Although we are staying right in the heart of the old town of Logroño, right in the middle of its most famous and popular streets, our apartment is located at the back of the building and we heard little to no noise during the night. But, that did not mean we slept well. It was stifling hot – the temperature dropped to around 19°C but the thermometer in our bedroom read 30°C. We have come up with a few strategies to help us out tonight as the temperature is set to be similar to last night.

This is the view from our lounge room window taken this morning, looking onto the backs of buildings on Calle Laurel (where we were last night). The shiny pipes are new chimneys or flues – taking the smells and the fumes away from the restaurants that seem to operate for most of the day and night. Can you spot the washing? I doubt it would be clean when, and if it actually dried.

Mick and I wandered along the main street of Logroño called Calle Portales – with its covered arcades and (mostly) pedestrian streets. It was an ideal place to do some people watching while enjoying a coffee.

After I took this photo of Mick he insisted that he take one of me – I usually try to avoid the other side of the camera – but it is a slightly different angle.

…the Concatedral de Santa María de la Redonda. We ventured inside before realising that we had entered through the wrong door, thus avoiding paying the entrance fee of €3 each. But, we later learnt that the fee gave you access to the bell towers after you’d climbed 138 steps. We were definitely not up for that.

Once outside, we spotted several ‘walkers’ (made obvious by the type of shoes they were wearing, and of course by the sticks and backpacks they were sporting), we assumed were on the Camino de Santiago. The pilgrims can get their pilgrim passports stamped here before heading off to the next stop. I take my hat of to them – it is not for the faint-hearted, particularly in this heat.

While we were watching the pilgrims and locals alike outside the Church, a group of police men and women started to gather. We thought there might have been some sort of problem, but no, we spotted a photographer taking photos of them – perhaps for a promotion. Anyway, it was too good an opportunity for Mick not to get involved.

We spent close to two hours in the museum located almost next door to where we are staying. The Museo de La Rioja is housed in an 18th-century palace, and entry here was free – no need to slip in via the backdoor. Not that was even possible as we needed to have our bags and ourselves screened before we could enter.

It had a large range of artefacts from prehistoric times through to Roman times. One floor was devoted to 20th Century artworks which we enjoyed viewing until our feet told us we needed to rest.

So we headed back for a siesta in readiness for our bar and tapas crawl later in the evening.

Tomorrow, we head to Haro where we will spend 4 nights. We need to leave early, just as the sun is coming up, as I have booked us into a wine tasting and tour at a winery about half way between the two towns. But it is not any old winery – this winery was named as the “Best Winery in the World in 2024”. Now that is a big call and I am very keen to see why it won.