Asturias an autonomous community located in North of Spain, shares its borders with Cantabria to the east, León (Castile and León) to the south, Lugo (Galicia) to the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north. Thank you, Wikipedia! Can you imagine the days before Wikipedia? We relied on 50 volumes of encyclopedias! Well, those of us who grew up back in the day.
I started my trip in Leon to the south(not really in Asturias but who the hell cares). It is known for it's gastronomy with a variety of restaurants and bars. It has an impressive cathedral and I spent my time wandering through the back streets of this historical town. Leon is part of the Camino Frances and I saw my fair share of pilgrims walking through Leon all looking a little worse for wear.
From Leon I hopped on a train and headed Northeast to Oviedo. Oviedo is nestled between the sea and the mountains. I loved Oviedo! I stayed a stones throw away from the historic district in a great apartment I found on Airbnb. If you ever find yourself in Oviedo, I highly recommend this place! Jorge is a great host and has a wealth of information on Oviedo and Asturias in general that he graciously shares with his guests.
I had the pleasure of meeting some people while I was in Oviedo. Cecil and I connected online through a Spain FB group and arrange to have a coffee. Cecil, originally from Chile, moved to Spain with her family a five years ago after retiring from the US. She is charming, witty and we quickly became friends! Cecil has a wealth of knowledge about relocating to Spain, and I met with her a few times during my visit to Asturias.
I also had the opportunity to meet another online friend, Louisa and her husband Glenn from Queensland. Louisa and Glenn were road tripping through Northern Spain but this was not Louisa's first time in the area. She had come as a pilgrim walking the Camino a few years back and fell in love with the area. We just happened to be in Oviedo at the same time and we met up for a coffee. I wish we could have hung out more but we both had places to go! One of the highlights of my travels is the wonderful people I encounter along the journey. I hope to meet up with Louisa and Glenn again some day.
Oviedo is also know for the many cultural festivals that are held all year long. Most if not all of their museums are free visit and it is a university town which to me is always a plus. I was lucky enough to be there at the beginning of the San Mateo festival and was able to enjoy some of the street events.
Did I mention how much I loved Oviedo?! I came down with a cold while I was there so I feel like I didn't get to experience enough of the Oviedo but I certainly felt a connection to the city. I had lots of ground to cover so I said by good byes and off I went to Gijon on the coast.
Gijon is the largest city in Asturias and it was noticeably so. I am not much on big cities but Gijon ended up being more then just a big city. I learned a little bit about some of the old fishermen neighborhoods and their struggles with regentrification due to the influx of tourism to Spain following the pandemic.
Following Jorge's recommendation, my Airbnb host in Oviedo, I explored the remarkable Universidad Laboral Cultural center. Built in the late 1940s, the university was originally established for the orphans of miners who were killed in a terrible mining accident. There would be several built throughout Spain but this one in Gijon was the first.
Jorge and I stayed connected during my travels across Asturias. Being involved in tourism, he gave me invaluable suggestions on places to visit and things to see! My next stop was Ribadesella , a small port city on the coast. The town itself is fairly small but there was plenty to do and see around it. This is where I started to realize the complexity of traveling throughout this region on public transport. Not that you can't do it but there are places that are difficult to get to with public transport. I did miss out on some things that I would have liked to see, such as the Paleolithic rock art cave nearby. My approach to travel has changed as I have been traveling full-time for the past few years. I no longer feel the need to see or do everything in one place. Most of the time, I simply enjoy being there while thinking how friggin lucky am I!
After a few days it was time to move on again, so I hopped on my bus and headed inland a bit to the town of Arriondas. Arriondas is a small town not far from Ribadesella where two rivers merge and it is known for a famous kayak race in the summer.
I stayed at a beautiful historical hotel on the river Sella. It's a lazy town this time of year but gets super touristy during the summer. The proprietors of the hotel, took me under their wing and invited me to eat mussels, drink wine and discuss Spain's history, culture and politics. These are the experiences that keeps me wanting to travel and exploring new places. American history, from an American perspective, appears distorted when compared to the history of other countries and their impacts on the Americas. More on this later.
After a few days, I said goodbye to my new friends in Arriondas and headed to Cangas de Onis just a few miles down the road. Another very popular town in the summer for it's proximity to the Picos de Europa National park. It is a beautiful town with a impressive roman bridge among other historical landmarks.
The entrance to the national park is located just outside the town of Covadonga which in its own right is a beautiful Romanesque town with an amazing cathedral on top of a hill.
When I arrived in Cangas de Onis, my goal was to get to the National Park. Unfortunately, the weather was going to be a little iffy with rain forecasted intermittingly. The weekends no matter what time of year gets super crowded at the park and since I arrived on a Weds. in the afternoon, my plan was to go on Thursday. The day looked OK, partly cloudy but maybe some rain in the late afternoon.
After a brief chat with a woman during my morning coffee, I hurriedly set off as she suggested. Without a jacket or any belongings, I followed her advice.. Rookie mistake which I should know better!! At an altitude of 1800 meters or more the weather was drastically different . It was windy, rainy and cold but oh so beautiful. I ended buying a hoodie from a tourist stand, costly but boy was I glad I had it! Of course after spending 3 hours trekking in the rain, I got back on the bus to head down the mountain just as the sun came out. Was it worth it? Hell ya!
There is so much more to see of the Picos and other places inland. I believe that my entire 90 days could have been exploring just Asturias! But I really wanted to explore Cantabria as well so I forged ahead with my original plan to continue east up the coast. My next and last stop in Asturias was Llanes.
Llanes has been one of the highlights of my trip! It is a charming coastal town with dramatic coast lined with hidden beaches scattered throughout. The town has these stunning estate homes, some well-kept while others lay abandoned. The historic center, with its cobblestone streets, further adds to the ambiance of this small town.
Llanes was a great way to end my travels through Asturias. I encourage anyone who hasn't been to the North of Spain especially Asturias to go! I fell in love with this part of Spain and I certainly will be coming back! I will continue my exploration of the Northeast, my next stop is the region of Cantabria! Stay tuned!
Adding a postscript to this post; I am writing this entry the day following the US Presidential elections. I understand there is widespread disappointment over the outcome, myself included. However, it is critical to recognize that the division among Americans poses a greater threat to the nation than any individual leader or their movement. Throughout my travels, I have learned that we all share more similarities than differences. History has shown that a society divided by religion, politics, or culture never succeeds. Our core principles are rooted in the phrase "United we stand, divided we fall." Just food for thought.
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