Too early for the fires



 

For ‘reasons’ directions has taken us on a nice country walk, and why shouldn’t it.  We are skirting through Rincon de Soto.  It is one of those places which is in the Ebro environs and so stuff happened.  Alfonso VII of Castile made peace with King Garcia of Navarree and marry his daughter/. If you are keen on people who take one look at their country and think ‘bugger - we need some change. I reckon the French are on the right track’ then Juan Antonio Llorente is the man you want, especially  as he was born in Rincon de Soto.  https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Antonio_Llorente He did lots of things, including helping Napoleon sort out the church.  In 1813, when things were going a bit tricky for the Francophiles, he fled to France.  In 1820 Llorente sided with the new Spanish liberal state; this, together with his activities as a carbonari , discovered by the French state, led to his expulsion from France by the Bourbons. For this reason he moved to Madrid. His regalist activity resulted in the expulsion from Spain of the papal nuncio on 22 February 1822 and the approval by the Cortes on 3 February 1823 of a text that attempted to definitively settle the situation of the clergy.




The town has about 4000 inhabitants,  a steady climb since the 1000 in 1842.  We will miss  San Anton’s day because we won’t be in at midday on 16th January.  The festival begins with with the lighting of a bonfire.  The bonfire is organised in the home of a member of the brotherhood who, helped by the other members of the brotherhood, is in charge of distributing baked potatoes. Throughout the afternoon and evening of the 16th the bonfire is tended and at dawn the Aurora comes out, in which the members of the brotherhood accompanied by a group of singers sing through the streets announcing the morning of San Antón's day. On the 17th, the traditional mass and procession are celebrated, followed by the blessing of the animals.




We are very much on the edge of town.  We will pass https://calagurrisatletico.es/  It is an unreviewed athletics club. Go there.  Be the first.



Furniture may not have been on your mind but that shouldn’t stop you visiting Sojoa SL.  https://sojoa.es/   People like it but they don’t say why.  Next day is the Elegant Home Furnishin - but with ne’re a website or review.




Next door again is the Rioja Bikes.  https://riojabikes.com/  Daniel wrote, a week ago, ‘I made a purchase online and it arrived within 24 hours. Fast and good price.’   Javier said ‘Great attention, professionalism and spectacular treatment’  Jose was less happy and more religious.  ‘The work on a bicycle, no matter how small it may be, must be understood and explained in situ to the client, labor, parts, etc. and in Christian terms, I can't get used to today's prices for repairs or parts or general costs of bicycles. .’








Let us end with the Nev.Pub  It’s 3.1 stars attracted my attention.  I feel that it is not the public house I took it for.   R Ruiz said ‘Expensive prices of girls and expensive drinks’  Jose felt that if they cut the price from 60 to 40 euros and the beers to 3 or 4 euros the place would be full.  I wondered what his other 17 reviews said but they were not available.  Perhaps we won’t linger.















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