It's mid September in La Rioja and that means it's time for the Festival of San Mateo! This grape harvest festival lasts a week with shops shutting down, no school, work holidays, and lots and lots of wine.  The week is filled with live music, dancing, parades, bull-running, grape stomping, wine tasting, markets, and traditional food. 

So I just returned from a week in Alicante with family. First impressions: the food is great, the beach is awesome, there are way more tourists than Logroño, and the Mediterranean is really warm. It was also wonderful to spend time with my family and help them out with the residency process- they seem to be having a great time!

Logroño is so cool! The old part of town is fun to get lost in and explore. There are buildings and churches from the 13th century just hanging out around every corner. ;) The food is incredible. Tapas are the focus of the foodie game here and they’re what most people seem to survive daily on. ​

​Okay, hopefully this can help everyone coming to Logroño. I arrived last week and was able to get most everything done (bank account, NIE/TIE, empadronamiento, and certificado de delitos). Supposedly this process can vary depending on the size of the town/city your in (I’ve heard it’s a much more complicated process in Madrid, who knows?).