Haro to Laguardia

May 21, 2025

The inn we stayed in last night, Los Agustinos, has a coolness factor separate and apart from its place in my personal cycling experience. It was constructed as a convent in 1373 and through the years was a military garrison (1809), and a military hospital (1811) (obviously the later two due to the Peninsular War, part of the never-ending Napoleonic wars). It then became a prison in 1839 and finally a hotel in 1989. I love history and staying in this place is just fun. Happily the rooms have been updated since its time as a prison so we had a tub and a few other creature comforts such as a much-needed cerveza in the minibar fridge. I tried to find out more about the convent but there was no history of it online in English. I gathered the above data from this sign in the Courtyard:

Our comfortable room: no ac but a good open window onto a courtyard did the trick for Dave.

Looking down from our room, we saw this guy catching some rays and Zs

When we arrived around 4 pm yesterday we had a good sense of well-being due to the adventures of the day and by the fact we didn’t get creamed on the climb up the busy N road to Cenicero. Small pleasures. Los Agustinos had us store our bikes in a small alcove down 6 steps off the lobby; our bikes are seriously muddy and we were a little (but only a little) embarrassed to walk them through the lobby of a 4 star hotel with muddy bikes.

Meh, they don't look so bad now. Most of the crud dropped off as we walked them through the lobby. 🙄

We had a fun few hours watching most of the second time trial of the Giro, as Dave successfully worked through getting a connection on the tv. The internet was slow however, and the picture would freeze periodically, so we adjourned to the Cloister, the large and beautiful interior courtyard that makes this hotel feel so historical. Because of the late Spanish dining hour, 8:30 is the earliest reservation and even at that time you are sitting in the dining room all by yourself or maybe with one family with a small child. We have more time to kill than we normally do on these trips.

We had a glass of wine and worked on our journal and wondered who won the time trial, which presumably, we will find out after dinner.

We ate at Restaurant Arrope, across the street, rather than at the hotel. The reviews of the hotel restaurant were mixed and said it was mostly tourists - we are tourists ourselves but….Arrope was a very good charming modern place and Dave ordered a bottle of Muga (at my request). I have a special fondness for Muga. When I was here 20 years ago I toured Muga (it’s just down the road) so whenever I see Muga wines I get a soft cushy feeling. (Dave here: I too have a fondness for Muga. The first time Jill and I dined out in Bend, she took me to a Mediterranean restaurant, now gone unfortunately, and they had Muga on the wine list. At Jill's suggestion I ordered it, it was wonderful, and thus began my love affair of the wines of La Rioja!)

Our meal was good but the sucking pig braised in its juices we ordered for our shared main course was a bit of a shock when it arrived with the trotter (pig foot) fully on display. We rallied because the skin (the “cracklings” if you are a foodie - as Dave is) was pretty amazing. We call this pig candy at home when we indulge.

Jill a little disconcerted by that full on foot.

We also split a wonderful lemon sorbet thingy that turned out to be a milkshake in a champagne glass. The waiter described this as lemon sorbet so we ordered two spoons. He was disturbed because it comes with a straw, not a spoon. We solved the problem by asking for two straws and it was delicious.

You are probably thinking that we will eat anything, and we do. Very little is off the table (pun intended). It certainly makes eating in foreign countries easier. We couldn’t finish off our wine (I know. We were shocked too 😳), so the waiter brought out a brown bag for us to carry it across the street, which felt worse-carrying your booze in a brown bag in public feels a bit desparate.

We concluded the night by watching the rest of the Giro time trial which turned out to be exciting. (For those who don’t care about bike racing - please disregard). Primoz Roglic was somewhat expected to clean up and indeed he did improve his position but the two UAE riders held onto their positions and it was exciting and complicated due to late rain which really slowed down the time trial times for the last 10 guys (all GC candidates).

So, onto the day’s activities:

Our destination today is LaGuardia but we had two stops on the way: the Vivanco Museo de Vino in Briones and the Marques de Riscal Hotel (just to look at it, and if time allowed, maybe enjoy a nice beverage) in Elciego. While we were getting organized outside our hotel, we met two Canadian women (who were social- media adverse so no pic or names). They were on the Camino. They appeared to be Camino junkies having completed a number of them, which they reeled off knowledgeably. They do the full Camino experience, staying in dorms and hostels so consequently their stay in Los Agustinos was a real break for them

It was almost noon by the time we wheeled out of Haro, and on the first turn Dave’s green jacket flew off his bike and by the time we could stop and retrieve it a vehicle had run over it. My observation is that Spanish drivers are not as polite as the French, and they drive faster. It will be a miracle if that jacket makes it home.

It was a great route, tiny, rural roads, spectacular scenery, great weather.

We had to get a shot the Muga winery on our way out of town.

We pulled into the Museum of Wine Culture around 1:15. The building doesn’t fit with its surroundings. It’s a big fancy modern structure with a comprehensive five floor presentation of the history of wine. It had a downloadable English audio guide because the descriptions were solely in Spanish but, as often happens, there was a bit more fussing around with the technology than I prefer, which takes away a bit from the experience. The Museum was almost deserted except for one very large, noisy busload of tourists. Fortunately they finished up as we were starting. I had been thinking we could eat lunch at the Museum cafe but it was fully-booked with the tour group so after our wine education we sat on the deck and split an apple. I had neglected to pack a pilfered sandwich that morning and was regretting that omission.

We got on the road again, and except for one short stretch on a busy road it was a nice, quiet, and scenic road, up and down with some pretty steep pitches. Rioja showed off very well. We arrived in Elciego just to view the Marques De Riscal Hotel, designed by Frank Gehry, but now I was thinking we should stop in the bar and have a snack as it was 4 pm, we hadn’t had lunch, and it was warm out. Unfortunately it was a bust. Our Komoot route did not take us to the hotel - it’s a big property and we fussed around trying to find the entrance. It was annoying because we could see people on the deck of the bar; we just couldn’t find the entrance! We finally just bagged it deciding it wasn’t that big of a deal so we took off expeditiously to ride the last 5 km to LaGuardia. It was a pretty significant uphill ride especially the last km where we took an alley up to the town with a 15 percent gradient.

When we arrived we were on the lookout for a table booking for dinner. I had asked our hotel if we could eat at the hotel that evening. But it turns out Wednesday is a day of rest and their restaurant was closed. (Spain is as bad as France in that regard.) Twenty years ago I had remembered a memorable meal at the Hotel Marixa and we saw it as we crested that steep sucker of a hill, so we quickly stopped, dismounted and went inside to inquire. At the front desk the clerk kindly informed us the Hotel restaurant was closed that evening as well, and indeed, most places were closed. (Wednesday is not only a day of rest, but of starvation for tourists, I guess). We asked for some suggestions of places that might be open and while the clerk was pondering this another couple were right behind us and quickly realized they had the same problem of getting fed so they joined us in the conversation. They were Ruth (an American from Wisconsin) and her German husband Rolf, a recently retired semiconductor engineer. They live in Munich and we wound up sporadically talking to them as we moved outside to find the two restaurants the clerk suggested.

By this time Dave and I were pretty exhausted. It was 5 pm, we were starving and badly in need of a break. Finding the restaurants turned out to be challenging mainly because our brains were a bit fried and map reading is not our best skill. My phone battery had died so we could not use google maps and were relying on a local tourist map in German the clerk had handed us. The first restaurant was closed and the bartender suggested we just show up at 8 pm. Eventually, and by pure happenstance we ran into the second recommended restaurant and successfully made a booking. I was regretting we hadn’t suggested having dinner with our German/American couple - or at least getting their picture.

Finding our hotel was easy but getting checked in was not. There are some weird extra checkin procedures in Spain that are exaggerated when the desk clerk speaks halting English, and we speak no Spanish. Our hotel, Castel Collado, is an old charming castle that has a a ton of steps. Unfortunately the bike storage was two levels down which meant we carried our panniers up four flights, there being no lift. The woman checking us in felt so bad for us she brought us two beers from the bar even though the bar was closed. We didn't object.

We are staying in the room titled Sancho Abarco, but really it should be called the Green room.

It is a large airy room with a cool ceiling in the mode of being shabby chic.

Dave had managed to book a table at Los Parajes, and we wandered into the main square at 8 pm (It seems like they accommodate earlier dining times for tourists.) As we were pausing in the main square I saw our German/American couple and went over and impulsively asked if they wanted to join us for dinner together. So they did.

That was really delightful, unexpected and so interesting to find out about people’s lives, especially because they live in Munich, one of our favorite cities. They live in a flat south of Munich and Ruth even knew our metro stop, Giesing, and our public Storage unit on Chiemgastrasse. She is a librarian and Rolf retired six months ago and they are still feeling their way as to what their life is going to look like in this next chapter. I think they thought we were insane for our extended touring, especially after David showed Rolf some shots and data on our life and the amenities in Bend. We hope to see them in Munich this fall and I would love to get Ruth (and Rolf too!) out to Bend for a visit. Her family is still in Wisconsin so she goes back to the US pretty frequently, especially because her mom is there and she is elderly.

It was an excellent way to end a long and somewhat challenging day - why we tour.

Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 876 km (544 miles)

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