Just came back from my daytrip to Utiel. Fantastic day!!!
Quite a bit different than what I expected, we actually went there because of the Utiel Gastronomica. More about that later.
We left in the morning by train and against expectations it took 2 hours to get there; a “boemeltreintje” as we call it in Dutch. Didn’t really matter, there were students from 3 schools so we used the time to get to know each other.
After arrival in Utiel, we first went to a wine museum. A guide was explaining it all in way too rapid Spanish, but afterwards we could sample all the different ingredients of wine by smelling and guessing them.
Then on to a honey “museum” with basically just an “ancient” press and some explanation about it, pretty lame.
Onwards for a walk through the historical center and because it was pouring down we supported the local community by buying lots of “paraguas”, umbrellas.
Then to the tourist information which was located in the building of an old “grape-stamp”-factory.
Finally we went to the place where we came for: The Utiel Gastronomica, an event they hold every year in the area. Basically it’s a harvest festival where visitors have the chance to sample lots of food and lots of (mostly) excellent wines.
Of course the weather didn’t help to get the crowds and I’m sure that on a sunny day it would have been even better, but we had an awesome time! Talking Spanish, with each other, random others and stand holders, sampling the different foods and wines of course! A great relaxing atmosphere and everyone found it a pity to leave when we had to go back to catch the train back to Valencia!
Once we finally arrived back in Valencia we went for another drink with a couple of people and then back home for a very much needed shower and change of clothes. Tonight we’re gonna hit the town with a group of people, OH YEAH!
Pictures of the day (taken with my phone) can be found by clicking on the photo below and tomorrow there will be a Twitter update of today.
[...] fair as they are held all through the province, like the one we visited in Requena and the one in Utiel. It is actually the 21st edition of this yearly event that traditionally takes place the weekend [...]