As we neared the end of our European road trip, the last real stop (aside from spending one afternoon/night in Zaragoza) was the city of Logroño in Spain. When I told Spanish people we were visiting Logroño, they all said, “Why??”

Back when I was preparing to apply for the language auxiliares de conversacion/NALCAP program, I knew I wanted to end up in Madrid. But you have to select a few options. So after selecting Madrid as my first choice, I put Logroño as number two… despite never having visited before. That’s because I had read a blog by a former auxiliar who said she had an amazing time during her year in Logroño. Later, when I lived in Madrid, a friend of mine ended up visiting Logroño for a weekend, and she said it was Spanish wine country. Who wouldn’t love that?

All these years later, my curiosity got the better of me when I saw how close we’d be to Logroño during our road trip. I wondered what my life would have been like if I’d spent my years in Spain there, instead of Madrid. So I knew we had to check it out.

Here’s what it was like to visit. [Read more…]

As we continued our road trip, it was finally time to cross back into Spain after spending a week in Andorra and France. Of course, I loved getting to visit Andorra for the first time, and spend time in France in some places I’d never been before. But I was also somewhat relieved to be heading back to Spain — familiar territory, and most of all, a familiar language.

So after dealing with weather that the GPS in our rental car deemed to be a “hurricane,” we made it to Bilbao, Spain, late one evening. (After stopping at a gas station an hour outside of town for Matt to join a Zoom meeting. Such is the life of digital nomads.)

It was actually my second time visiting Bilbao, but since I was traveling alone the last time, I’m always happy to go back somewhere with a companion in tow, to experience it in a different way. So. Here’s what you need to know about visiting Bilbao, Spain. [Read more…]