Take a ride through rolling mountains and farmland to a boutique hotel with automatic glass doors transformed into the 16 th century Victor family’s ancestral home. It is less than 2 kilometers away from the Cantabrian Sea, and the fishing village has a permanent population of just over 200. It is famous for producing high-quality anchovies. Victor’s ancestors were the pioneers of the sea navigation era, and once set foot on Mexican soil. This experience has also been passed down in restaurant cuisine, with a strong Central American flavor. A tall palm tree stands alone in the garden, the relics of the conquerors brought back from the New World to the Old World by our ancestors. Walking into the restaurant along a glass window corridor, the interior is filled with golden light of earth tones. When dining, you can overlook the mountain scenery outside the window, which is perfect as the starting point of this food tour. Not far from the hotel, the Nalon River is the longest river in the Asturias region, dotted with quaint villages and hiking trails along its banks. The humid and mild climate makes the crops grow extraordinarily lush. During the day, we walked along the forest path to the small restaurant in the village of Saint Romain. The old proprietress dyed pink hair and smiled with a steaming bowl of Fabada, a traditional stew mixed with chestnuts and pasta beans. After lunch, continue driving along the coastline to the 40,000-year-old Castillo’s petroglyphs, when the late Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe, showed their talent to depict reality with abstract images through animal and handprint modeling. Dinner to a one-Michelin-star restaurant overlooking white sands and waves El Serbal , offers an exquisite Tasting Menu paired with a table wine list in collaboration with Moet & Chandon. The next day we officially entered Basque, This is the orphan of modern commercial society. It is naturally verdant and plain, with the fresh Atlantic breeze blowing in the air and the sweet sound of trout-rich rivers. The village is spotless, flowers pouring from the balconies of wooden cabins 。 San Sebastian, the capital, blends everything from surfing, modern art and architecture, to a rich nightlife, while the shadow of ETA, a terrorist group in the mid-20 th century, has long since vanished. The Basque ancestral blood is one of the unsolved mysteries of the European continent, Some say it’s Berbers, others say they come from a tribe in the Caucasus, but no one can really tell. Next Their language has nothing to do with the rest of Europe. The Basque people are famous for their martial arts, and the tribe has no king, only lords. Such a simple social structure has successfully resisted the conquest of Romans, Moors, Charles the Great, Franco or any other powerful power. Even if the land is occupied, the Basque culture will never be assimilated. Amelia, a two-Michelin-star restaurant, has heavily written ink on the meat and seafood menu, and the room is stuffed with Star Wars-themed artwork and metal tunes. The chef was born in an Italian immigrant family in Argentina. At the age of 18, he left his hometown to travel around the world, integrating local flavors into one, but he refused to cater to the popular vegetarian trend, and he was tolerant without losing self-persistence. Basque natural landscape ranges from the grassy green of Ireland to the lush woods of Finland, but Rioja Region is an alternative. Here, the sun is scorching, the trees are sparse, and the vineyards are carefully cared for like babies. Legend has it that the first local vines were brought by Noah’s nephew, but they were only eaten for a long time, rather than making fine wine. Aphids destroyed vineyards in Bordeaux, France in the mid-19 th century, Rioja’s unique natural conditions Only to be noticed. A diplomat living in France brought Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon back here, 5 million bottles of Riscal wine are produced annually. Today By Architectural designer of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Franck Gehry’s hotel rises from the vineyards, and its architecture is composed of titanium curves in *, gold and silver, which evokes both the color of wine bottles and the swirl of flamenco dancers’ gowns. And deep in the Basque highlands Euskadi is rich in cider and cheese, and we spend the night in the medieval-style village of Segura, with sunflowers hanging from the door frames of stone houses, defending against dark witchcraft. Locally produced Idi Azabal cheese is one of the strictest quality control kinds in Europe, attracting Michelin chefs. Facing the trend of global convergence, How do Basques stick to themselves? Why do rural people elsewhere flock to cities, but Basque young people are satisfied with staying in their homeland? Everyone Different opinions, such as Family goes above everything else, we care about privacy, we are loyal to things, We don’t have a king, the business model isn’t a corporation, it’s a co-op, we compete with each other but equality is the premise etc… The driver took a bite of the cake and echoed that it was a bit dry, not too sweet, just like us. Perhaps it was these simple ingredients that made the resilience of Basque culture.
