SIX REASONS YOU SHOULD MOVE TO LA RIOJA (AND THREE REASONS YOU SHOULDN’T)

January 25, 2017July 5, 20202 Comments

When it was time to reapply for my second year in the program, I had some serious decisions to make about where to live for the upcoming year. Second years get priority, so in theory you get your first choice.

This year I was placed in Logrono randomly because my first three choices were full, and I feel so lucky for that. I love this city. My family loves this city. It feels like home. That said, I did feel a drive to explore a new area of Spain, and so was faced with a difficult choice. If you’re trying to figure out where to live in Spain, hopefully this list of the best things about La Rioja will help you.

six reasons to love la rioja

The region is so small that no matter where you work, it is possible to live in the city. You may have an hour commute, but at the end of the day you’ll be coming home to a decently sized city, and a gorgeous one at that.

The people. Everyone is so nice. Like, extremely nice. The families I teach private lessons to have been my favorite thing about this program. They are generous, patient, and want me to love La Rioja as much as they do. I have rarely met someone grumpy or unfriendly, and even the city bus drivers generally find a way to show their kindness.

The cost of living is insanely cheap here. My rent is 180 a month, a glass of wine is about .80, a night out with food and drink can easily be 10 euros or less. Yet the city itself is generally wealthy. People dress to impress, spend their money on classes and activities, and private lessons pay at the top of the range, 15 euros an hour for one student, or 20 for two. Living here as an aux, I’m paid the same as auxiliares living in Barcelona, San Sebastian, Palma, or Valencia, where the cost of living is much higher.

The Spanish here is easy. Logrono isn’t a tourist town, to the extent that whenever I hear a native English speaker I don’t already know, I pause, and try to figure out who they are and what they are doing here. As a result, the people here are not accustomed to switching over to English whenever they hear someone with an accent, or struggling for a Spanish word. In Madrid or Barcelona, when I try to talk to people, as soon as I open my mouth, they switch to English. That never happens here which was terrifying at first but I think the major reason my Spanish improved so rapidly.

The location. Northern Spain is GORGEOUS. It’s mountainous, it has a beautiful coast, and the landscapes are to die for. La Rioja is one of the northern most cities that speaks exclusively Spanish, instead of Spanish, and Basque or Catalan, or Galego. It’s also home to some of Spain (and the world’s) best wine. It is pretty much in the center of northern Spain, meaning I can get to Burgos, Pamplona, Zaragoza, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Leon, and more for under two hours. It is a great base for weekend, or even day trips.

The size/culture is perfect (for me anyway). I’m a lot older than most of the people doing this program, many of whom are either just out of college or doing their year abroad now! For them, the small size and lack of crazy nightlife might sometimes be frustrating. That´s not to say it doesn’t exist–I live in the center of town and the noise outside my bedroom window lasts until 5 am on the weekends–but the main culture here isn’t discotecas, it’s a few pinchos with small glasses of wine while entire families–babies, toddlers, grandparents, surround you. It’s relaxed, welcoming, and very chill. My kind of place. It’s also only got about 150,000 people, which I thought I would hate coming from Los Angeles, but as an introduction to a new country/language, it has been perfect. Also I’ve never lived somewhere safer. I have dropped my guard so much I’m a little terrified to ever live in a major city again.

So, how could I leave? Why should anyone pick a different region?

I asked myself that over and over, even though I knew I would. It was hard to shake the feeling that a second year in the program felt like it should be as adventurous as the first. By the time this year is over, I will be very familiar with northern Spain, and it’s really difficult to get from here to the south, which is apparently like an entirely different country. Another year exploring the same place felt like I was playing it safe, so I ended up requesting Andalucia as my first choice. My second choice was pretty random, Castilla la Mancha, but Toledo and the other cities in the area look gorgeous, and from talking to people it sounds like the area has all the things I love about Logrono, but in a very different location. Plus it’s also only 33 minutes by train from Madrid.

three reasons la rioja may not be for you

That is one of the main reasons I’d say you shouldn’t live in La Rioja. The lack of a nearby airport.

I generally have to fly out of Madrid (a 4 hour bus ride) or Barcelona (6 hours). And these buses never line up the way you want, meaning I’ve spent more nights than I can sanely handle sleeping in airports to catch 6 am flights, or arrived home at 5 am on a Monday and had to work at 9am that same day. There’s an airport in Bilbao, but it’s much more expensive and really only cost effective to fly to and from London. And on my way back from London after the New Year, we had a terrifying landing experience that I have since been told is entirely common in Bilbao!

Another downside to the size and location is that it is almost entirely Spanish. Great in so many ways, but on days where you are craving Mexican or Indian or Chinese, it can be so frustrating. Nothing is open during siesta and everything (even the grocery store) is closed on Sundays. I understand this is part of Spanish culture, but you’d probably have more variety in a larger city.

Last is the weather. I grew up in Boston and thought I could handle winter. But then I lived in LA for five years and my blood thinned or something, because it’s not even that cold here and it’s killing me. The darkness, the rain, and the constant chill wears on you, and I am so excited to (hopefully) live somewhere a bit warmer next year.

in short

Overall, Logrono is an amazing city. I HIGHLY recommend anyone pick it, especially first years as I think it’s an amazing introduction to Spain and a good way to go relatively native, compared to Madrid or Barcelona. Ever since I sent in my application to renew somewhere else, I’ve been feeling nostalgic for this place. I love it here. I love my apartment. I love my street, the cathedral, the weird siren that goes off at noon every day and no one knows why. This feels like home, and it’s one I am so so happy I got to have. Maybe I’m making a mistake leaving, but at least I’ll have challenged myself, again, to try something, and somewhere new. I won’t be able to do that forever!

HOW TO APPLY TO TEACH ENGLISH IN THE AUXILIAR DE CONVERSACIÓN PROGRAM IN SPAIN

January 23, 2017July 5, 2020

The application to be an Auxiliar de conversación in Spain for the 2017-2018 school year is officially open, and will close this April 18th. The number of people applying this year already feels so different than last. In 2016 I applied in late February and was around number 3500. This year, they had already hit 1,000 applicants within 24 hours of opening. I stayed up and applied right at midnight and am still nearly number 400. That’s crazy!

One of the hardest parts about the Auxiliar program is the application. Maybe as a result of being free (though there are other free government programs that are not the disaster this process is), it’s pretty poorly designed and explained. I’m going to try to make a step by step guide to help anyone who was as confused as I was. I have information both for first year applicants and renewals down below.

First, the profex website doesn’t work with Chrome. Use either Firefox or Safari. If you are renewing, you have to use your old login, otherwise you won’t get second year preference (second years are placed first and much more likely to get their top choice). If you’re a first year, you need to register. Make sure you do so using your passport information.

First years

Need to go to Curriculum and fill out your personal info. You put in your address, college info, teaching experience if you have any, work experience if you have any, additional information (study abroad or ESL certificates), language skills, and anything else you might want to put in. Please note, this stuff isn’t really read. As long as it’s filled in, no one cares what you say. The program is first come first serve, so if you apply and are inscrita number 101 with no teaching/working experience, and someone with a degree in ESL applies and is inscrita number 102, you will get priority.

Renewals

You will have details saved in the system from prior years.

Everyone

Note, that your documents do not have to be uploaded when you electronically submit your application. You can add your passport page, your photo, your letter of recommendation, and your transcript under “Documentos Anexos” at a later date (make sure you do so before you mail in the PDF version of your application). This is HIGHLY recommended, because you get your inscrita number once the electronic application is submitted. So get that thing in ASAP and upload any documents you might be waiting on at a later date!

Click the Auxiliar de Conversacion tab in the lower left of the screen. Then Presentación Solicitudes. Then on the drop down select “Auxiliares de Conversación en Espana Extranjeros” and the corresponding year you’re applying for.

RENEWALS, make sure you click renovacion solicitud. This means you are renewing. If you select nueva solicitud, you will be processed like a new applicant and lose any priority.
First years, you click nueva solicitud.

Then you’ll be brought to a page to upload all the documents it says you need to submit the application. For first years this is the passport page, letter of recommendation, transcript, medical certificate, and letter of intent.

For Renewals, this is your motivation letter, passport (if it has changed), and your Informe del Centro Escolar (recommendation form from your school).

Just check all the boxes and upload them later in Documentos Anexos. Every year it says you can’t do this and every year it is perfectly allowed.

Then you’ll go to a page with España and Andorra as options. Make sure you’re doing España! Some people have accidentally requested Andorra, and I’m not totally sure what’s going to happen with them. You have three groups with the different regions. Pick your top three regions (one from each group, so unfortunately for example, you can’t pick Madrid, Andalucía, and Valencia as they are within the same group), and order each group your preference, 1, 2, or 3.

For first years it will ask what language you’re applying to teach. Select which one you’re applying for, and hit Inscribir Solicitud when you are finished! This will electronically submit your application. You won’t be able to change it other than adding documents in Documentos Anexos, so make sure it’s correct/everything you want.

For second years, you have more questions about if you’re changing regions, etc, shown below.

This is asking if you’re renewing for the first time. Then it asks how many renewals you’ve done (for people who aren’t renewing for the first time–it goes up to six! For first year renewals this is a redundant question to B.)

D.: Do you what to be placed in the same school?

E.: Do you want to stay in the same region but be placed in a different school?

F.: I left this blank, as I wasn’t sure what I means. Maybe put in your current school’s information? I don’t know, but I’ll report back if it becomes a problem. REPORT: My application was accepted, so it’s fine to leave blank.

G.: Do you want to change regions?

H.: They used to have a section that asked about your desired city size and age group, so I used H to put that stuff and say my ideal city placement within the region I had selected.

Once everything is submitted, you should get an email with your inscrita number. When you’ve uploaded your documents, go back to the “Presentación Solicitudes” page, again click on the drop down and select “Auxiliares de Conversación en Espana Extranjeros” and the corresponding year. From here you can see your status (it will still be inscrita if you haven’t mailed anything in), your inscrita number, the date you submitted, and so on. Click the little PDF icon next to these, and your PDF page will be generated. It will be two copies, one to mail and one to keep for your records. Make sure you sign the one you’re mailing! First years and renewals switching regions mail it to Madrid. Renewals staying in the same region will mail everything to their regional coordinator.

Important take aways:

Submit your application ASAP, upload your documents later through Documentos Anexos.
Renewals, make sure your hit renovación solicitud. You do not want to lose that renewal preference.
Don’t slack on signing and mailing in your stuff. Just because you’re inscrita doesn’t mean there isn’t still a cut off date, and there are rumors that they start processing people earlier than the deadline.
Don’t accidentally apply to teach in Andorra!

A WEEKEND IN COPENHAGEN

November 28, 2016July 21, 2020

I’m not gonna lie, when I thought of the European cities I HAD to visit while living in Spain, Copenhagen wasn’t high on the list. Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest? Definitely. Italy? Without a doubt. But Copenhagen? It didn’t really rank.

That was a mistake, and one I’m SO glad didn’t stop me from booking the tickets when Gareth mentioned how much he wanted to go. I’d been to Iceland before, another trip that I was excited for for personal reasons but wasn’t expecting too much from the place itself, and Iceland is now my all time favorite country to visit.

On the flight over from Madrid, everything was announced in Spanish, and then in English. On the way back it was announced in Danish and English. This speaks to the overwhelming privilege English speakers have, when a flight going to/from non-English speaking countries leaves one of those languages out in favor of English. It was also the first time since arriving in Logrono, that I felt like I understood 100% of what was going on. Oh there will be turbulence? Not a problem, because I know to expect it! Drinks service coming around? Don’t mind if I do!

My plane ride was super fun–I was sat next to two girls from Burgos who knew some English, and in a mix of our two languages we chatted throughout the flight. I’m going to visit them when I go to Burgos! About halfway through a man came on the speakers singing a really lovely song in Spanish, and he proposed to his girlfriend! It was so so nice and really romantic.

When I landed Gareth was there waiting for me. I’ve gotta say, nothing will be as hard as LA to London long distance, but seeing each other every few weeks is its own form of torture. We are constantly saying goodbye, and that is really hard! I used to hate people who complained about distance when they could see each other every few weeks, and while I would NEVER go back to what it was before, I will finally admit this version can suck too. That said, if the way we get to see each other is by meeting up in random cities every few weeks, we are so, so lucky.

Our airbnb was a bit outside of the city, but on the main metro line connecting Copenhagen to the airport, so it was incredibly convenient and much cheaper than it would have been had we stayed more central. We only had to ride that one metro the entire time. And much like our trips to Portland and Seattle, we bought a transport pass and then proceeded to walk unchecked onto every train/boat/bus we rode.

The first night we dropped off our bags and headed back into the city. After a few wrong turns and an extra 45 minutes of walking, we ended up in a really hip area our host recommended, and had a delicious dinner and shared a bottle of wine. The whole evening was so nice–the fact that we got lost meant we walked along the canal for ages, checking out the swans and the lights–because Europe doesn’t have Thanksgiving, everything is already decorated and ready for Christmas! It was freezing but everywhere we went was warm and had such great ambiance. Though much like Iceland, Copenhagen was insanely expensive. That romantic dinner? Over $150, which is the most I’ve ever spent on a meal in my life. We decided to not worry about it, and started a system where we kept track of our spending in the krone, so we wouldn’t have sticker shock after every purchase. (Just once at the end of the trip, much better.) Back in our airbnb our host had gone to bed but left us mint infused water and candles lit everywhere. Not too shabby.

The next day was unseasonably warm, meaning it was around 33 degrees. Because of the nice weather, we decided to do all the activities near the canals. We walked to the Little Mermaid statue, and checked out Kastellet, an old (but still functioning) army fortress. Then we took the riverboat metro to Nyhavn, which was my favorite part of the trip. The houses were gorgeous, there were tons of little Christmas market stalls set up, and mulled wine everywhere. Heaven.

We wandered the area for a bit, and I bought gloves, a Christmas ornament, and we got a magnet to add to our collection. Then we crossed the bridge, and went to Copenhagen Street Food, a market with tons and tons of food stalls. It was insanely busy, and I was super overwhelmed because there were so many different options. I LOVE the food in Spain, but there is no variety. It’s all Spanish food, all the time. I wanted ethnic, and suddenly there were about 100 different kinds. I made us check out each booth while Gareth tried not to kill me, before settling on the first one we saw–BBQ pulled pork and curly fries. Delicious.

yoko ono had an art exhibit going on

After eating we had to decide–would we go to Christiania? Christiania is a self proclaimed autonomous region right next to Copenhagen. People basically took over an old army barracks and town in the 1970s, and decided it wasn’t part of Denmark or even the EU. It has its own laws, and has a long history of fights with the Danish police, but it’s also a progressive, artistic, hippy area. We had been going back and forth for a few days. G really wanted to go, I had heard it was seedy, dangerous, and didn’t live up to expectations. We asked our host and she said if we went through the main gates, yes, we would find the seedy side. It’s where all the pot is sold, and it the more sketchy part of town. But if we went in a side entrance, we’d be going into the actual parts of town where people lived. Not tourists looking to buy drugs, but homes and shops and bars. She convinced me, and by pure luck we happened upon one of the side entrances, and we were very suddenly and very obviously no longer in Copenhagen.

Everyone was smoking pot. I don’t smoke and because of a past experience don’t love being around it, so this put my guard up a bit at first. But G got a beer and I (who was freezing) got a hot chocolate, and suddenly I felt so much better. There were families and dogs and everyone we talked to was so, so nice. It was a very laid back, hippy sort of place, and if you relaxed a bit, it was easy to get caught up in the vibe.

That said it was freezing. And it was time to make our last decision. I had asked our host if she had any saunas she could recommend, knowing we’d be walking in the cold all day. She said the best one was in Christiania. That it was all nude, and coed, but it was a place people went with their kids. I think at first I was all for it and G was more reserved, but then as Gareth felt more and more comfortable in Christiania, he was definitely down to try and I was more hesitant, faced with the actual decision. The fact that I was freezing won out, and we headed over.

It wasn’t what I expected, but fit the town perfectly. At first, it was all dudes. Just totally naked dudes. I had to try so hard to look only at their eyes, whereas I never felt like anyone was looking at me where I wouldn’t want them to. It was on the first floor and the windows didn’t have curtains, so people outside could see right in. No one cared. There were people shaving, and showering, and apparently the sauna is used as a community bathing space, especially because some people work in town but live out in Copenhagen, too far from convenient showers, I guess.

We were given a paper bag to write our names on and put our valuables in (the people here obviously trust each other a lot more than I trust the people at my gym at home). G kept giving me chances to back out, and I stripped down to my underwear before realizing no one thought this was weird but me, and as soon as I was naked I stopped feeling weird about it at all. I did something like this in Istanbul, but it was all women and I think I might have kept my underwear on, though I can’t remember. Here you had to be naked. We showered and went into the sauna, where there were other women, some people doing yoga, some people smoking, and other just relaxing. It was REALLY nice after walking in the freezing cold all day, and we stayed for about a half an hour until the heat got too much. When we came out there were kids playing in the pools. It did feel like a community space and not uncomfortable at all.

When we left, we were totally ready to face the cold again. One of the guys who might have worked there, or might have just been a customer, was talking to us about energy and chakras, and it made me sad that Christiania gets such a bad rep. We walked out through the main gate, and passed all the stalls selling things to tourists and I’m so happy we came in a different way and that wasn’t our first impression of the town. We had a great time there.

freetown christiania, copenhagen, denmark

you can’t take pictures inside town, but here outside

We went back to Nyhavn and sat under a heater and drank mulled wine and just talked and hung out. It was a really, really nice day. We finished it with hot dogs from 7/11 which sounds gross but oh my god is 7/11 so much nicer in Copenhagen than it is in the states.

The next morning we packed our things and I tried not be sad that the weekend was already over, but excited about the fact that it had been so good and we have plans to do so many more trips like this in the coming year. Our host let us leave our bags and we went up Christiansborg Palace and the Round Tower. The former was free and the latter was I think 2.50 euros, but we both enjoyed the Round Tower more. It was so cool–to get to the top, instead of stairs it’s a stone ramp that you walk all the way up and all the way down. There was a lot more to see here, and the place was well marked with historical info and papers in both Danish and English. Also I caught a squirtle on pokemon go which has been a goal for a really long time.

Afterwards we decided to go back to Nyhavn and have more mulled wine and just chill a bit before leaving for the airport. At the start of the main street, among all the stalls, was a hot dog stand. DO NOT GO TO THIS HOT DOG STAND. Please note this was the weekend after the election and I had been having a really hard time feeling any sort of happiness at all. This trip was an escape from the depressing reality my country was now in. Anyway, we decided to get hot dogs. The menu was just pictures of different hot dogs with no descriptions of what they actually were. So I asked him what three different ones were and ordered two of them. He only got out one bun, and as there were some pictured on the menu sans bun, I asked if we could both have buns on our hot dogs. Apparently this was a HUGE INSULT and the guy went off. He really rudely asked me if I was okay with him toasting the buns one at a time, and embarrassed I had offended him so much, I was like, “Yes of course, I was just making sure you knew what we wanted.” He huffed at me and turned to Gareth and started a REALLY sexist and sexual rant about women. It was horrible. We were both so shocked, and then he turned back to me and asked what I would allow him to put on the hot dog. I was so frozen. I think if it had happened two weeks earlier, I would have yelled back. But I was already feeling so defeated and hopeless. I stood there in shock for a moment, said we didn’t want them anymore, and walked just far enough away so he couldn’t see me and burst into tears. Now I wish I had the name of his stall so I could post all over the internet to never give this man your business, but I didn’t plan that well. It was the only hot dog stand on the street. He was a grumpy old man with a runny nose. Those are the details I remember.

UPDATE I found a picture of the stand!

hos michael, you suck. sincerely, women.

found this cool graffiti though

Anyway, after that we decided to just head to the airport. We got in early enough that we were able to get dinner there and play some cards. And though the trip ended on a sour note, it was actually SO lovely and such a nice time, and the mean hot dog man didn’t ruin the trip at all. I highly, highly recommend Copenhagen, and really hope I can go back some day. I think we had the perfect itinerary for just two days, but I’d like to stay for longer. I’m also feeling really motivated to check out Norway, Sweden, and Finland now too!

SPAIN – TWO MONTH UPDATE

November 25, 2016September 1, 2020

I’m a little late with this, and it’s actually been about two and a half months, but oh well. Here are my updates!

Central Theme: I still love Spain! Shocking, I’m sure.

what Logroño looks like right now

I FINALLY finished everything I need to do to be able to stay in Spain long term. I picked up my ID card from the ayuntamiento on Friday and can finally stop worrying about complicated Spanish paperwork!

Spanish

My Spanish is getting so much better. I’m definitely not speaking perfectly, but I’m getting my point across, and I’m FINALLY at the point where I can speak without taking forever to think about each word I want to say before saying it. For more difficult things, like bank account problems, or maybe getting a kitten(?!?!) to make Brady less lonely, I have my bilingual roommate come with me. Also the more I learn the more I realize how little I know, but in most general situations I am totally self sufficient.

Social Life

My two roommates are awesome, I met a great British girl, and honestly I’m spending like every other weekend with Gareth. Other than the Katie shaped hole that will never ever go away, I’m really happy socially. Also though my schedule SOUNDS really open, I’m actually working from like 9-9 every day with the downtime during a siesta in the middle, so by the time I get home it’s late and I’m so happy to just hang out. Basically I am old and the Spanish nightlife is something I am no longer able to keep up with.

We did have a Halloween party, which was fun because Halloween isn’t really that big of a deal here, so it was an American/Auxiliar bonding session.

Schedule

I teach at my school 12 hours a week, 4 hours a day on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I do private lessons from 4-6 on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Spanish lessons from 8-9 on Mondays and 7-8:30 on Tuesdays. I have Wednesdays off from the school but I have a Spanish class 1-2, and then private lessons 3:30-8:30, and then Thursday I work at the school, do private lessons from 3:30-6:00, and Spanish class from 7-8:30. It feels like a lot, teaching is exhausting but I LOVE my private lessons, the families are all so nice and the main reason I feel connected to Spain.

The school is still not ideal. I’m supposed to be an assistant but I’m being treated as a full teacher with my own classroom and such. As someone who doesn’t speak Spanish and is NOT A TRAINED TEACHER it’s pretty hard. So that’s my schedule. Also EVERYTHING closes from 2-5 which is the worst cause it’s mostly the only time I have off, and nothing is open on Sundays. I am bad at planning ahead and this leads to me eating a lot of rice.

Logroño

Logroño continues to be such an amazing place to live.

The weather is starting to change. At first the cold was killing me–and by cold I mean about 40 degrees. All through college I used to sleep with a fan in my window–even in the winter! My roommates hated me! I loved the cold. LA changed that. Changed me. When I first moved there I hated the lack of real weather–sunny and 75 was horrible. Now I love it so much. If the sky isn’t a perfect blue, I feel instantly depressed and lazy. That said, eventually I realized I would feel better if I bought a coat and scarf and gloves, and actually prepared for the dropping temperature. Shockingly enough that has really improved my outlook. Now I’m enjoying the diverse weather (though the fact that it gets dark at like 6 is still depressing). It’s raining right now and I have my big windows open, and I’m sitting in bed drinking tea. It’s really nice.

Travel

Gareth and I hiked part of the GR 93, which was fantastic.

We also went to Copenhagen, and it reaffirmed my total and complete love for Scandinavia. Iceland is still my favorite place I’ve ever been, but Copenhagen came close.

Upcoming Travel

It’s Thanksgiving week, and I leave tomorrow for London! We’re having a proper Thanksgiving meal with a Turkey and all the fixings. I can’t wait! I haven’t been to London since my birthday and I REALLY miss my friends there.

I get back to Spain on Sunday and leave that Friday for 10 days of Christmas Markets! Gareth and I are doing Berlin and Amsterdam, and then I’m meeting one roommate in Prague for a few days before we’ll head to Poland and meet our other roommate for the weekend. I’m SO EXCITED. If you know anything about me it’s that I LOVE Christmas. And Thanksgiving. And markets.

About four days after I get back from Poland my mom arrives for the holidays, which I’m so excited about I can barely type the sentence. She’s never left the states! She’s coming to SPAIN. She didn’t even come to LA. I can’t wait to show her around, I think she’s going to love it here. Also our moms will be meeting for the first time, which is exciting and scary and wonderful.

The Election

Also, the election happened. I haven’t said anything about it because I really don’t know what to say. Actually, I thought that was true and then I started typing and the words were flowing. So this will be a separate post. Not a happy one, but that’s the general theme of the entire election, so why stop now.

GR-93 SAN MILLAN DE COGOLLA TO ANGUIANO HIKE

November 24, 2016July 5, 2020

So we left off with us making the decision to go home, and we were waiting for the bus in San Millan. And waiting. And, guess what? No bus appeared. Either we were in the wrong spot, or the online bus schedule was wrong, but it was clear there was no option but to walk to Anguiano, and catch the bus from there as originally planned. I’m not gonna lie, at this point I was pretty nervous. I stretched and thought about crying and finally decided to pretend I was on The Challenge and just power through.

On the bright side the bus stop was right by the monastery, which was so pretty in the morning.

We had a huge day ahead of us, so we prepared with a huge breakfast. This slightly improved my mood, as did the chocolate Gareth started forcing me to eat at random intervals. And I am SO glad we did the second day. Yes, by the end I was limping along, positive I had irreparably damaged my knee, but the second day was so gorgeous. We walked through the forest for a few hours, and didn’t see a single other person. We walked on a mountain rim, and saw an amazing mountain pass, with a path through it. Probably we’ll need to come back one day to climb it, because it was incredible.

After about four hours of walking we passed a town that had a bar that was miraculously open, and we stopped and had a snack and a glass of wine. Then we walked about five more minutes and saw a trail marker. I ran up to it, sure we had another hour or two at most, because I was naive, and the wine had improved my view of the world. I found that we were halfway. Halfway.

There’s no picture of this marker because honestly, the discovery stung a bit. We’d been taking it slow because of my knee and suddenly I was worried we were going to miss our bus back to Logroño. But the next hour or so was all on flat ground, and we passed through a town and then walked on a (really pretty) street for quite a while. It was a nice break, and still really gorgeous.

Eventually Anguiano was in sight, but not before the path led us up a long and winding mountain. It was really incredible–we could see the trees with all their colors everywhere, the village across the river, and there were cows EVERYWHERE. Up until this point we had encountered many a cow, but always with enough room to just casually (or frantically, if you are me and not Gareth) walk by them. But now we were on a MUCH narrower path and there were about five cows just chilling along the way. We tried to herd them a bit before G climbed up a trail behind them and dropped a rock down. (To be clear NOT on them, just so the noise disturbed them and they moseyed away.) Then we were on the real and actual final stretch. We had to walk back down the mountain which was the final straw for my knee. Before the descent, however, there was a marker saying only 2 kilometers left, which gave me the motivation I needed to get it done. THAT SAID, that marker is a huge lie and it was much, much more than 2K. Just FYI. I commandeered a stick as a crutch and hobbled along like a crippled 90 year old woman. Also I slipped and fell in mud/possibly poo hahaha. So imagine how amazing this trek was that I was STILL amazed by the beauty and so happy to be there.

At the end of the final trail there was a gate to the bridge that would let us cross the river into town. We were done, except for the last cow in our way. Gareth went to herd it and discovered that no, it was not a cow. IT WAS A BULL. He attempted to tell me this in a calm and reassuring manner, which my brain interpreted as him calmly telling me to GTFO of there. So in about .5 seconds I had slid between the fence that was keeping us all in and was dangling on the mountain ledge. G walked over, asked WHAT I was doing and if I would please come out so we could carry on walking. Oops. In reality this guy seemed way less interested in us than any of the cows were. That said, Gareth and I have made some cow enemies over the years…

Anyway, we went through the gate, into safety, across the bridge, and INTO ANGUIANO!

The bus stop back to Logroño is right by the bridge and there was a bar about a minute farther down the road. Again it wasn’t a time they were serving any food, but it was the only place open. So they offered to make us some bocadillos, and we played cards and drank wine for a few hours until our bus. It was pretty excellent.

I cannot recommend this hike enough. It was INCREDIBLY gorgeous, had a seriously diverse landscape–sometimes we were in mountains, sometimes in the forest, by a river, or passing through a small village. Other than our start, mid, and end points, we only saw four other people the entire time, and they were all working on the land. We had the entire trail to ourselves, and that was as amazing as it sounds.

Pertinent Information:

It was SUPER well marked, though we did get lost once and it was pretty much the worst. We had just spent about 45 minutes going down a long, winding road to the bottom of a mountain. And then the trail seemed to be taking us straight back up, just on a direct/steeper trail. I was so sure it was a shortcut to get down to where we were from the top, but G ran ahead on the road we were on and there wasn’t another marker anywhere nearby us. So we took the incredibly steep trail, which led us… back where we started. It was pretty disheartening. We debated going back down the long, easy way, but I couldn’t imagine sinking another 45 minutes into it, and we were back down the steep path in about 20 minutes. And discovered the trail continued straight ahead, behind the road we had been on. We didn’t think to look down the edge of the road, but that’s where the next marker was. BUT other than that, we didn’t miss a beat and I can’t get over these trails Spain just has built in everywhere, no maps needed!

The buses to/from Logroño and Anguiano were super easy. We bought the tickets on each bus, and slept during the rides. The way there was about an hour and fifteen minutes and the way back was 45. I have no clue what the bus situation in San Millan is, and if you figure it out please let me know!

GR-93 EZCARAY TO SAN MILLAN DE COGOLLA HIKE

November 23, 2016July 5, 20202 Comments

A few weeks ago Gareth came back to Logroño so we could work on our new goal to do all the best hike in northern Spain, this time by doing a few days of the GR-93. I heard about this route before coming to Spain and it was at the top of my list because it was supposed to offer amazing views with tons of fall foliage–basically all this New England girl could ever want. Spoiler alert, it delivered.

The portion we would be doing would start from Ezcaray, with a night in San Millan de Cogolla, and the bus back to Logroño from Anguiano.

GR 93 EZCARAY TO SAN MILLAN DE COGOLLA routa

day one

GR 93 SAN MILLAN DE COGOLLA to Anguiano routa

day two

We left Logroño Friday morning on the only early bus (6:45 am) and we arrived in Ezcaray at 7:30 am. It was dark. It was FREEZING. Apparently it’s much colder in Ezcaray than the surrounding areas, which on the plus side means come winter there’s skiing, and on the terrible side means we were dropped off on the outskirts of a freezing, empty, dark town. Guys it was so cold. We walked the most intuitive way, and ended up in the town center. No food places were open yet, but there was a tiny shop open that served coffee and tea. We went inside and pooled all the clothes we had to try to warm up (read, I stole every article of clothing Gareth wasn’t wearing, and one he was). We had tea, watched Spanish news tear into Trump, and then when the sun came out and a few other shops opened, left to find breakfast. Also in the light of day this was one of the prettiest little villages I’ve seen so far.

The great thing about this hike, and all Spanish hikes I’ve experienced thus far, is that they are all very well marked with paint. This route was red and white, and it became a game (though not a fun one because my competition was not nearly on my level), to see the markers first.

can you spot the marker?

The first day was amazing. We basically hiked up a mountain, down a mountain, walked through the town, and back up the next mountain. Did anyone else, as a kid, ever see mountains or hills in the distance and really want to climb them just to see what was on the other side? That’s what this was like. And these villages… I honestly didn’t know people lived in villages so small. I’m still not sure they DO because we never actually saw any people in the smallest ones. To be honest, we didn’t see many people in the larger ones either. It was strange. We didn’t prepare well, and only had a little bit of food for the journey, so every time we did see a person we asked if there was anywhere to buy any food and the answer was always no. Even in San Millan de Cogolla, the much more populated village where we spent the night, the nearest supermarket was 5 kilometers from town. What!

Right at the end of the first day, my knee started hurting. I injured in a million years ago doing gymnastics, and we have worked out a deal where basically if I don’t use it, it won’t bother me. So I don’t do lunges or high impact activities, and it pretends it’s a fully functioning knee. But descending five different mountains in about six hours was pretty much its breaking point, and I hobbled the rest of the way into San Millan.

San Millan, it has to be said, is COMPLETELY gorgeous. The walk in is along a river and a really cool stone wall/orchard. The village is fairly big, and has a few different monasteries (one of which houses the first record of written Spanish), and we saw more than five people just out and about, which is a real crowd in smaller Spanish villages. You might say San Millan was hoppin’. (But you shouldn’t because it was still only about five people.)

In my research I couldn’t find anywhere in San Millan to stay, but I found a few options on airbnb in Berceo, which was only 1.5 kilometers away. The only downside is you have to walk down a fairly busy street, which was fine during the day, but after seeing the way people were whipping by at night, and how dark it was, we played it safe and had dinner at the one restaurant in Berceo instead of heading back to San Millan.

Berceo kind of freaked me out at first. There was no one around. Small Spanish villages often feel like ghost towns, or like you accidentally just wandered into Roanoke. Add to that the fact that there was nowhere to buy any sort of groceries or pharmacy related items, my knee was killing me, we were trapped and couldn’t safely get to San Millan, I started feeling like we were in a horror movie. We found the one dinner place, and were two of about four patrons there when we arrived at 8:00. They told us the kitchen wasn’t open yet, because this is Spain and 8:00 pm is still way too early for dinner, but they were super nice and gave us snacks while we waited.

So we played cards–side note, the most common deck of cards here only has 40 cards in a pack! There aren’t any face cards, and the whole thing is pretty confusing. We invented a bastardized version of golf, drank some more wine (which helped me switch from thinking we were in a horror movie to a tiny romantic village), and by the time the first of our three courses arrived, I was feeling much better.

Better mentally that is, physically my knee was at about a code red/black. Whichever is worse. We went to sleep knowing that we might not be able to continue the next day, and planned to walk to the bus stop in San Millan to assess how I felt and potentially go back to Logroño. There were only two buses from San Millan, one in the morning and one at night, and the smaller villages we were passing through didn’t even have people, let alone bus service. So we woke up early, walked to the bus stop assessed. I decided I was being insane and if I could barely walk for five minutes, a seven hour hike up and down a bunch of mountains was a terrible idea. The bus however, had other plans!

BASQUE WITCH TRIALS

November 4, 2016July 5, 2020

A little while after Halloween, there was a festival to commemorate the anniversary of the Basque witch trials, which took place in Logroño. There were stalls selling tons of handmade crafts and food, and they put on a truly creepy show about the history of the event. And then, because it’s Spain, we all got to go on stage and drink mead from the cauldron.

We also bought wool socks and heating pads filled with beans that you heat in the oven because our flat has basically no heat and is freezing at all times.

Honestly, it’s little things like this that make me love Logroño so much. Even though it’s a city, it feels like such a community. There’s always something on and it just feels so magical that I get to live here and be part of it.

Ruta del Cares

October 25, 2016July 5, 20201 Comment

The highlight of our Asturian road trip was the Ruta del Cares. We spent the day before seeing the Covadonga Lakes and Mirador del Fitu. We spent the night in Las Arenas – though the trail starts in Poncebos, I had a hard time finding accommodation there, so we stayed the next town over. We woke up at like 7am (before the entirety of Las Arenas/the sun), and drove the 15 minutes to the start of the hike. Again there was another free parking lot at the start of the trail. We had coffee/tea at a restaurant/hotel that was right there, and then we were on our way!

The hike was amazing. It was like being in another world, just up on the edge of a mountain. We started really early so we only passed a few other people on the way.

It is high. There’s really no getting around that, much as I hated it. But if you stay on the inside of the trail, you can’t really see the drop off, and it feels pretty okay. The biggest problem was on the way back, when we were on the outside and virtually none of the couples we passed would separate long enough to let us pass by without being forced to the very edge of the cliff. Tip: if you are on a narrow path with a million foot drop off, detach from your SO long enough to let the people on the outside comfortably pass. It’s basic human decency.

The trail is meant to be 3 hours each way, but we did it in 2.5 there and 2.75 back without trying too hard. The very beginning is the only real elevation, so it’s a pretty steep 20 minute climb. This was harder on the way down because it’s really easy to skid and the consequences of falling are pretty much life ending. So slower was good at that part, but after that bit the walk was flat and super easy.

The route is from Asturias to Castilla y Leon, and ends at a tiny, tiny pueblo called Caín. It’s a few houses, I think four restaurants that cater to hikers, and a gift shop that looks pretty stuck in time. We got there before lunch, and had to wait for about an hour for any food to be ready. But then we got to have our second menu del dia of the trip, and man am I obsessed. You basically get bread, two large/medium sized plates, water/coffee/tea, dessert, and a BOTTLE OF WINE for like 10 euros. They have this in Logroño but it’s like twice as expensive so not as cost effective as pincho hopping.

After a big meal and a half a bottle of wine each, we headed back. This time it was much busier because the after lunch crowd all left around the same time, but even though it took longer it felt much faster. Maybe because of all the wine?

Notes for other people with a very rational fear of heights… there are only two points that really freaked me out–the two bridges. One is where the path has kind of given way. It’s really short and you can be over it in about 5 seconds, but there’s a point where the bottom is a grate you can look through the get a clear idea of how very heigh you are. I would suggest not looking. The second bridge was way worse because you cross from one side to the other and that is long and really high and I didn’t enjoy it one bit. Otherwise, if you stick to the inside you can virtually never see the drop and can pretend it doesn’t exist.

We finished the hike, and started the long drive back to Logroño. Did you know that road tolls in Spain are like 20 euros every time? Because we did not and that is something worth including in the old budget. Also gas is ridiculously expensive in Europe, but I think that’s more commonly known. We pulled over into some weird industrial space and I had my first lesson (of this decade) on how to drive stick. It was pretty easy but there weren’t any other cars around and I think that made a prettttty big difference. I can tell you this much, I didn’t like it. I don’t why you’d choose to make driving more complicated, but that’s just me (being logical).

We arrived home and collapsed in a heap of exhaustion. It was a lot of driving. Again, sorry G. But also totally worth it. (So, also you’re welcome.)

Covadonga & El Mirador del Fitu

October 25, 2016July 5, 20202 Comments

I arrived in Spain the day before orientation, but two weeks before work actually began. I knew I wanted to fit in a trip or two, but wasn’t exactly sure where to go. South of France? Stay in Spain? I also didn’t want to miss much of San Mateo, or any job interviews, and it seemed like everyone was going out every night in a desperate bid to avoid being friendless and alone.

I mapped out a trip to Asturias that would have lasted about three days, but we cut it down to two days, one night to avoid leaving Brady for too long/being away from all the action in Logroño. This worked fine, but was a LOT of driving. I basically lied to Gareth about the length of every leg of the trip, mostly because my brain refused to accept the fact that driving many miles/kilometers amounts to many hours in the car. Sorry Gareth. You can look below and see the actual estimates. Oops.

We rented a car in Logroño and drove to the Ikea in Bilbao first. I needed some things to set up my room–a mattress pad (fun fact, my bed is actually two twin mattresses of DIFFERENT HEIGHTS pushed together, which is even less comfortable than it sounds), a desk, a mirror, and some plants, obvs. My room is now amazing.

From Bilbao we headed to Asturias, first to the Mirador del Fitu. This was up some windy mountain roads, and I was 99% convinced I was getting us nowhere but lost until we finally arrived at a parking lot. The view from below the stairs was impressive enough, and once we climbed up, we were looking at one of the best views I’ve ever seen. We hung around soaking it in for a while before heading down to start the journey to the Covadonga lakes.

Note that if you’re following the same route, it’s fastest to continue driving the same direction you were going to get to the Mirador. We discovered this only after we had retraced our path down the mountain and got GPS signal back. We had to turn around and head back up which added like 20 minutes to the total driving time and did nothing to help my car sickness.

Also note that the drive up to the Covadonga Lakes is sketchy as hell. You are on the outside of a mountain road the whole way, and the drop offs are ridiculous. It was terrifying, especially with a Brit driving whose natural instincts were to do everything backwards. But, if you can get up there without dying, it’s so worth it. There’s free parking, the views were gorgeous, and you’re right in the mountains. There’s a lot to explore and a hike around the lake if you have time–we didn’t do the hike but still found enough to do to fill about an hour. It was pretty great and I highly recommend if you’re into lakes/mountains. Maybe find someone non-British to drive, though.

From the lakes we drove to Las Arenas, where we spent the night, getting ready to walk Ruta del Cares the next day!

SPAIN – ONE MONTH UPDATE

October 15, 2016July 5, 2020

A little over a month ago, I was racing around LA trying to finish a huge to-do list before the flight that would take me first to Zurich, and then on to Madrid. It is crazy to think it’s been a month, and I’m going to be super cliched and say it feels both much longer, and much shorter than that.

Before I came, I got a serious case of cold feet. I started doubting everything, and felt pretty crazy to leave a life I liked/had put in so much work into building. I tried to have realistic expectations, knowing when I first arrived I’d be homesick, that the language barrier would be a problem. I was prepared for it to take some time for me to feel settled.

But amazingly, it took almost no time at all. After a delayed flight and a road trip from Madrid to Logroño with a VERY tired Kristen behind the wheel, I arrived in Logroño at 1:30AM. I parked my car and dragged my suitcase to my apartment (because cars aren’t actually allowed on my street), and stepped into my new home for the first time.

my street

And guys, it was GOOD. My room was basic but pretty. The apartment was bigger than I was expecting, and my roommates were so nice and just as excited as I was to be here. And the city? It was still lit up and beautiful at 1:30 in the morning, and I instantly felt so sure I had made the right decision coming here–a feeling that has never once wavered.

first time getting pinchos

Gareth came to visit about 5 days after I got here, and we did some pretty cool things. Something so incredible is that we are now in (nearly) the same time zone! That one small detail has changed everything. I can call him when I wake up on my way to work, we can talk at lunch, and before bed. In LA there was a cut off from 2:00pm until maybe 11:00 or midnight where we just couldn’t talk, and that is like half the day! It sucked! Also we are going to see each other basically every two weeks from now until January 8th. What will we even DO with such regularity? Probably get very sick of each other!

My first week here was San Mateo, which is one of the two biggest festivals in La Rioja, the region that Logroño is in. It was really fun, and a great introduction to the city. The highlight was seeing Morat play Cómo Te Atreves. In typical Spanish style they didn’t go on until about 1 am.

There was also a marching band that went by my window hourly for the entire week, which started out as cool and then got dramatically less so as time went on. Now that San Mateo is over, there is a guy who plays gorgeous classical music every night, and it fills the apartment and is SO LOVELY.

I can’t begin to explain how much I love Logroño, and how lucky I feel to have been placed here. Originally, I wanted Madrid so badly I didn’t even tell anyone I had applied to move to Spain, but to Madrid. That was all I could picture. And now, I wouldn’t trade Logroño for anything. It’s small and cheap (my rent is 180 euros a month, for real), it’s not touristy at all, it’s beautiful, it has amazing food/wine, it’s close to all the major northern cities, and the people are so so so nice. There’s a belief that the people in the north are cold, and I don’t know if I’m just not far enough north, or if the stereotype is just completely wrong, but the people here are insanely nice. They never get annoyed with my terrible Spanish. Every family I’ve met for private lessons has told me if I ever need anything, to come to them–and they actually mean it. If I need a ride somewhere, help figuring out how to buy a bus pass, recommendations on the best bodegas, etc–they are so happy to help. I think my Spanish is improving so much because I have no worries about speaking it, even though it’s bad. There is zero judgment, so I feel fine to say or ask whatever I need, sometimes again and again haha, until they understand me.

I’m taking Spanish lessons four times a week, for five hours total. And my Spanish really is already improving. This month there is a pop up book fair in the park next to my apartment (can I say again how much I love Logroño), and I bought The Little Prince and have been (slowly) reading it. My Spanish is still terrible but for the first time in my life I have hope that I might not be incapable of learning, that maybe by the time I’m done here, I’ll actually be good–or at least somewhere close to good.

For work, I have two jobs, both teaching English. One is at an elementary school, and one is doing private lessons after school’s out. I love the private lessons. They are exhausting, but the kid/s really pay attention and learn, and all my private students are super nice/cute/funny and I love hanging out with them. Plus I get to practice my Spanish with their parents, the super nice people mentioned above. I interviewed at multiple academies and quickly realized finding work in either an academy or through privates lessons would be super easy in Logroño. So I went for the higher paying option, and though it’s only been three weeks, I get the impression it’s a bit more secure than I originally thought. No one has canceled yet.

My school is a bit tougher. I’m supposed to be a language and culture assistant, and because I’m not meant to be teaching alone, no experience or training is required/provided. However, my school (breaks the rules and) puts me in my own classroom with the younger kids, which is REALLY hard, especially on the first day. The kids don’t know who I am. They don’t know enough/any English–and I don’t know enough Spanish–to accomplish ANYTHING, so mostly they run wild while I try not to let them hurt each other. It’s not great but week two has definitely been better than week one, so hopefully as I learn more/they get to know me better, it will keep improving. The teacher for grades 4-6 stays with me like she’s supposed to, and I love those classes because the kids understand me. Plus the entire school treats me like a celebrity–when I walk down the hall every student runs up and says hello and tries to talk to me. It’s pretty cute.

I do miss things from home. Mostly people. Katie. And Mexican food. There’s one Mexican food place in Logroño and guacamole is twice as expensive as a burrito… you can imagine the size of the burrito. I miss my pilates studio and the beach. But I still plan on going back to California eventually, and until then, Logroño is a perfect place to be.

Until next time, or as literally every single person in Logroño says, ‘sta luego!

The World Wide Open

Tag: europe