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Category Archives: getaways

bilbao memories

28 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by azahar in getaways, travel, trips

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bilbao, bilbao getaway, instagram, travel

This photo popped up in my azahar Instagram Memories today, and I actually got a bit weepy. It had been such a great day, checking out the Guggenheim in Bilbao, walking around town, looking for tapas bars that were open (top tip: do not visit Bilbao the week after their Semana Grande in August), later having cocktails on the rooftop of the Gran Hotel Domine at sunset overlooking the Guggenheim and the river. It was part of my first Basque Getaway, visiting Bilbao and San Sebastián.

I guess what got me choked up was the feeling of not knowing if or when this will ever be possible again. I still can’t even get on a train to go to Jerez or Cádiz on a day trip. But today I was whisked back to Bilbao, to the streets, the crazy architecture, the fab pintxo bars, the market, the river, getting lost in a dodgy part of town late at night, the museum of columns. What also got me choked up was that back then, just two years ago, there was no way of knowing what would happen to us in 2020. Hell, same goes for last December, but…

I dunno. Today I saw tweet by the regional government boasting that Andalucía had received the highest volume of travellers and hotel overnight stays in the country during the month of July and had established itself as a preferred destination for Spanish tourists. Meanwhile Andalucía has also registered the highest numbers of the pandemic with 909 cases in 24 hours, including 4 deaths. Coincidence?

I’m just so sad these days. Nobody seems to be in charge. People are doing WHATEVER because there is no direction. And my life… I honestly don’t know. Back in April I was doing okay by not thinking too far ahead, just getting by day by day. But the truth is that I could lose my home and that’s terrifying to me. So seeing these Bilbao pics was so bittersweet. Back when things were good we never thought things could ever change so much, or so quickly.

axarquía getaway day 3 – capuchinas viejas

12 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by azahar in alternatravels, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway, wine

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axarquía getaway, axarquia, bodega capuchinas viejas, bodegas, Malaga, malaga getaway, wineries

After the charming village setting of Dimobe and Viñedos Verticales, and the sweeping views stretching out below the elegant slate structure that houses Betomiz, I didn’t know what to expect next when Susana, owner of Bodega Capuchinas Viejas met me near Málaga to take me out to their cortijo near Antequera. Unlike the other two places I’d visited high up in the Axarquía, Capuchinas Viejas is located on a sprawling 20 hectare estate, where they grow both olives and grapes, for their own use as well as to sell.

The García Segura family has owned the estate since the beginning of the 80s, when Susana’s father purchased an abandoned monastery, and it remains very much a family-run venture, with respect for both the land and local traditions.

I was quite awestruck as Susana let me inside through the front gate (the place is surrounded by giant Mastiff guard dogs) and then continued to open massive door after door that opened onto magical courtyards and gardens, a bird coop that houses peacocks, gorgeous event rooms, the bodega itself, and family apartments. This is clearly a labour of love.

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axarquía getaway day 2 – part one: bodegas bentomiz

12 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by azahar in andalucia, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway, wine

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axarquía getaway, axarquia, bodegas, Malaga, malaga getaway, wineries

Nothing quite prepares you for your first look at the modern and minimalist slate structure that is Bodegas Bentomiz. It looks like it has risen up from the very ground surrounding it and inside it is both functional and attractive, with massive windows everywhere letting in lots of natural light. Spectacular views of the mountains and the sparkling Mediterranean are everywhere you look.

After the wonderful day spent out in the vineyards and at the bodega at Dimobe in Moclinejo Victor brought me back to Málaga where I had arranged to meet up with winemaker Clara, co-owner of Bodegas Bentomiz, which she runs with her husband André, who is not only the resident chef, but also the architect who designed the building (and several others nearby). Clara had been in Madrid and was arriving in Málaga by train in the evening, and had very generously offered to take me out to their installation just outside Sayalonga, as well as inviting me to stay the night.

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axarquía getaway day 1 – part 2: bodegas dimobe & viñedos verticales

11 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by azahar in andalucia, getaways, Malaga, malaga getaway, spain, tourism, wine

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axarquía getaway, axarquia, bodegas, Malaga, malaga getaway, wineries

Victor & me at the end of a spectacular day
saying goodbye to Málaga from the Parador Hotel Gibralfaro

First off I have to say that each of the three bodegas I visited in the Axarquía over two days were all completely different and totally wonderful experiences. First up, after a hearty pre-bodega breakfast at El Roper in El Palo, Victor and I made our way to the ridiculously pretty white village of Moclinejo, high up in the mountains. There we were greeted by Juan Muñoz Anaya and Vicente Inat, two winemakers who work together at Bodegas Dimobe, as well as working together on a separate project Viñedos Verticales. Dimobe was founded in 1927 by Juan’s grandfather and he now runs it with siblings Antonio and María Luísa. In 2015 Juan and Vicente founded Viñedos Verticales, a “sister winery” project which uses the same installation as Bodegas Dimobe in Moclinejo, and with different vine plots and grapes they are creating something that is both old and new.

Just to confuse you further, Vicente is also the winemaker at Bodegas Descalzos Viejos in Ronda, which I had visited a week earlier, and his wife Ana (who I got to meet later in the day after lunch) is the winemaker at another Ronda winery I visited, La Melonera. This was something I got used to over my two weeks of visiting Málaga wineries… that everyone not only knows each other, they sometimes work together and more often than not are very supportive of each others projects. It’s actually a lovely thing to see. Especially in Ronda the whole winemaking scene is quite new, starting sometimes in the 1980s, and everyone wants to see the region doing well. But I digress…

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axarquía getaway day 1 – part one: breakfast

11 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by azahar in andalucia, getaways, wine

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axarquía getaway, axarquia, bodegas, Malaga, malaga getaway, wineries

Day one of this week’s Axarquía Getaway started way too early (had to get up at stupid o’clock to catch an 8am train) so of course there was no time for breakfast. Happily I had seen an Instagram pic of some rather decadent looking lomo en manteca on toast at a place called Bar Roper, which happened to be on the way to my first bodega visit. So after the Amazing Victor @boke picked me up at the station, we headed over to the market in El Palo, meeting up with our friend David who lives nearby for a hearty pre-winery brekkie.

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