it is only a couple of hours drive from Santander but we have decided to stay a few days to explore the town and visit one of the many (19 in total) wineries.   We chose to visit the oldest and most traditional Bodega in Haro, dating from 1877. It was a fascinating tour - like stepping back in time with all the original vats and presses still used today and still owned by the same family. Our tour guide was a daughter of the family and part of the tour took us into the cellars with one of the cellars being over 100 metres long with 2 rows of barrels standing 6 high. They still employ 3 master coopers who make the new barrels and repair some of the old ones. Incidently some of the older barrels are shipped to Scotland to be used in the Whisky industry. The tour took about an hour and then came the wine tasting. We succumbed to temptation and bought a couple of very fine wines which have been stowed away not to be opened until we return home.

Harry and I had our first experience of a traditional Tapas bar in Spain which we both thoroughly enjoyed and bits if Spanish are slowly coming back so it's not too difficult in the bars and restaurants. It was fun exploring the old town with winding, narrow streets.

The temperatures have dropped to below freezing at night so we decided to move on to a place called Aranjuez, south of Madrid. We programmed Tom who told us it would take 4.5 hours. We assumed that Tom would take us round the Madrid ring road - but Tom (as we have previously discovered) has a sense of humour. He took us right through the centre of Madrid and in some places the road had 6 lanes, so along with the odd accident (not to us), demonstration and Friday afternoon traffic the total time on the road was 6 hours.

We have settled in at our new camp site, it is a lot warmer, back to shorts and t-shirts again and we plan to stay for a wee while as there is lots to see and do in and around Aranjuez.

But more about Aranjuez next week - so until then.

Bye  Kath and Harry xxx