scruffy1
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Holy Year from Pamplona 2010, SJPP 2011, Lisbon 2012, Le Puy 2013, Vezelay (partial watch this space!) 2014; 2015 Toulouse-Puenta la Reina (Arles)
Calling all hedonists! June 29 approaching. Batalla del Vino is very close! Coming down from Donostia/San Sebastián or or looking for a day off in Logroño? Haro is the place for you! Quiet and usually uneventful, the true center of Rioja wine production where the locals go absolutely bonkers June 29th! The day begins at 7:00 am, with a procession of people old and young, dressed in white shirts and red scarves, all carrying jugs, bottles, botas and other types of containers filled with red wine. Led by the town's mayor, on horseback, the procession winds through the town to the Cliffs of Bilibio, where a mass is celebrated at the Hermitage of San Felices de Bilibio - proprieties must be kept! . After the mass a true free-for-all begins, with everyone tossing wine on each other until all are soaked from head to foot. Wine tasting and wine drinking completions follow and at noon begin the bull fights which can (should?) be skipped. Veterans know to bring swimming goggles! Haro is close by Logroño, easily reached by train or bus. Not for the faint hearted!