A new Dawn around Europe Then the UK.

[drron]

I in our suite on the Silver D must get back to my TR. But have had a couple of disasters with a fall and destroying my Iphone so can't access many pics.
Then Picasa decided to upgrade my thumbnails and proceeded to turn them upside down. Probably was jealous of the iphone which can do that automatically.

We are now firmly ensconced in our suite on the Silver Dawn.







And the view plus planes landing at BCN.
.

 

[drron]

We got off the bus at the Aljiferia Palace. Mrsdrron didn't want to go in. Entrance with my Aussie Seniors card was 12 EUR. A bargain.

 

[drron]

I certainly got my money's worth here.

 

[drron]

Continuing on around the palace.




A model of the Palace.




.

 

[OZDUCK]

I also found a beautiful place to visit. And small enough that it didn't overwhelm you.

 

[I love to travel]

Are you guys finding Spain quieter than usual? Paris definitely is and London was eerily devoid of tourists in many areas yesterday.

 

[drron]

Zaragoza and Bilbao were quiet but Barcelona was jumping. The Arts hotel (Ritz Carlton) was at 100% occupancy all week.''

The TR will jump ahead a day or 2 as some pics on my destroyed phone. Plus at the end of my previous post the camera battery ran out.. Today was hectic but hope to have time tomorrow to continue.

 

[andye]

Hope no injuries (or worrying aetiologies) from the fall

 

[Subharpoon]

Nice photo of you both on the Silversea Passengers FB page!

 

[drron]

Hope no injuries (or worrying aetiologies) from the fall

I was actually quite worried. Had a nasty gash on the tip of my Right Index finger. Initially sore and a bit swollen. After 3 days became more painful,swollen and red. Thought infection and I thought of infection and started antibiotics. But slowly got worse. Last night remembered I get gout and pathology 2 weeks ago showed a pretty high uric acid so last night toook a colgout table and definitely better this morning. Hopefully that continues.

At the end of my last pictorial post my camera battery died so the rest of the picyures of Zaragoza and our journry to the Marques Riscal hote including the detour to the Canfranc Estacion are trapped in my destroyed iphone. Hopefully can return to those in the future.. However as the phone battery was pretty low after google mapping it from Zaragoza I have quite a few from the Marques Riscal on my camera.
No pictures of our arrival and room but the next morning we did a winery tour and as luck would have it left my phone in the room. First the views walking down to the winery and the vineyard. Actually one of many as they own over a thousand hectares of grapes and supply contracts from another 1500 hectares.



And there is a special part of the vineyard planted with cab sav. That is unusual here as it id forbidden but as they planted cab sav over 100 years ago they can continue to grow it but it can't appear on the wine label.



Views of the hotel.

 

[drron]

Now on the tour and walking to the main winemaking and barrel storage areas.










Finally our destination.

 

[drron]

Obviously going to be impossible to keep this TR anything like up to date. When we get back to the ship every one goes online and uploading photos nearly impossible. But hopefully can finish our stay at the Marques Riscal today.
More of the barrel room.





Now off to the original cellars built in 1860.






Fairly damp so noticeable black fungus.




Behind those bars is a complete collection of their wines dating back to 1862. I suspect many are undrinkable.

 

[drron]

Continuing. Older vintages that they are still selling. You can cet them in their restaurants starting at EUR 1000.
.

And fitting the camera between the bars to the really old bottles.


If they do select an old bottle to drink they use this device heated up to take the whole top of the bottle.


The old barrel room which is used to store the barrels of wine that are going to be bottled soon.




And that is the bottling room at the far end.

 

[drron]

Now to the bottling. Nothing going on whilst we were there.









Two storage areas for the bottles. one holds 45 million bottles ready for sale the other 35 million for 1-2 years bottle aging.

 

[drron]

Off now to the tasting room. 3 wines -a Sav Blanc,a cheap quafing wine and the Reserva -which at EUR 14.20 seems good value.



A sundial that is pretty accurate.

 

[drron]

As usual for this type of tour you exit through the shop. A few of the older and better wines.







Plus food stuffs with some great looking sausage.






Also gift lines including this 1000 piece puzzle.

 

[drron]

A very good tour which is included for hotel guests. Plenty of day trippers doing tours as well.
So back to the hotel via the gardens.

 

[drron]

Breakfast on the last morning. Good selection of meats and cheeses. Most of the food pics though are on my destroyed iphonr. Views are lovely in the morning.



Including of our room.


Eggs benedict and some ham for me.




Really enjoyed the stay. Great meals so I hope I can rescue the photos later.

 

[drron]

Now off to the hotel Gran Domine in Bilbao but first a slight detour to the village of LaGuardia.

 

[drron]

Now into the village itself though we decided not to go into the walled section as streets far too narrow.