Lugo, Galicia

I stopped by another city in Galicia on my way home. Lugo is famous for the Roman walls that entirely surround its center. More places (Logrono included) tear down the old city walls (or at least most of them) in order to make way for newer buildings and roads; so it's a pleasure to see some cities that still have these barriers intact.
Here's one of the principal entrances into the old part of the city.

Once again we can see the image of Santiago (St. James the Apostle) guarding another entrance to the city.

The city has grown considerably outside the wall, and only the oldest part of town lies inside.

Lugo's cathedral forms a part of the city's fortress as well, as was quite common in many ancient Roman cities.


The tapas were very very good in Lugo. Once again, tapas are Spanish bar food that people generally get free with the purchase of a drink. The tradition is to go from bar to bar trying different things. I have hear an olive anchovie combination. Galicia is famous for its seafood and fish (being so close to the sea/ocean and all).

Oysters filled with veggies... mmm.


Another Galician speciality: empanada (a la gallega). These pie-like creations are often filled with fish or seafood, meat, and sauces made up of tomato, garlic and onion. The empanada's origin has been traced to the Iberian peninsula, and more specifically around Galicia and the north of Portugal. It's very well known throughout Spain and Portugal, and it's even very popular in South America, where colonists brought it centuries ago.

Salamanca

I went to lovely Salamanca in the south of the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon for a weekend with my friends Isabella (from Germany) and Cesarina (from Italy). We were really lucky and had great weather one of the days, bright sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s; not bad for half a month before the first day of spring.

Salamanca is most famous for its university, which is ancient old (founded in 1218). It's housed within huge gothic palaces, like the one in this picture. The city has a large number of students, many of them coming from all over Europe and the U.S.

We went tapas crazy when we were there, going out once every day during our stay. The picture above is of 'costillas', which are ribs.


Here's a nice view of Salamanca from across the Tormes River. The Romanic bridge is the old entrance to the city, full of Romanic architecture. The big cathedral is actually two churches combined together. The older cathedral on the right is Romaneque, and the larger on the left is newer and Gothic.

Here's a tapa we had called 'jeta', which is similar to something called 'morro', which is literally the face of the pig. Mmmm...

The Plaza Mayor, the 'Main Square', is Salamanca is one of the most beautiful in Spain. It's a hot spot for students and tourists and Salmantinos alike congregate there to take in the sun and the relaxing atmosphere. There are many cafes, restaurants, and shops in the square that used to be a the bullfighting ring. Concerts are other big events are usually held in the Plaza Mayor, which is said to be able to fit 20,000 people.

Here we are, Isabella on the left, Cesarina in the middle, and me on the right. We're on top of the cathedral looking out over the city.


We're sitting in the Plaza Mayor at night.

We shared tapas and tried to order different things. There are potatoes on the left, bread and goat cheese in the middle, and Spanish mushrooms (setas) on the right, accompanied by good old Spanish cervezas (cañas con limon para las chicas).


Here I am standing in front of the towers of the new cathedral.

San Mateo 2008! Get some!

We are back in Logrono this school year. The patron saint of the city is Saint Matthew, or San Mateo. The fiesta of San Mateo goes on for a whole week, in which students don't have class and there are a few days off of work for everyone else. It's true; we the youth have no idea how good we have it.

The picture above is a fountain turned red for the fiestas. The water runs red with the blood of the Logroneses from years ago, who worked hard to create the vineyards and wineries that today we all enjoy so much.


Yes, the wine is good. We went to some tastings and bought some local specialties and reasonable prices. This dish is called 'picadillo', which is basically like spiced pork. It's delicious, and they provided us with a mini wine bottle commemorating the festival and containing a young wine from one of the oldest and most prestigious wineries.


Here's me with another pincho (little Spanish snack/bar food!). I gotta be honest, I don't remember what it is. I should've written it down I guess.


Street performers. They crowd to the fiestas, or anywhere where there are a lot of people. This guy was dressed up as a toy soldier from Toy Story.


There was a wine taster in one of the squares near our apartment. Pay five Euros and you get to wear a glass around your neck while they fill it for you and send you off to bump into other people, who also have wine glasses hanging from their necks.


Here's a view from one of our balconies. We have several in our main living room, and more windows in the bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom. It's a fairly big place: three bed, one full bath, small kitchen, storage closet, living room with dining table, couch, coffee table, TV, a couple cabinets, some shelves, etc.

Anyways, our situation is on standby. Two of the bedrooms are stilled filled with junk from the previous occupant. He's coming to get it all soon, and then our landlady is going to furnish them. She'll put another bed and dresser in one of the bedrooms and a desk and book shelf in the other. As for now, my dresser is the cabinet in the living room, and my hamper is on top of dude's junk in the other bedroom.


This is a busy street during the fiestas. There are more people in Logrono during the 'sanmateos' than any other time of the year. It's a mess if you wanna go to your favorite places, and many locals--after experiencing the fiesta many times before, no doubt--take the opportunity to go on vacation.


Abby and I lived on this street last year. There are a lot of bars and clubs, and they were all open and all hours of ridiculousness during the fiesta. Par-Tay!


The bullfight ring in Logrono, complete with ultra modern retractable roof! How traditional is this anyway? So there were actually bullfights: those with the bull death and the gorging of matadors and the like; and we didn't go. Instead we went to something called 'vaquillas', which are like bullfights without swords. Entertainers basically just go out with a bull (smaller than the big ones they 'fight' and with taped up horns) and they run around with it, put rings on its horns as it tries to kill them, and by some act of fearlessness some of them actually leap over the large charging animals. Good stuff.


Some of the ceremonies during the fiestas include wine stomping! It's the beginning of harvest time in La Rioja (during autumn), and the stomping creates the season's first (symbolic) mosto! Mosto is grape juice; it's the liquid that comes from the grapes, and when it's fermented you get wine. Increible!

There were also concerts everynight in some of the bigger plazas in the city, and there was also a fireworks contest with different countries and Spanish cities competing. I don't know who won. Several of them were very good.

Well, more coming later, amigos. Hasta luego!

Family in Spain!

Comments coming soon...

Return to Vitoria

Abby, our friend Kara, and I traveled to nearby Vitoria, the capital of the Basque Country, to visit a cathedral that is under restoration. It was a special situation because most cathedrals in restoration aren't open for visitors. This cathedral is an exception. We had to get reservations ahead of time, and when we got there we had to wear helmets for the tour! It was fantastic. We walked through the cathedral on scaffolding and saw all of the different projects inside the giant church.

Besides the cathedral, we also toured the city a little bit also. The Basque Country is the autonomous community in Spain directly above La Rioja, so it shares a similar climate and culture for great tapas and food. This tapa shown above was probably one of the best I have ever eaten. I don't know it's specific name, but I can tell you the contents. Bread on the bottom, then a slice of jamon serrano (special Spanish ham), then some really rich goat cheese, and on top a caramelized onion. I think they call it pure heaven... I'm not sure.

Here is a typical Spanish cafe at around midday (not really lunch time, not really breakfast time). And when it's not mealtime in Spain, that means that it's perfect time for tapas; so, you can see all the tapas out on dishes. You don't even have to know Spanish... just look, find something good, and point.

Here is a main plaza in Vitoria where they had an afternoon street sale the day we were there (Sunday). I bought a book at one of the tables: El Alquimista (in English, The Alquemist). I've read it in English, and it's a pretty straightforward read, so I thought I'd read it in Spanish too. Abby got the same book and we're now reading it together.

Here is me standing in front of the new cathedral in Vitoria. We didn't get to go inside this one... it's not the old one under restoration that we toured... This is the new cathedral they built after the Basque Country became an autonomous community of Spain and Vitoria became it's capital. They decided that they needed a new bigger cathedral, so they built this monstrosity.