Day 5 - Oviedo
>> June 9, 2011
On most trips that we take, I am already burnt out on traveling at 4 days. So when we first committed to 10 days we knew it was going to be rough. We figured that by the night of day 5, we would definitely need a nice place to stay and relax. So we found a deal on Booking.com and put ourselves up in this place.
After getting unloaded and parking the car in a tiny underground garage, it was time to explore the beautiful city.
The unique buildings didn't feel very Spanish to us
Jumping in the park
The university
Hanging out in the old plaza
old
We liked the clock on the cathedral tower (which you can barely see in this picture)
sleeping kitty
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cider barrel
Oviedo is the capital of the principality of Asturias, and Asturias is the largest producer of cider in Spain. So clearly we had to make our way over to Calle Gascona aka El Bulevar de la Sidra (the boulevard of cider).
This little gem was recommended to us by a friend as a good place to eat.
We ordered the Tortos con Picadillo y jamon, which is puffed up little corn tortillas with chorizo or cured ham on top. Delicious!
I enjoyed myself a cheap bottle of cider, which actually isn't supposed to be drank in it's normal state. Normally it is poured from great heights to shake it up or they have special electric dispensers to get the flavor moving.
The next day on our way out of the city we headed up the mountain for a little hike.
We saw a bunch of these as we were walking and driving through Asturias. They are called hórreos and were used to store grain. It seems like people keep them around today just for aesthetics. To me they look like mini houses on stilts.
The first destination on our hike was a Roman Catholic church, San Miguel de Lillo. Unfortunately it was in the process of being re-roofed. Can you imagine re-roofing a building built in 848.
The next stop, also built in 848 was the church Santa María del Naranco. It is a great example of pre-Romanesque architecture. We weren't able to go inside but Sarah made it up the stairs for a quick picture.
You can see the inside in Woody Allen's movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which was filmed in many areas of Oviedo. Javier Bardem was totally here.
Next up is Cangas de Onis!
2 comments:
Its hard to believe such old buildings exist. They were very educated people to be able to build these structures with out the equipment we have today. And that they are still standing.
Love it! I actually have a friend who's last name is Oviedo - wish I could have visited with you :)
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