La Rioja!
MMk, so since I left of
Wednesday, June 2nd: Finished Marketing Trabajo. Begged Mexican girl to proofread. Lo he entregado. That night- Mendaur with the chicas. Was much more sober than everyone else. Got home round 3:30
Thursday, June 3rd: Christina, Nathalie (Austrian visiting friend of Christina, not my French Canadian Nathalie, who is in Paris this weekend) and I were supossed to meet at the bus station at 7:45. I was there, they weren't. I figured they probably slept in, since we were out pretty late the night before (well, a few hours before.) I couldn't reach her because her cell phone broke the night before (which is very sad, because it was one of thos cool PDA/digcamera phones.) So they show up @ 8:14 for the 8:15 bus. Driver tells us we can't actually buy tickets on the bus, so Christina runs across the plaza to the office. Thank God the guy waited for us. The ride was terrible. Christina explained why she was so late: She had stopped at the ATM on the way, but it wouldn't let her take out any money. Turns out she can only take out 400€ a week, and she had already withdrawn a lot to pay rent that week. So now she had no cash. She was on the phone (Nathalie's phone) with the bank and her Mom the entire time. Lots of German. THe road was curvey, and we had to sit in the back because we were so late, so we felt terrible the whole time. I actually got sick :o( NOT FUN! We didn't even have time to stop & wash up at the bus station in Vitoria because the bus for Laguardia was leaving just as we pulled up. Can't complain, since it was our fault that the bus was late in the first place. The bus to Laguardia was much nicer. No problems. We were kind of converned about missing our stop, because the bus always just stopped at the side of the road and there was no way to know which city we were in. So at almost every stop Christina screamed "Is this Laguardia?!" So Right before we finally got to Laguardia, the driver yelled, "WE'RE ABOUT TO STOP IN LAGUARDIA!!" over the speakers. The entire bus burst out laughing. Good times.
Our luck changed as soon as we got off the bus. We weren't sure where the house was, but as soon as we got off the bus, someone called Christina's name. The woman actually came to the bus to pick us up! Isn't that sweet?! She led us through the adorable walled city. So cute! It's from the 1500s and the streets are soooo narrow. We got settled in the house and then did some exploring. The people in the tourist office were SO nice, and approximately 2.3 billion times more helpful than those en San Seabastián. Lunch outside in cute café. Talked to a couple from Kentucky touring vineyards. All of the tourists in Laguardia seems so much more sophisticated than those in San Seb. I guess that's because they appreciate wine, instead of sitting on the beach and smoking up all day. I like to think my vacation mindset is a healthy mix of those 2 :o)
So we walked around the city a while. Ended up sitting on a nice bench outside the church and watching the school kids chase soccer balls. Eventually, we kind of fell asleep on the bench. Nice, sunny bench. The locals probably thought we were nuts. Christina said she felt homeless, because she has no phone, no money, and she's sleeping on a bench.
At 4 we went on a cheesy tour of a Bodega en la ciudad. It seemed like a tourist trap to me, but it was still interesting. And anything with a free tasting is OK with me! During the tasting, this guy Russel started talking to me. He's from California and he does consulting for a few wineries there. He and his friend Gary, who owns vineyards in CA, are trraveling around the wine countries of Spain and France to see how they do things differently.
I have a TON more to say about our adventures with Russel and Gary, and about last night also, but I'm meeting Mary in a minute. We're going to see El Día de Mañana. This post was getting too long anyway :o)
Have a great week!
Wednesday, June 2nd: Finished Marketing Trabajo. Begged Mexican girl to proofread. Lo he entregado. That night- Mendaur with the chicas. Was much more sober than everyone else. Got home round 3:30
Thursday, June 3rd: Christina, Nathalie (Austrian visiting friend of Christina, not my French Canadian Nathalie, who is in Paris this weekend) and I were supossed to meet at the bus station at 7:45. I was there, they weren't. I figured they probably slept in, since we were out pretty late the night before (well, a few hours before.) I couldn't reach her because her cell phone broke the night before (which is very sad, because it was one of thos cool PDA/digcamera phones.) So they show up @ 8:14 for the 8:15 bus. Driver tells us we can't actually buy tickets on the bus, so Christina runs across the plaza to the office. Thank God the guy waited for us. The ride was terrible. Christina explained why she was so late: She had stopped at the ATM on the way, but it wouldn't let her take out any money. Turns out she can only take out 400€ a week, and she had already withdrawn a lot to pay rent that week. So now she had no cash. She was on the phone (Nathalie's phone) with the bank and her Mom the entire time. Lots of German. THe road was curvey, and we had to sit in the back because we were so late, so we felt terrible the whole time. I actually got sick :o( NOT FUN! We didn't even have time to stop & wash up at the bus station in Vitoria because the bus for Laguardia was leaving just as we pulled up. Can't complain, since it was our fault that the bus was late in the first place. The bus to Laguardia was much nicer. No problems. We were kind of converned about missing our stop, because the bus always just stopped at the side of the road and there was no way to know which city we were in. So at almost every stop Christina screamed "Is this Laguardia?!" So Right before we finally got to Laguardia, the driver yelled, "WE'RE ABOUT TO STOP IN LAGUARDIA!!" over the speakers. The entire bus burst out laughing. Good times.
Our luck changed as soon as we got off the bus. We weren't sure where the house was, but as soon as we got off the bus, someone called Christina's name. The woman actually came to the bus to pick us up! Isn't that sweet?! She led us through the adorable walled city. So cute! It's from the 1500s and the streets are soooo narrow. We got settled in the house and then did some exploring. The people in the tourist office were SO nice, and approximately 2.3 billion times more helpful than those en San Seabastián. Lunch outside in cute café. Talked to a couple from Kentucky touring vineyards. All of the tourists in Laguardia seems so much more sophisticated than those in San Seb. I guess that's because they appreciate wine, instead of sitting on the beach and smoking up all day. I like to think my vacation mindset is a healthy mix of those 2 :o)
So we walked around the city a while. Ended up sitting on a nice bench outside the church and watching the school kids chase soccer balls. Eventually, we kind of fell asleep on the bench. Nice, sunny bench. The locals probably thought we were nuts. Christina said she felt homeless, because she has no phone, no money, and she's sleeping on a bench.
At 4 we went on a cheesy tour of a Bodega en la ciudad. It seemed like a tourist trap to me, but it was still interesting. And anything with a free tasting is OK with me! During the tasting, this guy Russel started talking to me. He's from California and he does consulting for a few wineries there. He and his friend Gary, who owns vineyards in CA, are trraveling around the wine countries of Spain and France to see how they do things differently.
I have a TON more to say about our adventures with Russel and Gary, and about last night also, but I'm meeting Mary in a minute. We're going to see El Día de Mañana. This post was getting too long anyway :o)
Have a great week!