Living Like a Native

Monday, May 8, 2017--Logrono, Spain

When Arne died, I not only lost him, but I also lost my life here in Europe.  Copenhagen had become a second home to me where I spent at least 4-5 months per year.  It gave me the cosmopolitan city experience, the European-style life, etc.  When I travel now, that's one reason I tend to rent apartments more often than I stay in hotels.  Being in an apartment gives me the chance to return to that feeling of being a local.  This morning, I went to the supermarket and bought local products to have for meals here in the apartment--eggs, bread, salsa, local salami, chorizo-potato tortilla, wine, etc.  Now I am back home relaxing for the afternoon before going back out later in the day.  Click here to see my apartment in Logrono.

Being able to live like that is one reason I plan my stops to be longer than most tourists would stay in a city.  Almost all tourists would visit Logrono just for a day maybe without even staying overnight.  But I will be here for 3 nights (2 1/2 days).  I can slow down and relax.  I can go to the store and shop for food.  I can prepare what I want to eat.  Yet I can still see tourist sights.

I also stopped at the tourist office this morning.  A young woman helped me and, when I said San Antonio in Texas as my home city, she replied that her mother lives in Dallas.  She will be there later this month to visit her, but she has never been in San Antonio when visiting Dallas.  I suggested that she and her mother make a weekend trip there.

Before shopping, I made a trip to see Iglesia de San Bartolome.  It's the oldest church in the city and has a very medieval look and feel to it both inside and out. 
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Late in the afternoon and early in the evening, I explored.  I walked 2/3 of the way across the city (the long way across) and then returned, but I got to see a lot of the city:

Just around the corner from where I am living is Bar El Alamo.  And it was full of old men--old enough to remember the Disney series in the 1950s.

There is a large square/park called El Espolon.  With lots of seating areas, I sat for a while to read from my current novel. 

On the far east side of town, I walked through the Universidad de la Rioja campus. It is a suburban-style campus with lots of parking lots indicating it is very much a commuting campus.  The style of the architecture and the look of the campus was very American with buildings that look like they range from the 1960s to the present.

The return trip was made through parks along the Rio Ebro--Parque de la Ribera where I passed the convention center Palacio de Congresos and the domed, air-conditioned bull ring Plaza de Toros de Ribera.  The other park was Parque del Ebro with the old Puente de Piedra where the pilgrims enter town and two other bridges that go to the small part of the city on the other side of the river. 

That brought me back to the western part of town where I am living.  It was good exercise with lots of people to watch--elderly in the park downtown, students at the university, and joggers and bikers along the river route.

It's now after 20:00 and time to prepare my dinner and enjoy it with the bottle of Comportillo 2016 Cosecha wine that I bought today.