An Immersion in Art & Architecture & Spanish in Galicia – My First Solo Trip (April 24-28)

As members of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, we have taken part in several special events. Among the recent options, we noticed a trip focused on art and architecture that looked interesting, “Contemporary Galicia, Peering at the Atlantic.” The trip was 4 days and 3 nights with a super ambitious itinerary, which led Jeff to decide to skip it. I decided it was time to make my first solo trip.

The group included 22 people, plus our guide Mikel, who has led trips all over the world and is a true Renaissance man. There were 5 couples, 1 mother/daughter pair, and 10 women traveling solo or as friends. I estimate the average age of the group at 70+.

After a quick flight from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela, we headed south to Pontevedra to visit the RAC Foundation, hosted by founders Carlos Roson and Julieta Rojo. They showed us their current exhibition, and the parts of their collection displayed in their residence above the foundation space.

Later that day, we viewed the private home collection of Marianela Saez Silva in A Coruña. It included a fabulous Hockney, among many other notable pieces, and even a large garden sculpture.

Both hosts shared the philosophy that art should be communal and not hidden away. While I agree with this concept, walking through their homes was somewhat awkward, especially due to the size of our group. These were the nicest residences I have visited in Spain by far.

We also had a guided tour of the sculpture exhibition at the headquarters of Afundacion Obra Social Abanca in A Coruña, a cultural center in a stunning building designed to look like a wave, which my photo attempts failed to show.

After that full day, which included a lovely lunch, we finally checked into our hotel in A Coruña, which is a beautiful seaside city. It was clear that Jeff had made the right decision for him, and that I would be very tired when this trip ended.

Friday included 5 stops and a lot of time on the bus. We had a guided tour of the private collection at the Maria Jose Jove Foundation, which was displayed in a museum setting. The art was diverse and extensive.

Those small balls are made from a South American tree nut with carved messages, some are in protest and others inspirational.

We then saw the Irving Penn Centennial exhibition at the MOP Foundation, located in the A Coruña port. Penn is best known as a Vogue fashion photographer, but he explored many other subject matters. Our guide was a tremendous storyteller and shared some fascinating tales.

We ventured down to Corrubedo to see works by British architect David Chipperfield, including eating lunch at a local bar he designed.

Afterwards we met two sculptors at their studios. First we stopped at the Manolo Paz Contemporary Art Foundation in Cambados, where Paz led us through his outdoor estate. His sculptures are predominantly nature based and the setting was peaceful.

Paz is standing next to me in the group photo.

Francisco Leiro’s studio was an amazing lesson in how giant wooden sculptures are made. I can attest that the artist has all 10 fingers. He was incredibly patient with our questions.

Leiro is the tall man in the center of the group photo.

Saturday, we spent the day in Santiago de Compostela for an architectural journey. We explored the complex of buildings that constitute the Galicia City of Culture, including the Library, Archive and Museum, designed by Peter Eisenman. Their design and materials are intended to reflect the local geography, archaeology, and history. It is one of those projects that never fully came to fruition due to significant cost overruns.

The views down to the famous cathedral were most impressive. An added bonus were the Manolo Paz sculptures that look like donuts.

We next saw an odd mix of buildings in a city park, none of which I found particularly attractive or photo-worthy but certainly made for an interesting study in contrast. We moved on to David Chipperfield’s RIA Foundation, where he showed us around personally and explained their mission of sustainability … in English, which was nice for me.

Chipperfield is dead center in the photo. Lunch at A Cantina RIA was so good that I’m taking Jeff back when we return to Galicia in June for a wine trip. Afterwards we had a tour of the Galician Center for Contemporary Art, another architectural wonder. Finally we made our way to the cathedral to consider the classical Portico de la Gloria, where we also witnessed part of the service in honor of the Pope’s funeral, which was that day.

Sunday began with a coastal walk in A Coruña, where we saw more sculptures by Manolo Paz and others as we enjoyed the views towards Hercules Tower and the sea and sunshine.

The views from the exterior of the Casa del Hombre-DOMUS science museum on such a sunny day were spectacular.

Our last stop, before our farewell lunch, was a guided tour of the Belles Artes Museum, whose collection of Galician artists was impressive, including works by our new friends Paz and Leiro.

As you can see, it was an exhilarating, edifying, yet exhausting trip. I only ate dinner one of the three nights, and not because I was hungry, but more because I wanted to walk around the area near the hotel before leaving. Otherwise, I was too tired and needed a break from listening to and speaking Spanish all day. I understood almost everything but noticed that if I lost concentration for a moment, I would be lost for a few minutes before refocusing. 

Overall, it was a fabulous trip. Everything was well-organized and executed with precision, which was key considering all the stops we made. The group was highly sociable and pleasant. I learned a lot and made some friends. And traveling without having to make many decisions was a delight. If another interesting trip was offered, I would certainly consider it.

Hasta pronto,

Shana

Dog Sitting

As soon as we returned from our trip to Slovakia, Hungary, and La Rioja, we had a visitor for four nights. Fortunately, this visitor only weighs about nine pounds. Unfortunately, she is a bundle of energy (despite the impression from the first picture below).

Oliva belongs to a friend of our friend Maje; and, while her owner was in Brazil over Semana Santa, Maje was dog-sitting. But, she also had plans to travel during that time, so she outsourced four nights to us. 

As most of our readers know, we are huge dog fans, so we thought this would be no problem and loads of fun. Unfortunately, several factors made this more difficult than we expected. First, we had not had a dog in 8 years, and we hadn't had a young, active dog (Oliva is not yet two) in even more years. Second, having a dog in an apartment, especially one on the fifth floor, is much more complicated than in a house with a yard. Third, it rained a good amount and Oliva doesn't like the rain much.

Fortunately, Oliva is extremely sweet, and is so cute that when we walked her, we could see people on the street notice her. She was particularly adorable when we took her to the beach, which she loves, although she is not a dog that will go in the ocean (which is a good thing because we did not want to have to give her a bath).

So, we learned that we will not be getting another dog anytime soon, if ever. Frankly, we're not even sure  we would take Oliva overnight again, although we would gladly watch her during the day.

Hasta pronto.

Jeff and Shana

La Rioja: Friends, Vineyards & Bikes

We always try to meet up with friends who are visiting Spain or other nearby destinations. Thus, we were disappointed when we couldn’t see our dear friends Jill & Peter in October, when they were in Madrid helping their daughter settle into a teaching position, because we were in the US. So, when they planned another visit, we knew we would not miss seeing them in Spain again – even if it meant meeting them directly upon our return from Hungary.

Upon landing in Bilbao from Vienna, we took a bus into the city to then catch a bus to Logroño where we arrived around 1 pm. Jill & Peter were waiting for us there, having driven from Zaragoza where they got to witness a traditional Spanish Semana Santa celebration the night before – something we´ve never seen despite living here more than 7 years.

We hadn't been in Logroño since February 2019, so we were overdue for a visit. We explored the city a bit and then took them on a pintxo crawl on Laurel Street, where there are numerous well-known pintxo bars. We tried whatever looked best and we were not disappointed. The last place we visited only served 1 thing – sauteed mushrooms with butter and garlic and topped with shrimp. The place was packed!

Our main adventure was a full day self-guided bike ride that included 2 winery stops. It was a beautiful day that started out cool but eventually warmed up.

We rode more than 30 miles – thankfully we were smart enough to rent e-bikes! There were several hills that made having the power assist essential. We could see snow in the distance, and the vines were just starting to bloom. A portion of where we rode is part of the Camino del Santiago, so we passed a number of pilgrims.

We enjoyed the two tastings at Don Jacobo/Bodegas Corral and Bodega Finca Valpiedra. Thankfully both wineries were very understanding regarding our tardy arrival. It took us a bit longer than expected to make it to each.

We did make it nearly on time to meet Jill & Peter’s daughter back in Logrono and then enjoyed a fabulous dinner that we had earned.

On our last day in La Rioja we visited the Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture, which was as good as we remember from our visit in 2011.

We took a bus back to San Sebastian and Jill, Peter & Hailey headed to Burgos, before returning to Madrid.

It was a great visit – good friends, good wine, good food, good scenery. Can you ask for anything more?

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

Adventures Outside Budapest -- Eger & Tokaj

After six nights in Budapest, we rented a car and headed into the Hungarian countryside to explore two of Hungary's wine regions. Before driving to our first destination, we stopped outside Budapest at Memento Park, a site dedicated to monuments from Hungary's Communist period. The first thing we saw was a vintage Trabant, a car made by East Germany from 1957-1991. Performance was clearly not the goal, as the car is listed as going from 0 to 100 km/h (about 62 mph) in 21 seconds.

The monuments mostly were dedicated to workers or soldiers. Of course, Lenin had a strong presence too. As you can see below, they are generally of very large stature.

The park also contains an interesting exhibit about the events leading up to the 1989 fall of Communism, which definitely helped add to our understanding of the country's history. It's terrific that Hungary had the foresight to preserve these items and use them in an educational manner. There were cheeky references to the failures of the Soviet system.

We headed to the city of Eger, which also gives its name to one of Hungary's 22 wine districts. Eger turned out to be a really great little city with a significant part in Hungarian history. First, it has a lovely Basilica, which was very close to the apartment we rented. It was free to enter, in contrast the the large churches in Budapest.

Second, the city has a nice central plaza with an old statue of Istvan Dobo, the most important person in Eger's history (more on him below), along with a lovely city hall, and a modern fountain that we suspect is very popular in the hot Hungarian summers.

Finally, the castle is renowned. During the wars between Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, Eger was near the border between the two and was the site of several important battles. In 1552, an attack by the Turkish armies on Eger Castle was successfully defeated by Captain Istvan Dobo and a small number of soldiers under his command. This successful battle became a central moment in Hungarian history in part through a novel written about it in the late 1800's (and movie of the novel released in 1968): Eclipse of the Crescent Moon, which remains one of the best-known novels in Hungary. This battle did mostly destroy the castle, which was then rebuilt in its current form. The battle also created the mythical name for one of Eger's best known red wine's: bull's blood.

Unfortunately, Dobo's 1552 victory was short lived. The Turks returned in 1596 and took the rebuilt castle, which initiated a period of 91 years of Ottoman rule. As in the rest of Hungary, very little remains from this period, but the minaret from one of the city's mosques survived.

Near Eger, we did two excellent tastings at St. Andrea Winery and Bolyki Winery & Vineyards, which were very different, but demonstrated to us that the region makes very good wines at many price points. We learned that during the Communist period, Hungary made a lot of low-quality wine to serve the Communist "market" for all of the Soviet-bloc countries. Since 1989, the industry has been privatized and many small vineyards are making wines of much higher quality, but because of the limited production, they are not easily avaiable outside of Hungary.

After leaving Eger, we drove to the Tokaj (pronounced "To-kai") region, which is probably the most famous wine region in Hungary. The initial mention of this region was in a document from 1413, and Louis XIV described their sweet Aszu wines as "the wine of Kings, the king of wines."

On our first night in the Tokaj area we had a lovely dinner at the elegant Sauska winery, which provided great views of the surrounding countryside.

The next day, we did a tasting at Disznoko, which was recommended by Tomas, the sommelier at dinner our first night in Budapest. The vineyards are beautiful, and we had a great day to walk in them.

The winery is quite large, and we saw their impressive collection of older bottles. The tasting itself was done in a natural wine cellar, and, although we generally prefer dry wines, we were very impressed with the famous sweet wines of the region.

We did not stay in the small city of Tokaj, but took some time to visit. Clearly wine tourism is a central part of the draw of the town.

On our drive back to the city of Sarospatak where we stayed, we stopped at a series of wine cellars that were built into a hill near Tokaj hundreds of years ago. Many of them have been owned by families for generations, while some are owned by wineries. We entered one of the latter and try a bit of wine with an employee who was from Michigan (of course). That cellar was quite impressive, including a beautiful stained-glass window.

Finally, the town of  Sarospatak also had a castle, but it was much less impressive than the one in Eger (and less historically important). Essentially we did very little in town other than take a walk around the castle grounds as almost everything was closed on Palm Sunday.  

Shana couldn't resist getting a photo at each sign, which certainly ensure you remember where you were.

And that concludes our visit to Hungary. We returned to Budapest and dropped the car before catching a train to Vienna from where we flew back to Bilbao. However, we did not immediately return home as we planned to meet friends in the Rioja region for more wine (and food).

More about that soon.

Jeff and Shana