Finally In Logrono....

The last 24 hours have been the most ridiculous they possibly could be. While we were in Helsinki we met a guy from Washington who come to find out was on our same flight from JFK to Helsinki and he was on our same flight to Barcelona. We hung out with him during our super long layover and then again when we reached Barcelona. Our original plan was to stay in the airport and then go to the train/bus station this morning to catch our bus to Logrono. But instead we decided we'd just go with said boy on the train last night and then see if we could find a hostel to stay in. We began walking through Barcelona with all of our luggage, going down all sorts of streets and mostly being ignored by everyone. What was supposed to be a 10 minute walk turned into and 1 1/2 hour walk down some pretty sketchy streets. At one point during our walk I realized why it seemed like I was dragging my bag behind me rather than rolling it; one of the wheel was gone, which left half of my bag dragging on the ground. It is amazing how much difference that one little wheel can make. Our friend decided that he was going to carry my bag and I would take his backpack and off we continued. We turned down this street that the map indicated would lead us straight to the hostel but it did not bother to tell us that it was narrow and filled with scary people. As we were walking there were a lot of creepy men around. It was straight out of one of those movies when you see the girls going down somewhere and you want to yell at them to stop and find another way, if only we had turned around to find another way.One of the creepy men approached our friend and was trying to trip him and get my suitcase, but luckily for me he has fast feet and managed to sidestep all of the drunk man's attempts. We think we have it all taken care of when out comes this big ole black guy. He starts talking to us in English which we perhaps should have been glad for, except he was drunk and was trying to convince us to trust him. He did lead us to the hostel but Barbara and I were both convinced that he was taking us farther away and possibly to some van to steal us. But what choice did we have? We were in a strange city, obviously we are tourists, we have no idea where we are or how to get back to the train/bus station, and we weren't about to walk past those men again. So we follow him and we do make it to the hostel, which was indeed all full and now we had to go back. Thankfully our friend called and paid for a taxi to take us back to the station and we were very excited thinking we could just lay on the floor and everything would be just fine. Little did we know that the station closed at midnight and didn't open again until after 4:30. We couldn't get back to the airport without calling a taxi and seeing how we don't have phones we were just stuck. So we found a corner that wasn't occupied by other stranded travelers and set up camp outside of the bus station. There was no sleeping going on because of the creepy people just wandering about and the small fact that the ground was covered in cigarette butts, old gum, and other unidentifiable things-it was terribly disgusting. I don't know of any other time when time seemed to pass so slowly!! We would sit for what seemed like hours but was really only minutes. After some really interesting encounters with numerous people, the station finally opened. We walked in all excited to sit on a real chair and maybe even lay down only to find that the chairs were hard and wooden and there were very few of them. We took up residence on a couple and tried our hardest to get some rest. Our rear ends were so tired of sitting and they were super sore from being on the cement all night so there was no comfortable position. Time continued to drag on and on and on until finally our bus came at 11. The bus ride seemed to take forever! But then 6 hours on a bus is a good amount of time. Our driver didn't speak Spanish, which was a bit difficult, he spoke Catalan. It may sound similar but the words don't mean the same things. We had to get off the bus in Zaragoza at this little rest stop/restaurante but it was also rather sketchy. We sat outside and soaked up some super hot sunshine until we had to get back on and finish the ride. Our family was there to pick us up once we finally reached the bus station in Logrono and they are so nice! They were kind enough to mostly speak in English the rest of Saturday night but starting today (Sunday) it's all Spanish.
Last night we went on a walk around Logrono and got some helado and ate Turkish food. It was good but strange. The ice cream was amazing! American ice cream cannot even compare to the ice cream here. The Turkish food was good, different but good. The city is absolutely gorgeous! It looks like something right out of a movie. We went to a cathedral where a choir was singing and we saw the protesters that want change in the government.

 This is the plane we rode on from Helsinki to Barcelona. We had to get on and off on the tarmac.

 Barbara on the bus at the Barcelona airport on the bus going to the other terminal to catch the train.

 This is our friend Lockland (?) on the train going to the lovely Barcelona SANTS station where we spent the night.

 Us on the bus at the airport

 The train ticket

 The outside of the train station before we knew we would be staying there. We slept under the green sign on the right hand side.

 Barcelona and some of the people.

 The large hotel right next to the train station where we wished we were sleeping. Too bad it is SUPER expensive!

 Barbara laying on the disgusting ground at the train station.

 The sign we were under.

 More Barcelona buildings by the train station. (It was a long night and we took pictures of just about anything to keep us awake)

 Barbara finally couldn't stay awake anymore and took a little snooze.

 I'm exhausted and grimy and bored. And this was only like 2 hours into our 15 hour stay at the train station.

 As we were leaving Barcelona on the bus. (Finally!)

 Another picture of apartment buildings in Barcelona.

 Toll booth on the way to Logrono

 One of the old churches in a small town somewhere outside of Barcelona.

 Vineyard

 Another small town outside of Barcelona.

 Same town different shot.

 I have no idea what these are but they are 4 hours west of Barcelona.

 more vineyards and orchards

 The irrigation ditch just outside of logrono

 Sorry this is on its side. This is the cathedral in Logrono. The art work is absolutely stunning! Pituras don't do it justice.

 The cathedral bell towers

 A funny little band playing outside of the cathedral. They were really good and there were people playing all over the city.

 The cathedral doors and some carvings

 These little conches are all over Logrono. They mark the path that Saint Santiago took on his pilgrimage. There are always backpackers and believers coming through town to follow his path.

 This is part of the old wall that surrounded the city long ago. The little boy is Miguel.

 The wall again. It was really thick and really tall and has a moat out front with a drawbridge and everything.

 Just one of the streets in Logrono

 The fountain in one of the plazas

 Concert hall in the middle of a plaza

 This was at the little restaurante we ate the Turkish food at.

 The infamous bridge that goes over the Rio Ebro. There were ducks swimming but the water is really low for the time of year.

 Barbara y yo at the bridge. Don't mind us looking terrible. We were really tired. Spaniards stay up really late so this was at like 11 at night and no we still have not gone to sleep yet.

On our way to go to church. Dressed up as nice as we can be without our flatirons and blow dryers and such.

Today we went to church and that was an interesting experience. I was able to understand some things but for the most part none of it made any sense. The members are really kind but all of the spanish speaking was overwhelming and they talk SO FAST! It all sounds like one big long word. But we just take it one day at a time and keep learning and asking a million questions. Tomorrow we start school :/ that will be interesting...