Carnival in Logroño

Carnival is definitely celebrated in Logroño. My roommate's friends came to town to stay at our apartment and we all had lunches together and later when out on the town.

Here we are having lunch out on our patio. We were lucky and it was a nice sunny February afternoon. It was the first, and thus far only, meal I've had out on the patio. I hope that spring comes soon.

They all dressed up as geishas, which was a nice coincidence since the only costume I had that I wanted to wear was that of my Japanese man (the same costume I wore to celebrate Halloween). My roommate if you're wondering is the one to the left of me; her name is Alicia.

We went out to the famous Laurel street for pinchos and met lots of other people dressed up in costumes. It's really a shame that we in the States don't celebrate Carnival like the rest of the world, because it's really a good-humored fun holiday.

This was an interesting scene. This guy was dressed up as Superman in a cage. His friends were feeding him through the bars. At least he had a chair...

Visit to a Riojan winery

Or, rather, una visita a una bodega riojana. I went with a wine tasting group called a 'Curso de Catas'. Our group learns about tasting and elaborating wine. Although I just started with the group a week ago, we all went to Fuenmayor, a pueblo less than 10 km out of Logroño, to visit a ancient yet little known winery called Marques de Arviza.

Fuenmayor is a village with a large number of wineries, many of which have centuries old caverns underneath the buildings and the streets. Although Arviza is one of the oldest wineries in the region, dating back to 1874, the stone arches located in the ancient caverns 12 meters below the surface date were first created by the Romans in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since that time they've been reenforced, but nearly all of the old stones remain.

Here's our group tasting the wine after a tour of the winery. Their 'reserva' was fantastic. The reserva is a red wine that has been aged for a longer time in the barrel and then again for a longer period of time in the bottle. The harvest for their reservas was in 2001.

San Sebastian & a Sidreria experience in Astigarraga

I was invited with some Spanish friends to go to San Sebastian for the weekend. Our plan was to go out for dinner in a 'sidreria', or cider house, in a small town nearby. Cider houses are typical in that region of Spain (and also Asturias).

Here's a picture of a few of us standing on a pier in beautiful San Sebastian.

Here's the majority of us standing on a little mountain top overlooking the bay of San Sebastian at nightfall.


The small town, or village, we visited was called Astigarraga. It's a place that's famous for its cider houses; and it has many. We visited a traditional one where the food is served to you on big plates and we all share. It's also custom to eat standing up, something that might be annoying to some people, but not to me. I'll explain why.

The first plates served were that of 'chorizo a la sidra', which is Spanish sausage cooked in cider, and then 'tortilla de bacalao', which is a Spanish omelette made with cod. Both of those plates were fantastic.

The third plate you see above is another serving of cod with fried green peppers, or 'bacalao con pimientos verdes'. We ate everything with bread.

Do you drink anything else besides cider in a cider house? I think you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. You get all the cider you can drink. In the restaurant we went to there were giant casks or kegs or containers of cider, and there were waiters or assistants who would open up these containers and let cider squirk out in long smooth sprays. The idea then is to catch the cider in your glass, but just a little. This fresh super tasty type of cider is best drank immediately after served, which means you just fill your glass up a little bit and either drink it immediately and get another one, or bring it back to your table and drink it very soon after.

That's why I didn't mind standing up all the time, because I was always going back for more cider. Ha! Check out the video below showing you how it works. It's so much fun! I'd recommend this to anyone!



The next plate was a very tender meat called 'chuleton', or ... big meat slab. I don't really know how to translate this one. It's a really tender cut of meat that looks a little like a tenderloin. It's served quite rare, which makes it chewy, juicy, and extremely flavorful!


Last we were served dessert. There are a couple things here. In front, and in my hand, are two typical desserts made from almond, which is typical of the north of Spain. The flat brown cookie-looking dessert is called a 'teja', which is literally a roof tile, which I suppose it resembles. On the flat and in the basket in the background is a combination dessert that you put together. Those are walnuts that you must crack and then put over the combo of a really good Basque cheese and 'membrillo', which is quince jelly.

One of the best meals I've had in Spain. Definitely check out these 'sidrerias' if you make it to the north of Spain. The best ones are in Asturias and Pais Vasco.

León & Astorgas

First trip that I've made in a while. Found some decently priced bus tickets, made a schedule for a weekend, and booked a hostel, and away we were to León, capital city of the province by the same name. León is located in the northwest of Spain in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It's a province that's characterized by ancient Roman ruins and walls and by the mountains (los Picos de Europa) it shares with neighboring province to the north Asturias.

León the city is one of the highest capitals in Spain elevation-wise; and we decided to go there in the middle of winter. It was cold and a little rainy when we got there, so we made for the first monument we could, which was the Basilica of San Isidoro. The picture below is the patheon which holds the tombs of past kings of León. The Romantic paintings on the walls and ceilings were especially impressive, and they're supposed to be some of the best example of such work in all of Spain.


Walking, we were able to see most of the old part of the city, which is surrounded almost entirely by medieval walls. At some points near the walls you can see evidence of the even older Roman walls that were there before.

I went with my friends Julie (from Florida) and Danny (from Logrono, Spain).


Another of the most important points of interest in the city of León is the fantastic cathedral with its massive stained glass windows.





Here I am standing outside the great gothic cathedral of León at night.


The second day we were there we took a short bus trip to nearby Astorgas, another ancient Roman city with walls, another grand cathedral, a plaza mayor (main square) with a nice ayuntamiento (town hall), and a palace constructed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. Both Gaudi's palace and the cathedral are visible behind me and the wall in this picture.


Here we are in the plaza mayor. I tried to set a timer on my camera, and it was a little low, I guess.