Prensa 2010: VIVERE COUNTRY. Italia

La revista de decoración italiana "Vivere Country", un clásico del interiorismo campestre, dedica en su número de febrero un reportaje de veinte (!) páginas a Casa Josephine. Muchas gracias, o, mejor dicho,

Grazie, Italia!

February issue of Italian magazine Vivere Country shows a 20-page story on Casa Josephine! We are truly grateful, as Vivere Country is a leading magazine in the field of decoration. Country-chic!
Grazie, Italia!

Copa Davis en Logroño: dónde alojarse.

Los días 5, 6 y 7 del próximo marzo Logroño acogerá la eliminatoria entre España y Suiza de la Copa Davis 2010.
La situación de Casa Josephine, a diez minutos de Logroño, y la comodidad y la tranquilidad que ofrece, convierten a nuestro alojamiento en la opción ideal durante los días de la Copa Davis.

www.casajosephine.com

The first round tie of Davis Cup 2010 is to be held in Logrono next March (5th to 7th).
Casa Josephine's location, just ten minutes away from the city, make it the perfect accommodation for your stay in Logroño during Davis Cup.

Don't wait too long to book!
English, French, Italian spoken.
www.casajosephine.com

Casa Josephine room by room (3)

Una habitación doble en Casa Josephine. Con un balcón al sureste, la luz de la mañana baña este dormitorio decorado con mapas antiguos y muebles de los años sesenta.

Double room at Casa Josephine. Ancient maps on the walls and furniture from the sixties in this sunny room that faces Southeast.

Planea ya tus vacaciones para el verano de 2010.

Don't wait any longer. Plan your 2010 summer holidays now!

* * * * * Feliz Navidad - Happy Christmas * * * * *

Amigos y visitantes: Casa Josephine os desea una Feliz Navidad a todos.

Merry Christmas to you all, dear friends and visitors!

Visitando vecinos: Lola.

Un paseo por las colinas en torno a Sorzano siempre es mejor cuando termina con una visita a nuestra querida Lola Barasoain en su antiguo molino. Lola vive entre bosques y arroyuelos dedicada a su pasión: las almazuelas.

As the poet once put it, "the woods are lovely, dark and deep", but the woods around Sorzano are even lovelier since Lola Barasoain (one of the world's specialists in patchwork, and beloved friend) lives there. It is always charming to end a walk in the countryside paying a visit to Lola in her 18th mill.

Upkeeping

A little bit of consant upkeeping....Since the very first day, we decided to take a hands-on approach. So here we are, keeping Casa Josephine beautiful and fit!

View from our window: summer...

...seems to be lingering, and we are enjoying the lovely weather, wishing that the leaves took just a little bit longer to turn their color!

Bakery "Las Cien Doncellas"

The bakers in Sorzano have been awarded "Artesanos de La Rioja", a title that certifies that all the procedures used to make their bread and delicious pastries follow the tradition and respect the highest standards.
Theirs is the only bakery in Rioja to hold the title.

In the bakery (one minute away from Casa Josephine) you will also find organic olive oil, chocolate, honey, ice-creams...
Check their web for a visual sample of their excellent production.
In the meantime, we will dip a piece of crusty fresh bread in olive oil from Sorzano and think: isn't life nice?

Algunos blogs sobre vino

Mientras esperamos a que el vino de este año esté listo, navegamos por la web para encontrar algunos blogs que os recomendamos:

-Los emprendedores Arranz-Argote, dueños de la interesantísima bodega ARAR, en Navarrete (a pocos kilómetros de nuestra casa) han hecho El Blog de una cepa. Información detallada y precisa sobre el proceso del vino....casi minuto a minuto.

-El Rioja de Blog en Blog es una iniciativa del Gobierno de la Rioja, que entra así en la blogosfera.

-Y, Devinis, el blog de Joan Gómez Pallarès, con una impresionante selección de blog sobre vino.

Fiesta!

To celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of harvest, Sorzano got ready for its Fiesta!

Besides the religious parade, we had a theater première (congratulations!), local food tastings, wine, cheese and beer tasting lessons, a huge paella (for 500 people), costume parties and, of course, all-night dancing.
We had a ball. Indeed.

Casa Josephine room by room (2)

This is Casa Josephine's living room on the first floor. As the house has a capacity for up to 10 people, we wanted to create spacious areas where our guests can relax, have a chat, read or simply do nothing, which seems to be ultimate luxury these days...

The drawing on the wall (the turtle and the rabbit) is a piece by our dearest friend Silja Goetz.

Presents for Pablo

A lovely birthday at Casa Josephine. Pablo turned 35.

Raquel brought this.

Óscar brought this.

Lola cut these hydrangeas from her garden and came down from her mountain retreat for a cup of chocolate.

Josué thought Pablo needed to unwind.

José picked the kindly fruits of the earth from his orchard...

...and Iñigo converted them into a fritada: sun-riped tomato from our orchard, green peppers, olive oil and garlic.

Heaven.

Casa Josephine room by room (1)

What a pleasure is to wake up in this sun-bathed room at Casa Josephine!

With a window that faces south and a balcony that faces east, the first rays of the morning sun light up this room, its entrance hall and its en-suite bathroom.


We chose light pale colours...

...some coral, fossils, mirrors, a crazy lamp...


...and a wild chessboard for the floor!

Our neighbor Lola: The Queen of Patchwork

Sorzano is proud to have Lola Barasoain as its most distinguished neighbor. Former coutourier -and model- for the Givenchy atelier in Paris, she chose Rioja as her place to live in the early seventies.

Way back then, she started collecting patchwork samples, quilts and ornaments from the old ladies in the villages, saving this art form from disappearing in Rioja.
Lola is considered to be the world's specialist in Spanish Patchwork (called "almazuelas").

Her house in the woods near Sorzano, "El molino", is a former mill, refurbished to hold an impressive collection of textiles and old patchwork patterns.
El molino was featured recently in Casa & Campo magazine .

There she conducts her patchwork classes and lectures,
summer camps and activities for children.

And here's the material we dealt with when we gave patchwork a try...

And here's the results. Casa Josephine's patchwork!

How about a stay in Casa Josephine perfecting your patchwork technique?

Let yourself be pampered at our cozy Casa and enjoy private daily patchwork lessons with expert Lola Barasoain.
Contact us at info@casajosephine.com for a patchwork holiday.

Our Top-Ten favourite restaurants (3): Marqués de Riscal

Francis Paniego is himself a guarantee of excellent cuisine. His experience at mythical restaurant Echaurren, in Ezcaray, has prepared him for this new challenge: to orchestrate and conduct the kitchen at Marqués de Riscal Starwood Hotel, in Elciego.
You can opt for the "nouvelle cuisine" experience at the elegant "Restaurante Marqués de Riscal", at the top of the building, or at the "Bistró 1860" which has a slighty more casual atmosphere.

And then, how about relaxing at Spa Caudalie?


Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?

Happy birthday, Patricia

Our best friend in Sorzano, lovely charming wonderful kind-hearted Patricia is celebrating her birthday today.
Felicidades, querida Patricia. Te queremos muchísimo.

(We are sure that guests and clients of Casa Josephine who have had the chance to meet her are joining us today singing "Happy Birthday")

Introducing our wine guru

We owe everything we know about wine to Lidia García Merino, one of the best "noses" in Rioja Wine Region. She holds -among many others- the honor of being the first woman to be admitted into "Cofradía Del Vino de Rioja", a board of aenologists, wine makers and wine experts dedicated to study and promote the knowledge of local wines of the highest standards. Her natural gift for tasting wine keeps astonishing us, and we follow her advice on wine blindly.
So far, we have neven gone wrong.
¡Gracias, Lidia! We love you!

a walk at sunset

Strolling at sunset. My favorite espadrilles, orchards, paths....This week, the earth is overwhelming us with gladioli all over the place.

Maria, breakfast at Casa Josephine

Summer is the best time in Casa Josephine. Need we say more?

Fiesta time

Local festivities concentrate in the months of May, August and September.
With the ocasion of The Virgin of August (15th), Sorzano celebrates a procession to the local hermit. It is a ritual called "subir al bollo", which could be translated as "climb the hill and get the bread roll"...indeed.

Step 1- The dancers and the walkers parade up the path to the hermit. Along with them goes the trickster, dressed in a colourful striped suit. It is a figure of pagan origin.

Step 2-Mass is celebrated. Which does not mean that it is attended.

Step 3-Bread rolls stuffed with chorizo are distributed to the people.

Step 4- Dancers lead the parade down the hill.

Step 5- ...the authorities follow, carrying a nice pie for the statue of the Virgin

Step 6- ...and Virgin Mary goes down the hill. In the village, the parade ends at the main church.

Step 7- And the dancers take a rest before the paella.

...and the living is easy

Every summer we reserve at least a couple of weeks for ourselves and our friends in Casa Josephine.

Time to relax, to wind down to a more "human" pace, to enjoy the time when life is easy and slow and to feel that worries get lighter if you simply take some distance.

Sorzano is at its very best from June to September. Days are long and bright and nights are cool, and the village is lively with the families that flee from the big cities to the place where they were born.

It is the time to enjoy the things we forget to enjoy when life gets hectic and absurd:

1) -Walks in the countryside:
Sorzano is surrounded by orchards owned by the villagers. Late in the afternoon we follow the local fashion and take long strolls, chatting with the acquaintences we meet along, and stopping every now and then to eat fruit from the trees.


2)-The fruits of the earth:
Plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, pears, apples, pumpkins, peppers, tomatoes and wild strawberries are in season from June to September. And then, fall starts with grapes and figs! Is this Eden?





3) Leisure:
Time to dream, to make plans and to start projects. How about writing a poem? Or cutting pieces for a collage? Or designing the dreamed garden? Ideas bloom when time flows gently.


4)-Field trips:
We ride our old car to near villages in the valley of Cameros or to the banks of River Ebro for a drink, a walk or a meal. And driving among vineyards, we wonder what this year's wine will taste like...


5)- Convivial life:
The back door of our house opens onto a quiet public square. Like other locals, we take our chairs and tables out in the morning for a breakfast "al aire libre"....and they stay out for the whole day.


6)- A la fresca:
And when the sun starts to fall, we enjoy "la fresca", regional name for the first hours of the evening, when temperatures fall and people go out for a last long chat with the neighbours.


Nothing much, it is true....But who needs anything else?

Recommended in the press

Baramundi is a hip magazine with the best information on the cool and the latest, on the trendy and the dapper in Northern Madrid. Their summer issue includes a truly nice piece about Casa Josephine.

¡Muchas gracias, Baramundi!

Spring is here....and we are in the press!

We would like to welcome spring with a letter of gratitude to all our friends, clients and journalists who have supported Casa Josephine through the past two years. It is really rewarding to see that the project we started simply with our love and instinct is so appreciated by our guests.

So this post is just to say Gracias, Thank You and Danke to you all, especially to the magazines that published articles about us recently: Casa y Campo, Maxi, Living Etc and Elle Decoration....simply the best! We cannot be happier!





Queremos agradecer a todos los amigos y clientes el apoyo prestado durante nuestros dos primeros años al frente de Casa Josephine. Es un placer comprobar que nuestra casa, que empezó como un sueño, se ha convertido en una realidad de la que nuestros huéspedes disfrutan como nosotros mismos. Empezamos la primavera también dando las gracias a la prensa que se hace eco de Casa Josephine. Casa y Campo, Maxi (Alemania), Living Etc (Inglaterra) y Elle Decoration (Alemania) publican amplios reportajes sobre Casa Josephine. ¡Muchas gracias y feliz primavera!

All things handmade

A post about Casa Josephine was added www.jodii.de, a really cool "blog about everything handmade" created by German artist and trend-hunter Sophie Pester. Her blog is a rich source of inspiration...have a look and spread the word.
Gracias!
www.jodii.de

A week in Rioja

PICTURE YOURSELF IN RIOJA. You are on holidays and a whole week of experiences lies ahead.
What can you do and see, where should you absolutely go, what are the "musts" for your first stay in Rioja?

A suggested itinerary for a week in Rioja:

Day 1-Arrival. Land in Bilbao or Logroño.

Bilbao is the nearest international airport, merely 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Casa Josephine (highway).
There are direct flights to Bilbao from most European airports.
If you are flying from America or elsewhere, you will land first in Madrid or Barcelona, from where you can fly to Bilbao or Logroño (25 minutes from Casa Josephine).

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is an absolute gem for architecture and art lovers. Frank Gehry simply changed the looks and the course of history for the city of Bilbao, which was dull, grey and unfriendly before the Museum existed.
Please note: the restaurant at the Museum is outstanding.


Check-in at Casa Josephine and relax. We will meet you at the house with a bottle of red Rioja (how else?).
Bienvenidos!

Day 2- Simply RELAX.
Believe us: there is no better way to start your holidays. Dont plan anything for today. Just take a break and enjoy your leisure at Casa Josephine. Linger in bed, chat with the neighbours, walk in the hills around the village, read, try cooking a local recipe....experience the pleasure of the slow life. Time is luxury.

Day 3- Wine and wineries.
Drive among vineyards to Haro, capital of Rioja Wine, 30 minutes away from us. All over the area, on both banks of River Ebro, there are dozens of outstanding wineries that are worth visiting....from 15th century cellars to 21st hi-tech striking buildings.

(Please scroll down for a list of our ten favourites, or simply ask!)

Because that area has been traditionally aristocratic and wealthy, there are lovely palaces, churches and churches in the area: Abalos, Haro, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Briñas.

Day 4- Dinosaurs al fresco.

Did you know that Rioja has the biggest palaeontological site with dinosaurs' footprints IN THE WORLD?

If you are travelling with children, this excursion is a must. It is a full-day excursion to a series of valleys in the Eastern part of Rioja.

1 hour 30 minutes from Casa Josephine you will find the village of Igea: at its Palaeontological Centre, you can find out details on the 40 sites in the area. These include Valdecillo, one of the most straightforward sites to interpret; Conargo, where it looks like the dinosaurs have just passed, its prints are of such good quality; and Era del Peladillo, in Igea, which is the Europe's no.1 and the world's no. 3 site in terms of number of prints. In Igea, you can also visit the La Rioja Palaeontological Centre. English-speakers at the centre are available (must be advised in advance)

This can be a real treat for children. As there are hundreds of footprints scattered over several hectares, you will be provided with a map and you can discover the sites on your own.

There are many nice villages in the area. Finding a place to eat (and to eat well) is also easy.

Day 5- A quaint Medieval capital.

You may use this day's morning to get familiar with the city of Logroño, a small wealthy capital by river Ebro with a lovely Medieval quarter and a beatiful cathedral. Camino de Santiago (pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela) crosses the city. It is also worth visiting the food market and the small streets around, where locals meet for tapas.

There are excellent choices for lunch in Logroño.

In the afternoon, visit Laguardia, a lovely fortified Medieval village just six miles South of Logroño, on the other bank of the river where Santiago Calatrava recently built a winery.

(Please note: The bests spas in Northern Spain are, for some reason, in Logroño).

Day 6- World Heritage monasteries: the birthplace of the Spanish Language.

In the middle of the Cárdenas river valley sits San Millán de la Cogolla, a Rioja town founded by the saint of the same name and linked for centuries to the Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela. The deep-rooted monastic tradition of the town can be seen in the beautiful collection of historic buildings it houses, where the Monasteries of Suso and Yuso, both declared World Heritage Sites, are outstanding. The importance of San Millán de la Cogolla is also due to its status as "the cradle" of the Spanish tongue, since the first documents written in this language are preserved here. San Millán de la Cogolla is 35 minutes away from Casa Josephine.

Day 7- Beach and bulls: San Sebastian and Pamplona.

A full-day excursion to San Sebastián is highly recommended. It is 1h45 minutes from Casa Josephine. San Sebastián is a charming elegant city, with the finest beach in Northern Spain. 19^th century aristocracy chose San Sebastian as their favourite seaside destination.

Halfway between Casa Josephine and San Sebastian is Pamplona. You may want to make a quick stop on the way back for an afternoon walk in downtown Pamplona, as the city will be getting ready for the big celebrations of San Fermin (beginning of July, when they do the “running of the bulls”).

Bienvenidos a la Rioja!
Bienvenidos a Casa Josephine!

Rioja tops the list!

Is Rioja the new Tuscany?
(The answer is yes, but you may want to keep on reading to find out why).

The secret is not totally out yet, but is somehow in the air. According to trend-hunters, the discerning traveler has had enough of the touristy, market-oriented experience that Tuscany provides and is setting his/her avid eye on new European destinations. Rioja tops the list.
Why?

1- Perfect location to discover Northern Spain. Just between Bilbao, Navarra, Castilla and Zaragoza, you are less than one hour away from some of Europe's major highlights (Guggenheim museum, Marqués de Riscal, Laguardia Burgos Cathedral, Pamplona....).

2- Most visitors are Spaniards, independent travelers, hikers or families. As Rioja is not on the tour companies' itineraries -and we keep our fingers crossed for it never to be-, you will not see huge buses or crowds of people being herded from monument to monument. A relief, isn't it?

3- People. You will find Riojanos to be warm, personable, relaxed, open and generous people, who are keen on visitors. When a Riojano opens his doors for you and uncorks a bottle of wine, he means well and does it wholeheartedly (in case you doubt, you should never forget that this very, very wealthy region does not need tourism...)

4- Stunning striking modern architecture for wineries has put Rioja on the map for modern architecture lovers. In number of major works by major masters, this region is second to none in Europe.

5- Art: Camino de Santiago, the pilgrims' route that religious hikers follow on their way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, crosses the region, accounting for Rioja's outstanding artistic wealth since the Middle Ages. Monasteries, castles, fortified villages, cathedrals....

5-Nature. Seven different valleys, one after the other, with mountain rivers that empty on big Ebro: that is Rioja. This means an amazing natural diversity, from ski resorts to fertile plains.

5- Food: several of the best restaurants in Spain are in Rioja.

6- Wine. Do we need to say more?

Word is going round that Rioja is to be the next secret destination. And this time -pun intended-, you did heard it through the grapevine!

www.casajosephine.com

Casa Josephine in the press

Casa & Campo, the most prestigious decoration magazine for country homes in Spain, dedicates a 10-page special to Casa Josephine in its December issue.
Here's just a glimpse.

We are immensely grateful!

Thanks!

Hei, hvordan har vi det?

Hei, hvordan har vi det?"

Yes, we are feeling very Norwegian lately! This is because Casa Josephine is recommended by Tourspain-Oslo in this month's bulletin, a magazine that is sent to travel agents, magazines and tour operators in Norway.

So we are happy to say to our friends in Norway....come visit Rioja and we will greet you with a smile and a glass of tinto.
You are very welcome!

Velkommen!!!!

Check the full article here
http://www.tourspain.no/newsletter/november08.pdf
(pdf format, we are on page 6)

We are extremely happy to anounce that IÑIGO ARAGON, who decorated Casa Josephine with utmost care and love has been awarded with a prestigious Photography Scholarship for a series of photographs shot in Sorzano -at and around the house.
Here's just an example.

Congratulations for the great work, Íñigo

-Copyright Iñigo Aragón. All rights reserved.

Happy birthday, Valenciso

We love Valenciso. They make only one wine per year, only Reserva and only from Tempranillo grapes.
Why should they bother doing anything else when they excel in what they do? Simplicity here means perfection. And we mean it.

Their winery is in Ollauri, a lovely village just outside Haro, in the very heart of the very heart of Rioja Alta.
They started their winery 10 years ago with 1998 vintage...so happy birthday, Valenciso!

Keep up the great work and gracias!