Logrono

After a a satisfying lunch we all got back on the bus and settled in for a long ride to Logrono.  Some of us brought our lunch with us to eat on the way.

Doug brought a unique subway sandwich

He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into it!

Before our trip started, we got some good news from Ed regarding our train trip. Apparently if the train is not on time, we were entitled to a partial refund.  Well it had definitely was late so Ed was on the phone trying to get our refund.  He said that they were thinking of getting our refund to us after we returned home in dollars, the exchange rate was $1.15 for one euro.  Ed convinced them that if we got our refund in euros now, we would probably spend it in Spain and help the economy!  That sounded good to them so we were expected to get about 90 euros back before we reached Barcelona.  That was good news to be as I didn't want to convert my last $100 in pocket change into euros.

Ed tabulating the refund

We all gave Ed a standing ovation and then settled into our seats for the long ride. I was thankful  for my friend Carol who saved me a seat in front of the center entrance of the bus so I could get a large window by which to take pictures.  We were driving through the middle to the north of Spain and it was obvious that there were a lot of grapes being grown in this area. I knew that we would be visiting a winery in a few days so it was obvious that vineyards would be prevalent through out the landscape.

Since it was a long ride many decided to take a nap so they would be refreshed when they arrived. The bus driver put on a cd of Enya with some exciting Celtic music.  I thought he should be playing something Spanish, like guitar music.  After all I asked what did the Celts have to do with Spain anyway.  Well, I found out from Father Cadarso that the Celts were prevelent throughout Europe and even in Spain.  They settled in the Ebro River valley where we were going.  So maybe our bus driver was right to put on Celtic music for this part of the trip.

Soon we saw the signs for Logrono appear in the rode way and everyone started to rustle up and look around. We soon sighted the city and drove in stopping by an apartment building.  Father Cadarso stepped off the bus with his suit case.  Apparently, this is where he lives and we would see him later when he would be our guide for our city tour.

Hotel Murietta

We arrived at the Hotel Murietta on Murietta Street near the city center which had a large fountain.  We soon got our luggage out and took the elevator to our fifth floor room. Meg and I set up our room and left our clothes in our bags as there were no drawers and little room in the closet for hanging things.  We freshened up and decided to go out and find a place to eat as we were famished. 

We got directions for the tapa bars and headed out.  We found a nice out door restaurant and I had a great hamburger and Mel had pasta.  It was great and people watching was fun as we could see lots of young people about college age going out for the night.  Out impression of Logrono was that it was  a great active city with lots of sport clubs and joggers, bikers, taking over the roads.  I thought to myself, this is my kind of town! Then we went walking and found others enjoying the evening getting a bite to eat.

Fran, Dolores, Kim and Choo enjoying the evening

Angela and Jose drinking Margaritas!

My friend Carol has chosen wine!

Richard and Mary Ann are toasting our trip with some authentic wine!

Carolyn thrilled us with a little soft shoe dance!

It was a great evening and then headed to the hotel.  In inquired where I might be able to run the next morning and I was itching to do an early morning jog.  I was told that there was a park just down from our hotel.  So the next morning I got up, put on my jogging gear and set out about 6:45 for a morning jog.  The air was crisp as it had just rained lightly and everything smelled fresh.  I set out running by the fountain and down the street to the park.  There was a great path that could be used for bikers or joggers and it went down to the park below.  There were still remnants of the night before in the form of beer cans and bottles along the side of the path.  I ran on the trail that ran toward the Ebro River.  It was about a quarter of a mile wide and it was moving at a nice pace.  I noticed where bikers could cross using a bridge so I headed toward it and ran along the bridge  to the other side.

Swiftly running Ebro River

 There I found a bench and did my sit ups, push ups, and dips.  I stretched out using my stretch music in my IPOD. Then I was ready to go back.  I went along the bridge and headed back to the park.  By this time the city workers were cleaning up the park picking up the litter. Soon the park will be clean and ready for the day.  I continued running up hill and I could see that I was out of shape.  I would need to run up and down the Sarasota Ringling Bridge when I got home to Florida to get in shape running hills again!  Now for breakfast...