Olite

The first time I came to Olite was with a group of friends, about five years ago, to visit the Bodegas Ochoa. It was a beautiful sunny weekend coinciding with the town’s annual fiesta,and we all had a great time. Unfortunately for us, Beatriz was in Japan at the time, so we missed her.

Given that we were in the area, it would have been rude not to pay another visit. I messaged Beatriz a couple of days ago, and was delighted to hear that she would be in town, and so we made arrangements to meet at the bodega at 4 pm.

Last night the weather continued to blow a gale, and as it blew itself out this morning the rain came along.

We sorted out the van and then started on the 30ish mile drive to Olite, arriving at lunchtime via a supermarket in Tafalla, where we stocked up on provisions including some tortilla española, which made a delicious lunch.

We parked the van and, with brollies up, walked into town. Olite was once a royal town, and the royal palace is still standing, so we went for a walk round and admired the views from the rooftops.

In the rain by the royal palace
View from the royal palace
View from the royal palace

We then made the short walk to the bodega. It was lovely to see Beatriz again after such a long time, and to introduce her to Carol. Beatriz gave us a tour of the bodega and then let us taste some of the wines.

With Beatriz
Look at all that lovely wine! 

Beatriz’s sister Adriana, who actually makes the wine, popped down to say hello, so it was great to meet her at last. Pablo, who I’ve met a few times before also dropped by to say hi.
Beatriz kindly gave us a guide book of Navarre, so we’ll be using this to plan where we go over the next few days.

Tomorrow we’ll stop by the bodega to stock up on some wine, and then we’ll head off to – who knows where? One place looks promising – it’s on the Camino de Santiago, and there’s apparently a free wine fountain for the pilgrims!

Mike

3 thoughts on “Olite”

  1. It all looks so empty where you go! Sounds fab ..a free wine fountain..oh how I wish I was there lol. It’s great to follow your travels , you both look so happy.
    Keep updating us, looking forward to the best post xxxx

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