Hi!

Have you ever heard about cider houses (sidrerías)?. It's tipical to drink cider in Asturias and in Gipuzkoa. In Gipuzkoa (that is the place I know), there are just a few villages where people goes to drink natural cider. The main villages are Astigarraga, Hernani, Oiartzun, and Usúrbil. All these villages are near San Sebastian.

The season for drinking natural cider is from January the 20th to the end of March. The "restaurants" are in the caseríos. A caserío is an old huge house in a little village. The cider is in huge barrels called "kupela".

In these sidrerías the menu is always the same: Firstly cod's omelette, secondly cod with green peppers and finally ox's chop (or cow's chop). The drink is just cider although you can ask for watter, beer or wine.

The tipical thing is to be standing up drinking with your friends next to the barrels (kupelas), and each time the waiters bring the meal to your table, you go there, sit down and eat. After eating the first dish, you stand up again and go to drink cider.

Every time I go with my friends we hire a microbus to avoid drive drunk after the dinner. In the outdoor of the sidrerías there are always loads of buses hired by the groups of people.

I've been in some sidrerías in which you can go from one restaurant to another restaurant 50m far to drink cider from both. Then, when you come back to your restaurant your food is on the table, you eat and ... another walk to find cider!.

Here you are a couple of links in which you can see photos of these sidrerías. In the second one you can see even 4 Kupelas. A kupela is about 3meters high (as two persons one over the other).
http://web.jet.es/thori/sidreriasgipz.htm http://web.jet.es/thori/sidreriasast.htm

Bye!

hombre,

Now you're talking something unique. The caserio is my dream home. This link is an example of one that has been turned into a bed & breakfast, and at prices that are so reasonable it's almost insulting.

My dream is a caserio nestled away near Ea (not far from Bermeo on the map, to the right of the little bay that's shown), where I can enjoy every day I'm there living a life that is so peaceful. I want to call it my "summer home." The cider, and the restaurants in caserios, are fabulous. The traditions unique. Then there's always the txkoki (probably spelled wrong), where being a member of the club is something very special.
http://www.euskalnet.net/euskotel/pardiola.html#b I think you'll also enjoy the music while you browse this site.

It's not just a thing to do. It's a way of life.

Wolf (Who believes that when we die, we get to go where we belong. My spirit will spend several months a year haunting a caserio in Basque Country every year.)

[ 02-06-2002: Message edited by: Wolf ]

Hombre_Gizon, gracias for sharing.

Wolf, they're gonna be a whole bunch of us haunting Spain right along with you!

Churrito

Hi Wolf!.

I've followed the link and I've seen where is located the caserio that you say. As I can see, is near the road from Hernani to Goizueta. My god!. I've ridden a few times through this road!

It's a way really beautiful. A narrow and quiet road, with trees on both sides with their branches over the road, the river next to the road ... fantastic!.

But, the section that I prefer is from Goizueta to Basakabi (the peak between Goizueta and Leitza, or maybe it's the name of the restaurant on the peak). The road goes up the mountain as a snake. There are around 14 kilometres from Goizueta to Basakabi.

From the peak the road goes
1/ to the south west (Leitza ... Andoain ... Donostia ... Loiola ... Astigarraga ... Hernani ... and filally your caserío)
2/ to the east (Zubieta ... Ituren ... Elgorriaga ... Doneztebe ... Sunbilla ... Lesaka ... (Irún) ... Oiartzun ... Astigarraga ... Hernani ... and finally ... your caserío again). I love this route!

Regards!

I think we're going to go to Valcarlos and retire to the family house. It's standard Basque country house fare...sitting on the side of the mountain valley on the way to Roncesvalles. Send me your e-mail address and I'll send you a picture of the village...nevertheless, it looks a lot like the rest of the spots you guys are talking about: Beautiful!