My wife, Leticia and I recently traveled to Spain for a much needed vacation. We spent two weeks in the Basque country, where my family is originally from. Together we toured the town of Elciego, which is in the province of Álava in the Rioja region, also known as wine country.
While exploring the area, we found a quote that really sums up the lifestyle here:
Translated, it says: “Peace to those who arrive, Health to those who live here, and Happiness to those who depart.”
If only we were able to live like this everyday… not just on vacation!
We saw art, we tasted amazing Basque food, and soaked in the history of this place. It’s much older than Miami!
We even had the chance to visit this incredible hotel. Frank Gehry designed the Hotel Marquez De Riscal in 2006; and this is what I call an incredible metal roof.
It’s A Small And Beautiful World
The Basque world is smaller than we realized – especially when we decided to have breakfast at the hotel and ran into a dear old friend by pure coincidence! Jesus and I met back in Cuba more than thirty years ago. He was a professor of mine when I used to live in Cuba. It was such a fun surprise running into him! An unforgettable experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my days, for sure.
Maybe we’ve aged a bit over the last thirty years, but those years have been good to us both.
And, did you notice all those tile roofs in the background? It was an absolutely gorgeous view.
Of Course I Took Pictures of The Roofs
The true Spanish tile roofing was beautiful and I took tons of pictures. This is the part where all the readers roll their eyes as I show off my photography skills… only instead of taking pics of every single meal we ate, there are many different tile roofs.
What can I say? It’s what I do. So, enjoy!
But, wait! Then, we found this one:
A tile roof and building almost totally covered in grass… Talk about going green!
It was a fantastic trip and we’ll definitely be visiting again soon. Thanks for letting me share all my tile roof pictures with you!
Integrity, Trust, Pride, and Peace of Mind,
~Frank Istueta
