Logroño, Spain 🇪🇸

A place of friends and besos 😘

Feb 04, 2026

Nick lived and worked in Logroño in 2016, teaching English through the Spanish government’s Auxiliares de conversación españoles program. During that year, he met many wonderful people, some of whom he has stayed in touch with ever since.

That same year, Nick and I were navigating a long-distance relationship. While we (obviously) made it through successfully, I was especially thrilled when Logroño became a stop on our honeymoon in 2022. I finally got to see where he lived and worked and meet some of his local friends who had been such an important part of that chapter of his life.

Meeting Raúl and Daniel for the first time in 2022.

Now, several years later, I’m lucky to call many of those people my friends, too. So when we began planning this Unrushed Year, a pit stop in Logroño was a must. So our objective in heading back to Logroño was less about exploring and more about reconnecting, and during our week there our friends generously made time for us.

We shared a delicious home-cooked meal at Daniel and Jefferson’s place, where Jefferson treated us to incredible Colombian food.

*Delicious Columbian food eaten too quickly for a picture.*

We spent a lovely day with Raúl touring Bodegas Franco Españolas, taking in views from the top of the Concatedral de Santa María de la Redonda, and hopping from bar to bar on Calle Laurel, one of Logroño’s popular tapas streets. (Though I’ll admit, Sierra Cantabria, Raúl’s winery, still holds my heart.)

The winery sits just a short walk across the River Ebro and has been operating for more than 100 years.

Pictures from our winery tour and tasting, including the The Virgin of Valvanera, the patron saint of La Rioja, looking over the wine.

In the bell tower of Concatedral de Santa María de la Redonda.

One evening, we set out on a slightly spooky adventure (in the dark) with Daniel, Jefferson, and his cousin Armando to explore Fort San Cristóbal in Pamplona, a Spanish civil war prison controlled by Franco’s nationlists.

Fort San Cristóbal served as prison during the Spanish Civil War - the unforgiving concrete structure, often windowless, could not have been very hospitable.

Built in 1878, the fort was converted into a prison in 1934 and remained in use until 1945. As a holding site for political prisoners, it became the setting for one of the bloodiest episodes of the Spanish Civil War. On May 22, 1938, 795 Republican prisoners escaped from the fort. All were ultimately killed or captured by Francoist forces except for three men, who managed to travel 53 kilometers to reach the French border.

There was definitely a vibe in this place (👻). So we rewarded our bravery with tapas before driving home.

Tapas in Pamplona and Nick and Daniel with full stomachs.

We also had a wonderful breakfast catch-up with Jared, talking about life, family, and all things Spain, Camino, and the state of the United States.

Walking to breakfast and chatting about life.

Nick’s former lead teacher, Ángel, along with his wife Marta and a friend, drove us through several nearby pueblos to visit remarkable historic monasteries.

Our first stop was Monasterio de San Millán de la Cogolla, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the first words in the Castillan and Basque language were written in the 11th century.

Monasterio de San Millán de la Cogolla, Ángel explaining something to Nick, plaques and replicas of the first first words written in the Castillan and Basque language (the originals are in the museum in Madrid).

Also housed in the Monastery were twenty-five ginormous choir-books, each weighing up to/over 130 pounds. The books were copied on cowhide parchment in the early 18th century, and the pages written-decorated with large print Gregorian chants large enough to be read simultaneously by a choir of chanting monks.

The ginormous choir-books filled with Gregorian chants.

This small pueblo was also the place where María De La O Lejárraga was born, a Spanish writer who penned the inspiration for Disney’s Lady and the Tramp.

A mural with a quote from María and a plaque on the house she was born in.

Mural Translation: “Be passionate, unimpassioned women! Go forth decisively and serenely in search of the truth, which, halfway along the road, will come out to meet you.”

Plaque Translation: “In this house was born MARÍA DE LA O LEJÁRRAGA on December 28, 1874. Writer and feminist.”

Pictures from inside the Monasterio de San Millán de la Cogolla.

The second place we visited was the Monasterio de Santa María in Cañas. Founded in the 12th century, it was one of the first Cistercian abbeys established in Spain. We enjoyed touring the grounds and taking in its masterpieces and religious relics, including a Renaissance altarpiece commissioned in 1523, the Gothic tomb of Blessed Doña Urraca López de Haro, who died in 1262, and a remarkable collection of artistic works spanning from the monastery’s founding through the 20th century.

Inside the chapel at the Monasterio de Santa María, Renaissance altarpiece, 15th century Madonna and Child statue, and the tomb of Doña Urraca López de Haro.

Various masterpieces and religious relics collected by the nuns over the centuries. — Sacred relics collected by the sanctuary over the centuries.

In between, we wandered the streets of Logroño, ducked into cafés to warm up, and practiced our Spanish and English together.

Mountains overlook San Millan de la Cogolla - Castellano was first written here.

We ended our time in Logroño with a beautiful meal at Raúl’s home - relaxing, talking about U.S. and Spanish salaries and rents, quality of life, and dreaming out loud about the future. (A true tapas bar in Grand Rapids??!)

Nick and I reminiscing about the first time he took me to Calle Laurel for tapas on our honeymoon in 2022.

As we left Logroño, Nick and I found ourselves reflecting on just how lucky we are to have this group of people we can call friends. Friends who make time to grab tapas, cook meals, drive us to a neighboring pueblo for an adventure, and open their homes and lives to us.

Logroño, we will be back! ❤️