Escaping the Heat in Spain

Broad wide streets of Logroño, with modern apartment buildings.

There does not seem to be many tourist attractions in Logroño. No great historical events, not much art, and no particular architectural wonders. Yet, it is a pleasant city, with wide streets and little traffic, broad sidewalks with plenty of shade, large parks and cafes and bars everywhere. And a great night life! A good place to live, and perhaps a great place to raise kids.

Trees and shade in Logroño

But we're not here for either of those things. We're, well, tourists. We're here, in Spain, on the plain where the rain falls, mainly. (Or so I'm given to understand.) We're in the Rioja region, where we came for the wine. And the eclipse!

Street art in Logroño.

On August 12, in a few days from when I write this, there will be a total eclipse of the sun. We learned about this eclipse a year or more ago. It's visible along a path from Iceland down through Northern Spain to Barcelona. It will be easier to watch it further north, as the sun will be setting by the time the eclipse happens in Barcelona. The north coast will be better: earlier, so the sun will be higher. But there is a serious risk of overcast!

So we came further south, to the plains, in hopes of getting a clear sky. And while we're here, we'll be visiting wineries in this historical and highly-honored wine making region. 

No, it's not Bologna, but porticos in Logroño serve the same function: a shady place to walk, shop, and gather.

A view of the twin towers of the Cathedral. Logroño is nowhere near as elegant as Seville, but does have some very classic architecture.

Today we went to a winery (bodega) in the nearby town of Naverrette to buy a couple of cases, one white, one rosé, to take home. After getting them stowed in the car we realized we were going to need another case of rosé to drink during the rest of our trip (in the evening, AFTER parking the car!).

I went back and found the offices locked. So I walked around the corner and wandered inside the winery.

These are modern wineries, warehouse buildings that are not unpleasant when seen from the highway, but are not old or historic in any way. Inside, they are filled with tall stainless steel vessels for making and aging the wine. 

I found a crowd inside, among the stainless tanks. Eight or ten men and a few women were clustered around a collection of plastic containers with a capacity of perhaps 8-10 gallons each. The vintner was holding a nozzle at the end of a thick hose that ran back to one of the tanks. He was carefully filling each container. Everyone was watching and commenting, chatting and laughing.

We looked on, amazed, as one container after another was filled and placed on a pallet to be loaded into the cars that continued to collect outside.

The vintner filling wine containers while someone's son helps out.
(He helped us load the cases of wine into our car, too!))

We finally were shown back to the office showroom to get our final case, six paltry bottles, not even one gallon! The lady ringing up our purchase told us that no, these were not restaurateurs getting their house wine for the week. These were their neighbors, local townsfolk, who like to have a glass or three with a meal, and enjoyed inviting friends over to join them.

It seemed like a regular Saturday for her. Sell a few cases to tourists, and replenish the tanks of the locals!

This trip to Spain was threefold. The primary factor was the eclipse. We were interested in the wine, certainly. The third reason, as spring in Montpellier morphed into an intolerable summer, was to escape the heat. 

We got sooooo tired of that relentless heat! It started in June, as we were moving (oh yes, we've moved to another apartment in Montpellier, in the heat of the summer—that's a whole other story). For all of July mornings had been very warm—high 70s as the sun came up. Then the day got hotter, rising to the high 90s, with little relief as the sun went down. We really needed to get away!

So for the last two and a half weeks we've been on the road. We traveled through the Pyrenees, taking advantage of the cooler weather and clean air in the mountains. (No fire danger in Montpellier, but we've heard reports of smoke in the air.)

We spent a few days on the Atlantic coast, near Biarritz, and crossed the Spanish border into Basque Country. We just spent a week near the Spanish city of Santander, on the Atlantic coast. We were outside the city (it's tough staying in a city when you have a car), on a tidal estuary known, if I understand the Spanish correctly, as the Black Swamp.

The Marismas Negras, Black Swamp. It looked like this when we arrived. Dispiriting!

It was dispiriting when we arrived, as the tide was out and the mud flats were exposed. But during our week there we came to appreciate the tidal cycle: mud flats in the morning filling to create a calm lake in the afternoon, emptying towards sunset. 

Our lake, at high tide. Note the train in the distance.

Then, there was the train. Part of the local transport network, this three-car train would pass by on the far side of the estuary five or six times a hour. We came to appreciate the "clack clack clack" of its arrival, the rumble as it crossed the bridge, and the final "clacks" as it disappeared.

And it was cool! There was a refreshing chill in the morning, pleasantly warm in the afternoon. Most nights we left the doors open to the cool night air. A light rain fell the day before our departure. 

Our residence overlooking the tidal estuary. We stayed in the building on the left, on the very top floor. As there were few other guests, we felt privileged with our private panoramic view!

Now, we're back in the heat! It's not as bad as Montpellier, though, and people here have a culture built around hot summers. Mornings are for getting things done. People are out, businesses are open. Things get done. At 2PM everything shuts down. The streets are deserted as the locals have lunch, or go inside for the fabled siesta. It makes a lot of sense here! In the evening things open up again, the streets start to fill. 

And by 8PM, when the temperatures have started down, the streets are thronged. Restaurants begin to fill as the population looks for night life.

8PM and Logroño comes alive with the dinner crowd.

We were out in the evening and found the tapa streets, a neighborhood of old, narrow streets lined with tapa bars. Tiny restaurants with a few high tables on the street where people were sitting—or standing—enjoying a glass of wine or beer. We were looking for a particular tapa bar; it had just opened, so we sat at the narrow bar inside and ordered their signature dish, shrimp and pineapple skewers. 

The chef selected a couple from the pile that had been prepared, and threw them on the hot grill for a few minutes. My, were they tasty!

(One thing we learned from the tapa culture in Seville is that while small, tapas ofen have unusual flavor combinations that can be quite good. That was certainly the case here!)

We spent another hour or so enjoying the busy streets as the sky darkened. It's very different at night!

We'll be on the road for another week or so. After the eclipse we'll meet up with our friends from Montpellier, Mark and Mary, and slowly make our way back to France.

Sunrise on a rare clear morning over our lagoon near Santander.