Traditionally the Porsche Club “Weekend of the Year” was just that. The whole club would meet at a hotel for a social weekend once a year. That was back when there were less people in the club than there are now in the Essex region.
Nowadays most regions and some of the registers organise their own WOTY. In Essex we have alternated between UK and somewhere else each year. The photo above was taken on a high hill above the Rioja region on our tour to Pamplona in 2014. Read on to find out what we got up to….
Pamplona
Our destination was ambitious. 34 adults, 16 Porsches, 1 Toyota Corolla 1.6 auto, big boat trip, 1,000 miles of motoring. Many of us didn’t even want to think about the crossing of Bay of Biscay (see the scary map image in the gallery). But in the end it turned out to be a pussy cat. We awoke from our seasickness-pill-drugged sleep to flat calm and a hot breeze from northern Spain.
A 40 minute drive over the mountains from Bilbao took us to the warm city famous for its bull running. We stayed at the extremely reasonable Hotel Maisonnave which had a semi-secure underground car park. One car in our party, Ray and Angela broke down en-route when their 996 overheated. Much later we found out that the radiator cap just hadn’t been screwed on properly. However the incident involved tapping up a local for a hose pipe and an unfruitful trip to the Pamplona Porsche Centre who didn’t have much experience with the ‘older’ cars.
As we were there three nights we had one big evening meal as a group and the other two nights everyone made their own choices. The tapas bars were of course the main attraction. Prices in Pamplona are much cheaper than say Barcelona and it tends to be warmer and drier than the north coast. It is a super place for an evening stroll – just watch out for bulls!
Castillo de Cuzcurrita tour
Our first big outing was to a vineyard in the Rioja region. Castillo de Cuzcurrita was a tiny producer with just one bottle variety produced per year. The owner described how they harvest the grapes right at the end of the season when they are just about falling off the branches. That’s to get the right sugar levels for fermentation.
The drive there was a hoot for me. Our group of four cars was red, white and blue Boxster (all different ages and specs), plus a 993 cabrio. We enjoying some great little mountain roads and were rewarded with a spectacular view of the Rioja valley below.
At the vineyard we had the chance to pick a grape, look at the processing plant and the big wine barrel storage area. But let’s face it: what we really wanted was to try the stuff. Thankfully the portions were generous and came with local bread, cheese and salami. Tasting this in the big hall next to the Castillo – amidst some rather odd art work - was a fantastic experience. The noise that our group made said it all. And we all got a souvenir bottle to take home – magic!
San Sebastian beach day
Our second day in Spain was eventful. The weather was beautiful and the beach packed with locals. There is a sheltered horseshoe bay to swim in. Kay and I did just that and then watched the local children diving off the pier as we ate calamari and chips. However Jamie and Sally were unfortunate enough to have a handbag stolen in a crowd which put everyone on their guard.
Coming back over the mountains it began to snow. As you can see in the pictures (from Vaughn and Julie’s 911 SC) the motorway became quite hazardous!
Drive and picnic
No WOTY would be complete without a drive just for the hell of it. The roads in this area are some of the best surfaced and least crowded anywhere in Europe. I took a recommendation from another Porsche Club member to use the NA140 to Ezcaroz. It was good, very good in fact. We picnic’d at the top of a hill with scenery before joining some of the others at a picturesque gorge at Foz de Lumbier.
And on to Carcassone
Part of the fun of Pamplona was the long journey home. It was so long that some of us spent another 4 nights in hotels after the main holiday. 2 of those where in the medieval fortress town of Carcassone. It is a bit of a tourist trap but an amazing spectacle. We stayed at the slightly out of town Hôtel La Bastide Saint Martin which offered good friendly value and had a pool. We booked the whole hotel too, which was fun. The big group picture here preceded a taxi-bus ride into town for some traditional Languedoc fayre – the main one being cassoulet – sausage stew to you!
At the end..
Making the effort to go further was so worthwhile. Many of us returned home having had six or more days and nights in eachother’s company. From such times great memories are made and we would all love to return.
Next month, read about the 2016 WOTY.
Greg, R11 Assistant