Most tourists will know Spain’s Basque Country for the foodie paradise that is San Sebastián or for the Frank Gehry-designed museum in Bilbao. They might have driven between them and marvelled at the dramatic, dark green Alpine landscape that runs along the coast. But that’s only part of the picture. The Basque Country’s capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Vitoria is the Spanish name, Gasteiz the Basque) is a gracious mix of architecture through the ages, networked through its heart with miles of tree-lined avenues and sitting at the centre of an enormous, fertile plain ringed entirely by mountains. It feels a bit like a Spanish version of Shangri-La: happy, prosperous and a mystery to the outside world.
This is, of course, an illusion. The thriving manufacturing base in the valley and the excellent transport systems heading in and out link Vitoria-Gasteiz to the economic central nervous system of Europe. But as a tourist destination, it’s not often considered. It probably should be, even if you’re not … as we were … coming here to check out the site of the Battle of Vitoria.
I offer three reasons for a visit: a fascinating town centre, gourmet pintxos, and a Parador hotel in a Renaissance palace with extraordinary views.
THE TOWN CENTRE
This deserved at least a full day, not the rushed couple of hours we had to spare. The tree-lined avenues I mentioned above are the most unique feature of town. I've never seen so many, and ones so long. They're a bit like Las Ramblas in Barcelona but there are multiple pathways intersecting each other, with far less commercial clutter inside of them and much bigger trees. These, combined with leafy squares and verdant 19th century parks like La Florida, make the city feel unusually green. No surprise that it was named the European Green Capital for 2012.
Any Spanish town worth visiting has abundant churches, and there are many here showing off architecture from Gothic to Baroque, church towers glorifying the skyline. There are more grand open spaces, most impressive being the Plaza Nueva. Like so many of these Spanish squares, this one once hosted bullfights, is full of grand apartments and houses the town hall. It also features the tourist office and a line of stone benches that go all the way around its perimeter. Nearby is the most gorgeous post office I've ever seen, a fantastic Basque palace where you insert your post into the mouths of gleaming brass lions.
Unsurprisingly for a regional capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz is loaded with museums. I would have liked time to check out the Basque view of the world in the art museum, housed in a spectacular palace. Quirkier and perhaps more interesting would have been the playing card museum. The local Fournier family invented a particular process for coating cards that made them last longer; to this day the company is a preferred provider to the world's casinos. One of the family heirs, however, directed his interest towards collecting arms and armour, which he later donated to the city. It's a small collection but of spectacularly high quality, with medieval and renaissance examples on the ground floor and a big section on the battle of Vitoria, plus a few excellent Japanese suits of armour, upstairs. Unusually for museums on the continent, it's free.
PINTXOS AT PERRETXICO
Pintxos are the Basque take on tapas, elevated to a gourmet extreme. While San Sebastian is famous for them ... indeed, they form the centre of many a foodie holiday there ... the tastiest and most sophisticated I've had were in Vitoria. Discovering this was thanks to a local guide, who took us to the place where he was a regular, PerretxiCo, and suggested a variety. There's little tourism here so the menus are not in English. Without a guide, be ready with translator apps or go for the chef's menu of pintxos. Six varieties plus bread and a dessert pintxo for €29.90 is a bargain.
We were lucky to have a local order for us. PerretxiCo elevates the simple to new heights. A gilda, a skewer of olives, peppers and anchovies considered one of the original pintxos, was a thing of perfect balance. If you think you don't like anchovies, or olives, this magic combination overwhelms their original tastes with something new. Savoury and sweet. Sharp and smooth. Croquetas are on offer at every bar in Spain, but here their insides are a mousse of mussels. I hate mussels. I loved these. Russian salad is inexplicably a constant across the Basque country; this one is a dreamy mouthful of delight that came in the Top 10 of Spain's National Salad Competition. (Yes, they have one.)
You don't come here for simple, however. This is the place for award-winning pintxos that get noticed by serious chefs. Case in point: it looks like a donut and a cup of tea, but it's Basque stew magically piped into a donut case, served with a cup of beefy broth. Once again, it's savoury and sweet, this time the look as well as the taste playing wildly with your expectations. It was single most memorable dish of the whole trip. Fried artichokes with truffled mayonnaise and local pork fashioned into crisp bacon garnish was a winner. Another pintxo comes with a syringe you use to inject extra meat flavour into your savoury morsel. Foie gras comes as a mousse, on top of a bed of zingy yogurt, topped with crunchy bits of nougat. Even though the core ingredient is liver, our guide suggested it as dessert ... and it worked.
Lunch here also featured our introduction to Basque cider. It's flatter, dryer and yeastier than English varieties. I wasn't a fan, though maybe it's an acquired taste. It does come with an elaborate pouring ritual that's quite entertaining, from on high into a glass below to aerate the liquid and activate flavours.
PerretxiCo is the brainchild of award-winning Basque chef Josean Merino. He and the restaurant hold a remarkable portfolio of awards. Yet you'd never guess it from the humble shopfront and the cheerful, streamlined cafe vibe. It looked like we were going into a mid-market chain restaurant, yet the food felt worthy of the Michelin guide. (And, indeed, they've had a mention.) If you can't get to Vitoria, Merino has expanded his concept to seven other locations, including five in Madrid. If he comes to London I'd camp out to get one of his first tables.
PARADOR DE ARGOMANIZ
In the 1920s, the Spanish government hit on the idea of establishing hotels with accompanying restaurants in disused historic buildings to bring tourism into under-visited areas, show off local food and preserve historic architecture. I've always wanted to stay in one, but it's taken me years to get there. The Parador de Argomaniz delivered on my expectations and was astonishingly good value for money, delivering dinner, bed and breakfast in truly luxurious surroundings for around €100 per person per night. (We stayed on a Monday and Tuesday. Prices nearly doubled for Friday and Saturday.)
At the heart of this Parador is a Renaissance palace, expanded with two modern but sensitively-designed wings for the rooms. The location is magnificent, nestled half way up the slope of the eastern edge of the ring of mountains that isolates the plain of Alava from the rest of the world. The views are jaw-dropping, taking in the entire plain with the city of Vitoria below and gorgeous sunsets over the opposing mountains. Make sure you ask for a west-facing room. Ours featured a large bay window with comfortable chairs to drink it all in. Plus an enormous bed, a commodious bathtub and beautiful design all around.
For a more communal sunset experience, head down to the garden outside what was originally the entrance front of the palace, where bartenders free-pour generous amounts of gin into goblets to accompany your tonic.
Most of the ground floor of the old palace is a comfortable bar; you have to climb up to the attics for the restaurant. This may seem a bit downmarket, but by converting the attic rooms into a single, enormous hall under the restored 18th century roof beams the designers have created a majestic space.
We had excellent meals both nights, accompanied by local wines and after dinner drinks. Worth noting, of course, that drinks are not part of the dinner B&B package and there are some supplemental charges for the fancier dishes on the menu, so we ended up adding €140 to our 2-night bill. Standouts over the two nights included a mushroom souffle served as a starter and an excellent pork dish done with a sweet and tart fruit sauce. Breakfasts featured a large cold buffet. It's supplemented by cooked dishes on demand if you're still hungry after that traditionally late Spanish dinner. The earliest evening dining time in the restaurant is 8:30.
My only disappointment with the Parador de Agromaniz was the lack of a pool or spa. Such luxurious environs usually have them. But the activity here seems to be more about riding, whether on bicycles or horses. Cyclists love the miles of flatlands in the valley below and the wooded paths through the mountain foothills, while we ran into an equestrian tourist group from England on a cross-country horseback excursion, using this as one of their overnight points.
I'm not sure I'd come to the area just for the parador, but it definitely adds to this lovely city's appeal as a destination. Sadly, there are no direct flights from London to the airport here, so you're most likely to consider it as an add-on to a trip flying in and out of Bilbao, about an hour away by car.
No comments:
Post a Comment