Accompanied by some nice clouds (or chubascos in Spanish) we hit the road towards the east, to the nearby province  of La Rioja.

I was excited to finally see where do those excellent wines we always have at the dinner table come from. Having heard so much about it, I imagined La Rioja mostly as a fertile landscape, with picturesque villages, surrounded by vineyards and flocks of sheep. Everywhere the eye could reach,  I could spot endless green fields (cereals), and lots of yellow plants with a curious name… escoba or broom. We saw numerous pilgrims on the way, since El camino de Santiago runs by this road.
This region was named after the river Oja (río Oja) which flows through the Oja valley and past Ezcaray, the town we were going to visit.

The road took us first through Santo Domingo de la Calzada, one of the major Riojan towns. While approaching the town centre, we noticed a huge crowd of people and after finding a parking place, we walked off to check out what was going on.

Apparently we visited the place on one of its most important annual feasts: the town patron saint's nameday. Santo Domingo (1019-1109) was known for helping the pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela – he built a bridge, hospital and hostel for them. In return, they named the town's cathedral after him. We intended to enter but couldn't get close due to the mass of people waiting in front of it. We made a walk around the centre instead and tried to find some warm drinks on my request. It was pretty chilly and drizzly and despite the fact I was wearing several layers of clothes, I couldn't warm myself up. A cup of -deeense- hot chocolate helped at the end, so I could finally start feeling my toes again.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada is located less than 50 kms away from the regions's capital, Logroño, and is supposed to be La Rioja's 6th biggest town according to population. It is believed to have been founded in the 11th century and its activities are based on agriculture and small industry.

From Santo Domingo de la Calzada we headed south to visit Ezcaray, the town where Juanpi's father comes from. Upon our arrival, we were greated by some sunshine which cheered us all up… and keen as I was, I began taking photo after photo. The town was truly adorable. Its history dates back to 10th century when it was founded by the kings of Navarra. The primary activities of Ezcaray are based on wood industry and tourism, the latter thanks to the ski resort in Sierra de la Demanda. Besides, in summertime Ezcaray turns into the International Jazz festival site, while for those eager to learn about mushrooms, they organize mycology tours as well.

We stopped by a shop with local products and couldn't resist buying at least one souvenir: local balsamic vinegar. After a long walk we ended up in a rustic restaurant, eating tasty local specialities: bacalao a la riojana and lamb stew among others, washed down with the excellent Rioja wine, of course.

After lunch we turned east to visit another beautiful place, which was much smaller than the previous two, yet more special: San Millan de la Cogolla. The village is famous for its two monasteries which were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997. After paying a visit to the aunt of Juanpi's father who lives there, we took a walk through the village to the nearby monastery of Yuso (meaning "the lower one") which is located in the valley, while the other, monastery of Suso, (meaning "the upper one") is to be found higher on the hill.
San Millán (or Emiliano in modern Spanish) is a patron saint of Spain together with Santiago. He is represented as a monk on a horseback fighting the Moors, carrying a wavy-shaped sword and a banner. He lived in 5th/6th century AD.

I decided to enter the Yuso monastery, since it was open, and so we bought the entrance tickets (4eur/person) for an hour-long guided tour. It was well worth the visit. Our guide was excellent and she told us a whole lot of the monastery's history as well as present, all in a very fun and interesting way.
One of the monastery's most famous exhibits is called Glosas Emilianenses, a thousand year old Latin codex written by an anonymus writer in three languages: Latin, old Spanish and Basque. The original has been relocated to the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid, so what you can now see in Yuso, is actually a copy. A good one, may I add.
This codex is for Spaniards the same as are Brižinski spomeniki (Freising manuscripts) for Slovenes.

It was late afternoon when we left San Millán de la Cogolla behind. The green landscape of western part of La Rioja reminded me a bit of Slovenia and frankly, I liked our trip very much indeed. I was able to discover yet another face of Spain. Hopefully, next time we can drive further to La Rioja to visit the vineyards and the wine museum.