Madrid, January 2023

What do you do on a bright sunny day in January in Madrid? Take a walk in Retiro Park Rent a boat and row around the lake Sit in the sun and read a book Join your friends for a cold beer or vermuth before lunch Or join the crowd at Madrid Fusión

Madrid For Christmas

What’s Madrid like at Christmas time? This may be your year to find out. Madrid During The Day Madrid At Night Travel Planning, Bespoke Travel Exclusive Travel Planning Services by Iberian Traveler & Maribel’s Guides.  Contact Maribel to arrange a custom itinerary for your next trip to Spain, Portugal, or France.

The Montecillo Dolmen, Ibaola Harriak and Bodegas Badiola

Surprisingly, or maybe not, this 3900 year old dolmen, a bronze age tomb, wasn’t discovered until 2009 by Roberto Ibáñez of Villabuena de Álava. It sits just north of the village on the high ground in the middle of the vineyards, which today belong to Bodegas Badiola. Interestingly enough, there is another “dolmen” located nearby,…

Normandy – Haute Normandie

Rouen, Monet’s Gardens, the Route of the Abbeys and the Alabaster Coast The coastline of northern France, known as Haute Normandie until 2015, includes white-chalk cliffs and WWII beachheads and is one of the most historical regions of the country. Visit the seaside resort of Deauville on the Côte Fleurie with its Belle Époque villas…

Madrid Fusión 2022

Spain in 2022 is about the culture of food & wine Spain Food & Wine 2022 We were invited to attend the recent 3-day long Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España 2022 by our friend and owner/chef of the popular Taberna La Catapa, Miguel Angel. This year’s event, the largest in it’s 20-year history, featured Dabiz Muñoz (DiverXO, Madrid), Joan…

Rioja, Beyond The Wine

Exploring The Other Rioja If you are planning on being in the Rioja for more than a few days, you have a great opportunity to visit some of the areas outside of the popular wine producing regions, or combine these areas with your daily wine touring. We usually visit Casalarreina, Santo Domingo de la Calzada…

2020 Carnival Time in Cádiz

The riotous, raucous, annual ten-day festival of music and humor that Cádiz looks forward to all year runs from Thursday, 20 February to Sunday, 1 March 2020.  It’s Spain’s oldest and one of the most important celebrations, second only to the Carnival in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, which begins this year on Tuesday, 18 February. The Cádiz…

Wine Tasting in the Alicante – Alacant

Generally not well known among Spanish wines, the wines of Valencia includes some terrific standouts, including wines from such premier wineries as Bodegas Enrique Mendoza, a family run winery located outside of the village of L’Alfàz Del Pi in the Marina Baixa comarca of Alicante province, just of the road when traveling from Dénia to Alicante.  Established…

The Ribera del Duero Wine Region

Wine Touring in the Ribera del Duero Long considered one of the most legendary winemaking regions in Spain, the Ribera del Duero, which lies only a short 2-hour drive northwest of Madrid on Spain’s northern plateau, is home to some of the most elegant red wines in the world.   its extremes of weather, from…

Bodegas de Navarra on the Way of Saint James – The French Route

Savoring the food and wine of Navarra on the way to Santiago Señorío de Arínzano Your first stop along the route will be in the Terra de Estella sub zone at the stunning and vast estate in the tiny village of Aberín on the route of the Camino de Santiago, the Pilgrimage’s Route of St….