#exploringlogroño

[drlepervanche]

Biking #caminodesantiago. Pilgrims from #Brazil. #exploringlogroño #scoutmasterjose_logroño (at Logroño, Spain)

[mchehab13]

The first few days in Spain

Apologies for leaving this blog so late, four weeks in and you’d think that I would have had it up and running, but alas not. The fact is that since uni began on the 7th of January, I haven’t had much time to sit on my computer and write. Too much to do, too much to see!! But for my memory’s sake I think I will start from the beginning, from when I first landed in España…

THE TRIP.

It was long. It was hell. From Sydney to Dubai (with a rapid stop in Thailand) and then Dubai to Madrid it was around 20 hours all up, I think. And then from Madrid to Logroño it was a five-hour bus ride.

Due to my inability to sleep upright, I was unbelievably relieved when I finally arrived. The weather was not what I expected – it was lovely and only slightly chilly for the night, in fact, my long sleeve top, my thin jacket and coat were sufficient. As we walked to our hotel, the beauty of the city became apparent: 

The day after we arrived, we set about exploring the city. I quickly became obsessed with the giant snowflakes that crowned the small alleyways:

And we continued to walk around like crazy. Luckily Logroño is a small city:

- Concatedral de Santa Maria de la Redonda

Often it was the small things that caught my eye:

- A little stall in the Plaza del Mercardo sold these cards of Franco. Such a surprise considering Spain's history. 

However there was work to be done, namely, finding a place to live. Luckily I had emailed a landlady prior to my trip, so the day after I arrived I checked out the apartment, which was totally renovated and new and shiny (p.s I now live here). One of the hardest aspects of this mission was having to ring people to organise a time to see their places, all with my basic Spanish. It became apparent that the two years of listening activities did not prepare me for the speed at which Spaniards spoke! But only after 4 or 5 days, I was reading and signing a contract in Spanish. I had a home!

- Sunrise on my street. My apartment is 10 minutes away from both uni and the centre of the city. 

UNIVERSITY/MY CLASSES.

Got a free bag, notebook, pen and mug, all emblazoned with the uni's name :D

I have an intensive Spanish language class everyday from 9am to 12pm that ends mid March. It began soon after I arrived and has been an excellent way to learn the language. My class is quite small and there is only one other English speaker besides me, which is great. As well as that I am doing another Spanish language class twice a week that is not as intense and more of a conversation class. I recently only just elected one other subject that I have twice a week as well – traduccion ingles-español/español-ingles (translation English to Spanish and Spanish to English).

The uni has been great in organising excursions for us. I think it was within the first week that we had a tour around the old part of the city:

- The Camino de Santiago goes through the city. 

- Beautiful sunset during the tour. 

- Pretty in pink

Not long after this, the uni took us to Basque Country, but that warrants another post!

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The first days and weeks here gave me great hope for the year to come. Everybody is super nice, and thank goodness, everyone has been patient when I've fumbled my Spanish. It's a really safe city, and although it's small, it has everything that you need.

:)

[drlepervanche]

Arco del Camino. Monument to pilgrims doing #caminodesantiago. #exploringlogroño (at Logroño, Spain)

[drlepervanche]

Motorcycles, cars, buses, trams, trucks, and... recycling bins everywhere. Transportation infrastructure and resources are very important in European cities. #extremerecyclingbins #exploringlogroño #drlepervanche_transportation #drlepervanche_recycling #globallearning2018 #drlepervanche_logroño #drlepervanche_spain (at Logroño, Spain)

[drlepervanche]

Cathedral of St. Mary in #Logroño. #CaminoDeSantiago pilgrims visit the Cathedral, cross the city and plaza to continue to #SantiagoDeCompostela. #buencamino #exploringlogroño #ecaptains2018 #ecaptains_spain #ecaptains_larioja #ecaptains_logroño #ecaptains_churches #floryjose2018. (at Logroño, Spain)

[drlepervanche]

Pilgrims from #Brazil arriving to Cathedral of #Logroño #Aragon. #caminodesantiago #exploringlogroño #ecaptains_spain #ecaptain2018 #ecaptains_larioja #ecaptains_logroño #ecaptains_pilgrimages #ecaptains_churches #floryjose2018 (at Logroño, Spain)