City Visit
By nariz
19 comments
Occasionally during colder months and when there’s not too much to do in the garden, we decide to be ‘tourists’ and take a trip to places we’ve passed/heard of/always wanted to visit, so our trip this time was to the city of Oviedo, the capital of the ‘next door’ region of Asturias. We’d been near to it in the past as its outlying region has a large Swedish furniture outlet (you know….) but the sheer volume of traffic had always put us off going any closer – here on our mountain two cars constitute a traffic jam!
But …. this time we decided we’d get in there, ditch the car and really LOOK at Oviedo. First of all we had to get our bearings as the maps we’d taken from Google weren’t much help in directing us to the old quarter of the city but, nice helpful hotel receptionist with free map later and we were on our way – walking back the direction we’d come! We had to cross a lovely park – or at least, I’m sure it would have been lovelier in flowering seasons! Even so, the duck pond held a few delights, as did the derelict remnants of old buildings:
We finally entered the Old Quarter and found ourselves amid a colourful array of buildings and a large outdoor market.
Walking further we discovered that, apart from the fantastic Cathedral and various other palaces and churches, Oviedo likes to decorate its streets with statues of varying kinds:
Does my bum look big in this?
I’m sure it did after sampling the delights of the famed Asturian Fabada for lunch – a dish of white beans with chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage) and pancetta in a spicy sauce, washed down with a very lovely Rioja and finished off with a tasty apple pancake drizzled with chocolate sauce. We were glad the car was parked so far away so we could walk off the lovely lunch!
We couldn’t pass the aforementioned Swedish furniture store just outside Oviedo so had a wander around the almost empty ‘rooms’ – sooooo pleasant after having often suffered the Sunday morning brawl prevalent in the British stores – then packed the car with our purchases and drove the 2.5 hour journey home. A lovely day, and another place ticked off our list of ‘things to do.’
Hope you enjoyed it with me?
25 Nov, 2011
18 likes
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Comments
It looks an interesting place. I liked the old ruin. I wonder what it was
25 Nov, 2011
Glad you decided to go there,Nariz..it looks an interesting place to visit..where are we going next? I love seeing old builidings..even big bums are ok..in the right place ! Lol.
25 Nov, 2011
You have inspired us, Nariz. We very rarely get out and about to act like tourists. We have lived here for 6 years now, Modena is just down the road and we've never been there! I think we must factor a trip into our schedule while this nice weather lasts. Ovieda looks like a really beautiful place. All this AND Ikea, too!
25 Nov, 2011
Great blog..some lovely buildings and sculptures! there :))))
25 Nov, 2011
what a fascinating blog, lovely pictures, like the statue of the lady from times gone by, you made me very hungry with that wonderful lunch
thanks nariz
25 Nov, 2011
Glad you enjoyed it, guys. Could be a local mountain walk or Burgos, Bloomer - who knows! Gattina - I don't know how you've managed to be in a wonderful country with such a different culture and not explore it! We've been poking around in many hidden corners here for years and haven't even scratched the surface yet. Lots more to see and do. Not enough time!!!!! Wish you'd been there to share the lunch Sticki - then my bum wouldn't look like the one in the photo! ;o)
25 Nov, 2011
Lovely, really enjoyed your blog. My parents are visiting Spain next week. Not sure which part..will find out.
25 Nov, 2011
Yes, thanks - enjoyed the visit with you Nariz. Interesting-looking city, but the duck pond is my favourite bit!
25 Nov, 2011
Smashing blog Nariz...I enjoyed your trip, some lovely buildings too :)
25 Nov, 2011
but mine might if i ate everything i saw that i liked nariz!!! I joined the gym ~ so i could eat more!!!
25 Nov, 2011
A great blog Nariz, I really enjoyed looking at your photo`s, I love old churches and palaces, in fact anyhing old fascinates me, even the old ruins, it amused me to see the duck pond, my family are always taking the mickey out of me because I always find ducks to photograph when I`m out and about.
Pleased you enjoyed your day out...
25 Nov, 2011
Thanks for your comments, guys. :o)
26 Nov, 2011
How I envy you! please excuse me, but it's true! Lovely scenery and cities who still prize their history! That sounds like a lovely outing, Nariz! Thanks for letting me tag along...(your pics are great..had the feeling I was right there with you! )
26 Nov, 2011
What an interesting blog, loved the pictures of the Old Quarter, the balconies with the colourful flowers looked beautiful, and so such wonderful architecture, and a good lunch at the end can't be bad!!
26 Nov, 2011
This blog was very interesting, Nariz! I've never been anywhere near Oviedo! I had no idea it was such a beautiful old town! Those balconies & the colours are really something out of this world!
Interesting to see the statues in the streets we don't see any around here. There are some quite good ones in Cuenca. Be at least another 6 months before we get to see them again!
26 Nov, 2011
Thanks guys! I think this northern region is extra-special because the influence of the Moors didn't reach here, so what you see in ancient architecture is so different to that seen in the south, I know it has been influenced by other cultures - Romans, Visigoths etc, but it all seems more ...Spanish.
Pleased you all enjoyed my trip. :o)
27 Nov, 2011
A lovely blog,and fantastic pictures. Thank you for posting.
27 Nov, 2011
enjoyed your blog nariz, great pics and sunshine, wish i were there ;o)
27 Nov, 2011
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what an interesting blog, glad you had a good day.
25 Nov, 2011