We picked up the car - it was tiny, due to some miscommunication with the travel agent, and they did not have a larger vehicle that they could upgrade us to. We squeezed me, Chris, Nicole, and our bags into it barely - but we are going to have 2 more people with us tomorrow, so it promises to be interesting!
The countryside looks a lot like California - loads of oak trees, (though these have their lower trunks stripped of bark, as they are harvested cork trees...) and the ground is very dry looking, with mountains in the background. Lots of fortified cities and ruined castles everywhere you look as well. Olive trees, some row crops, and cattle.
We stopped at a rest stop for espresso and a bite, and there were bullfight poster advertisments up on the walls everywhere. A couple of the guys we met up with later at the hotel, from another winery, were in Pamplona over the past couple days and did the Corrida del Toros, or rather they were there, as the police kicked them out of the street before it started. They said it was over before you knew it, and they think that they saw the back of one of the bulls as it went by, but that was it. It sounded crowded, dirty, and exhausting to be with so many thousands of people.
When we got to the hotel, we spent a couple hours by the pool. Love smelling warm fresh air with no hint of the huge fires that have been burning by us lately!
Getting off this morning to grab breakfast, then head about 70 miles from here to the factory to see how they process corks. Am looking forward to this!
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