Picos de Europa

This is the part of the trip where I try to sneak a hike in to get some exercise (because walking miles and miles a day isn’t exercise :D).

I am nearby to Picos de Europa. So I book a little hotel in the small town of Poncebos.

Beautiful view coming in. I had to stop for pictures a couple of times because it was that pretty.

My little hotel sits in a valley. There is one hotel next door and maybe some more down the road but not many in the area. However as I arrive the place is bustling with day hikers. There are so many cars parked all over the area that I hope I find parking. Luckily the hotel has a free space open in their private lot.

When I check in I notice hikers drinking their celebratory beers. They seem like serious hikers. Am I out of my league here? I decide that I can do the trip one way only if it seems too much to do the roundtrip.

There is no staying up late. Time for dinner and then bed. I ordered the trout that I guess was served with bacon on it. It was very good.

In addition I ordered the mixed salad which I thought was a side salad but ended up being a meal of its own. Topped with tuna so I guess tonight is a fish night.

Hopefully it will all prove to be good fuel for tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Ribadesella

Day trip

On my way to the Picos del Europa I decided to stop at the small town Ribadesella.

Ribadesella is a beach town with high cliffs, mountains views, and picturesque houses. The water way wraps through the town cutting it into two. I had a nice afternoon walking along the coasts.

The town is famous for its prehistoric cave drawings (Tito Bustillo). However very few can get into see them and the museum happened to be closed on the day I visited. If you do plan on visiting the town best to book that in advance.

The outer coast is resort-like with some really nice beach houses.

Walking along the other coast, there are some nice tile paintings of the history of the town.

At the edge of the walk you can climb up to an observation area to view the town from above. There is a little church at the top as well.

The town also has shops and cafes to spend some time. It is a nice place to do a day visit or perhaps spend a relaxing night or two.

Tight car space

The downsides of renting a large and nice car abroad is trying to get out of tight awkward places.

When I parked in the hotel garage in Gijón I had a feeling things would be challenging. All the spaces were narrow but I parked anyway. There was no car next to me but the other side was two large columns.

However there was a handicap spot behind me or I could pull forward if I needed some space to get out.

Well the worst scenario happened when I tried to finally leave Gijón: the car next to me is parked closely, the handicap space behind me is occupied and someone is parked in front of me (not a real space).

All my contingency plans have been thwarted. I am in a real tight situation.

So I start the long process to shimmy out of my space. The car has a good system of letting you know before you are about to hit something. But the alarm is too sensitive. I need to get close if I am ever getting out of the space.

I back up, I pull forward a couple inches. I back up. It continues. I get frustrated and get out of the car and flick a bird at car next to me, at the car in front of me, at car behind me, and at the columns. So many columns.

I get back in and I am getting very close to getting out when a man comes over to “help” guide me. I am just about out now but thanks?

Finally I am out with no car injury and glad to get out of this garage. I really should have parked in that surface paid lot instead.

You can see the car tightly next to me but you can’t see the car that is stopping me from pulling forward.

Sidrería

A must while in the Asturias (in my case Gijon) is to try out a local Sideria.

A Sideria is a bar that serves a local cider. There are many to choose from. You order by the bottle which is the same size everywhere.

I enjoyed checking out one of the more popular ones called La Galana.

The cider is good but what is also fun is watching the cider men pouring. They place the bottle up above their head and the glass close to their knees and pour. Most do not look while they are pouring.

I did not get a video but this is what it looks like.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/asturian-cider-pouring

I got to pour my own. And yes there was spillage.

It wasn’t all cider…..

I also tried local dishes.

Cachopo. I wasn’t a huge fan. It was basically a fried steak with ham and cheese. Too rich for me.

Fabada Asturiana – This was actually good but probably better as a fall or winter dish.

This was a salad with octopus. Not bad for a random cafe.

Taking the day off

I’m just going to say the thing that you non-travelers don’t want to hear. Traveling in itself sometimes feels like work and on occasion one needs a day off from their days off.

Today is that day for me. It was a hard decision to make since I have a not so cheap rental car sitting in a parking garage for a second day. But it is raining and I totally failed at making yesterday a slow day (I was supposed to do laundry and chill around town, but instead ended up walking around 10 miles in the sun up and down the shore line – after doing laundry).

So today I am sitting in bed catching up on things, doing a little reading. And I am going to try really hard to not feel guilty about it.

Here is some pictures of lovely Gijon to prove I did walk around yesterday.

First of two laundromats I visited yesterday morning. This had half the machines broken.