Day 116
The wine fountain
We had a late start riding as we serviced the bikes this morning and also spent a while chatting to a fellow camper/cyclist, Raul. He had already done some major tours and after a break is on his way again. He was full of advice, but also very Interested in our trip. We exchanged contact details and hope to meet on the road somewhere in the future.
The EV1 followed the old highway N1110 apart from the odd diversion into a village. This meant smooth tarmac all the way. The road was so quiet with barely any traffic it was wonderful if not that challenging. The views were of dramatic mountains in the distance with vineyards all around. We are in Rioja country!
We were on the look out for the Bodegas Irache. We were feeling a bit thirsty and rumour has it that there is a fountain that flows endlessly with Rioja wine. No way could we pass this up even if it was 11am in the morning. Sure enough, we soon came across a very large sign, promising us a free drink. The Benedictine monks of the Monastery, Santa Maria La Real de Iranche, next door had offered a glass to the Camino Pilgrims and the modern winery has taken over. The monks also ran a hospital there for weary travellers, but is now closed and the future plans for the old monastery is to convert it into upmarket accommodation for Camino Pilgrims, plans delayed due to Covid. But I digress, back to the wine! Each day approximately 125 bottles are drunk, we took a small glass each, and very nice it was too. Revived we popped into the museum of the winery, which was really interesting, but the highlight for Tom was watching a wagon full of grapes tipped into a metal vat. Boys!
We were not going too far today as the heat and the hills were slowing us down. We toyed with joining the Camino walkers in one of the dormitory style hotels along the route. However, when we arrived in Logrono, we found it to be quite a big city so we booked into a campsite and will aim to try again tomorrow in a much smaller town, where we think it will mainly be Camino Pilgrims staying rather than a mix of general tourist.
