Alfaro

Weekend evenings give rise to opportunities, opportunities give rise to amazing experiences, and the bulk of people living here are living temporarily, so enthralling activities with random people are common. Making friends here is an interesting process as they come and go within weeks, and can linger in close friend mode for a vague and extended amount of time, or disappear into other circles immediately. The general idea in the majority of people living/studying in another country is - to have a good time while accomplishing their respective goals, and to make friends away from home since they don't really know anyone. This happens to every single person here, no exceptions.

The places I've seen and people I've met since arriving to Spain are innumerable, but I've tried to remember and document some. Spontaneous activities are consistently the most banginest and experiential; I took part in one this past weekend in a nearby pueblo called Alfaro.

I decided the night before to catch a  morning bus with the newly formed adventure adventure dream team from Logroño : together we were Dutch, British, Australian, and Americans invading the Riojan pueblo of Alfaro. With no real ideas of what would comprise the day, we found a medieval market, a feat of strength and skills, and some good food and wine sampling. The market offered many locals dressed in early 10th century garb, openly grilled meats, fine cheeses, and a strange assortment of rare animals on display. The cheeses were superb and sharp, and the chorizo placed inside of toasted rolls was fresh. The strength and bravo exuded by some "recortadores" - men testing their mettle by attempting to play rings on the horns of angry cows, was amazing. Some of them pole-vaulted over bulls. It was truly engaging and attention grabbing spectacle worth the time and money. I was exponentially more accepting of the activity since the animals were not harmed during the show, nor killed afterwards. The day passed quickly and was even better as I met my companions along the way. We had a great time and were back into Logroño by dinner time.

If it weren't for the festival , the city wasn't really all too aesthetically pleasing, but being as it was a special event, the market, street grilled foods, and stilted jesters proved to provide a great time.

It was a blast.