[I couldn’t get this posted last night, because the WordPress app stopped letting me upload photos out of the blue. The only way I could finally get it to work is to use much smaller versions. ;-( Sorry!]
We awoke to a crystal clear day in Madrid. We checked out of our hotel and headed out to get a couple things done before catching the bus to Logroño, where our Ridgway neighbors Jorge & Meredith have been living for seven months. First, breakfast, which was something one can only rationalize on vacation: hot chocolate & churos at Chocolateria San Gines (again, a recommendation from Mary & Fred). Unfortunately, it was early and I was entranced by the liquid-chocolate bar nature of the hot chocolate, so I neglected to get a photo. Sorry Lou, we’re planning to hit them again at the end of the trip, and I promise not to mess up next time.
Then we decided to walk toward the bus station, looking to finally find an open dept. store knowledgable in iPhone SIM cards, so I could get my iDevice working on the Spanish cell network. Along the way, we saw more examples of Madrid’s eclectic architecture:
After a bit of drama caused by the amount of time it took to find the store, then find someone to help me that actually knew what she was doing and spoke some English, we grabbed a taxi to the train station, and actually got there with ten minutes to spare!
The four-hour bus ride to Logroño covered a wonderfully diverse landscape. Initially crossing red-tinted farmland under mostly sunny skies, we eventually found ourselves in mountainous country not unlike Colorado (including snow):
There were even cliff formations that looked just like the San Juan tuff back home!
When we reached Logroño, Meredith was there to meet us, and she took us to our hotel to check in and shed our bags. From there, we went to their apartment for a cup of tea and a tour. When Jorge returned, we went for a nice long walk. Along the way I grabbed this fun HDR image of the local cathedral.
On the way back to their apartment for do dinner, we stopped for a beer at a local street side cafe, where we sampled a variety of locally-produced ales:
What incredible fun we’re having, and it’s only the second day!
Tomorrow we head to Santillana del Mar, where we’ll pick up our bikes and maps, and prepare to begin the biking portion of our adventures on Saturday morning. Jorge & Meredith have rented a car to drive us there and will join us for the night at our hotel. We’ll do a bit of sight seeing along the way, getting our first taste of Gaudi architecture in the town of Santander, not far from Santillana.
