You all know me, my birthday comes and I want to spend it somewhere new—what a surprise! This year I decided to keep it simple (only having 3 days will do that to you) and went to Logroño, in the comunidad autónoma (region) of La Rioja. Spain has 17 comunidades, and now with La Rioja, I have been to 15 of them. The only ones I have left are Navarra, which is close to León and has Pamplona as one of its claims to fame, and the Canary islands, which merit a longer trip, at least a week or 10 days.
Logroño was a three-hour car ride, and although a bit bigger than León at 150,000 people, felt smaller, as the center was more compressed, with everything close together. This is pretty normal for Spanish cities, but was even more so for Logroño. I went with a friend and we stayed in an Airbnb right next to the Concatedral (like a cathedral but smaller). In addition to the concatedral, we saw the church of San Bartolomé, la iglesia del Palacio, and the church of Santiago el Real, visited by pilgrims walking the Camino.
There is also a lot of beautiful street art around Logroño’s center that is definitely worth seeing, if only for the Instagram-worthy pictures! Churches, street art, souvenirs, and some beers on Calle del Laurel made for a nice first evening in Logroño.
The next day we hit up the three museums that Logroño has:
-the Museum of La Rioja, which had a lovely temporary exhibit on the women of Logroño, that is, the women of the 1900s
who made their mark on the city and region
-Sala Amós Salvador, a space for temporary modern art exhibits; when we were there it featured the work of a Spanish
artist named Rosa Castellot, the collection was called “En el silencio del aire” (In the silence of the air)
-Muralla del Revellín, a history museum in the only remaining section of the old city wall, which focused a lot on
Carlos V (time to brush up on Spanish history…)
For lunch we tried patatas a la riojana, a traditional La Rioja dish of potatoes, chorizo, and various veggies in a thick broth, and in the afternoon we walked up to the Monte Cantabria, which had an amazing view of the city and surrounding area. It was uncharacteristically cloudy both days we were there, and at least for me, talking a 40-minute walk in cloudy weather was nothing short of a blessing!
If you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned wine at all, it being La Rioja and all, it is simply because I do not like wine at all (unfortunately). La Rioja is known for, and produces almost 42% of, the wine that Spain exports. There were bodegas everywhere, but why go to one when you can’t enjoy the product? Sad but true. Instead of bodegas, we went to quite a few cafés, including Faborit, Cafetería Robusta, El beso café, and Café Victoriano Ninette.
As always, as long as I am seeing new things and exploring new places, I am a happy camper. Here’s to 33 🙂
