Michele and Drew's Excellent Spanish Adventure: Sept 11-13th: Logroño in La Rioja

The 2hr 15 min bus ride from San Sebastian to Logroño (an old city on the Ebro River) went quickly…back over the mountains with gorgeous views, small farms and villages, green and steep slopes dotted with sheep. Nearer to Pamplona, the countryside changes as the flora adapts to the more arid environment. We didn’t see the large, scale monoculture plantings here that are common in the US…smaller scale plots of corn, and other vegetables are seen along the way. In the distance wind turbines punctuate the skyline on both sides of the highway. The Logroño bus station is about a 5-10 minute walk to the old part of town. I read conflicting stories about there being a settlement there prior to the Romans coming. I also read it was first settled by the Romans. Either way, it’s quite old. The El Camino goes straight through the old town, so you see lots of “peregrinos” walking with backpacks and staffs. Logroño has a wonderful central plaza with the Cathedral de la Redonda as it’s central feature. Various musicians serenade the passers by…guitar, accordion, or saxophone for change…sometimes in competition with screaming kids or even worse kids blowing extremely obnoxious play horns. The region is known as La Rioja, and is known in particular for its wine. It attracts tourists primarily for its quaint ambience in the “old town”, wine, and cuisine (known as gastronomy here). The food was great, and definitely rivaled San Sebastian in our opinion. Not being a wine snob, all I can say is that we found it mighty tasty. Our rendezvous with Sorrel and her friend Ann went as planned. A highlight was walking the 13K section of the El Camino together between Logroño and Navarette. This section of the El Camino is quite pleasant as we passed through pretty forested parks and pastoral lands. Part of it paralleled a highway. The fence along the Camino was woven with small wooden sticks or pieces of fabric made into crosses along the way, reminding us that this walk is a historical religious pilgrimage. The last bit of the walk was through vineyards. I was surprised to see green grape vines and purple grape vines side by side. I’m curious about this. The tiny town of Navarette sits up high on a hill, with its Asuncion church (built between 1553-1645) taking center stage and dominating the skyline. We passed the remains of a medieval hospital that was built for pilgrims hundreds of years ago. It reminded me how difficult the journey must have been, without comfy shoes, ergonomic backpacks, cell phones, or a guide book. We have learned that cathedrals and churches are often only open for a few hours a day; so when you see that the doors are open, “make hay while the sun shines,” and GO IN. What we saw in Navarette was so unexpected; We were so surprised, as the lights came on (by making a 1 euro donation into a box-a common feature in churches); We saw a massive, gold laden central alter piece soaring to the decorated vaulted ceiling. I’m sure there are correct names for all these features that I am butchering. We visited the information office and were helped by the most charming, informative young man who spoke excellent English, as well as several other languages. He gave us historical information and explained how, where and when we could take a local bus back to Logroño. We said our goodbyes to Ann and Sorrel, who will continue on their 780km journey to Santiago de Campostella. Here, in this itsy bitsy town, a modern monitor displayed current bus information right at the covered bus shelter. It cost 1.55 EU for the 15 min ride back…the walk took us just over 3 hours! The next day before departing Logroño, we enjoyed a few more older, simpler churches. I am struck in a different way by these more austere churches. The last thing I did before leaving town was buy a pair of totally funky “made in Spain” Pikolino boots. Not quite the kind of boots I had envisioned for horseback riding, but I’d make them work in a pinch. Hopefully they’ll keep my feet warmish and dryish as we move into the supposedly wet fall and winter that is typical here. So far it feels like I’m living in Hawaii due to the warm tropical winds coming from Africa.