Discovering Monica's Roots in Asturias, Spain

 

Venga..... from the Wandering Berkmans!

We may be sitting here in Halifax, Canada as we write this but with Spain's World Cup  Finals victory over Argentina (¡OLEEEEEEEE!)  it's only fitting we focus this  post on our month in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, in Spain.

But before we start, as promised-- here is the rest of the list of "things we've noticed that are abundant" in different cities:  

Cadiz— pharmacies and dachshunds

Berlin— apple eating on the street and ambulances

CDMX- Pomeranians, street vendors, dog walkers with 8- plus dogs

Ljubljana- bike riders

Zagreb- bakeries, old men smoking and drinking at 10 am, languishing in cafes for hours with food you brought in

Seoul— cafes, karaoke

Hanoi— mopeds, seniors exercising outside

Kotor— building cranes, gargantuan men

Madrid— twins!!, healthcare aids

Montreal- motorized 3-wheeled  scooters

Coímbra- one-arm crutches

Kyoto- small, private shrines outside homes

Taipei - seniors exercising outside

Split— enormous lines for ice cream, gargantuan locals

Oviedo— statues

What would you add??

Now back to Asturias!For those of you who don't know, my mom Hilda was born in Asturias, specifically in the city of Gijón , but left for Cuba when she was very young because of the Spanish Civil War.  Her birth in Spain is the reason I was able to get Spanish citizenship and Zach and Javi can also pursue it (Zach now has his, Javi is waiting for their paperwork to go through!).  So with all this in mind, we thought where better to go than Asturias to seek out my mom's roots, see her birth city, maybe even stumble upon a long lost relative?? 

Our home base-- Oviedo, the capital.  Our overall thoughts?  A great, small city long on charm, culture and history, a beautiful historic center, plenty of restaurants and cafes (although a little on the pricey side), a university, and a small but active expat population we had the pleasure of spending time with.   

In the main plaza the Casa de la Rua faces the cathedral across the Plaza de Alfonso II el Casto.  If you look closely you can see bullet holes on both buildings from the Civil War in the 30's when shots were fired across the plaza.   oyyyyy

Little churches abound and end up dwarfed by the modern apartment buildings.

Campo de San Francisco was our go-to place when we wanted to hang out after a day filled with sightseeing.  Imagine our surprise the 2nd day there, April 19, when we saw this-- today's date in the grass??? And when we went back a couple of days later, the 23rd of April in the grass?? Yes, it is someone's job in this fair city to change the date everyday, in the wee hours of the morning we're told, so that every park-goer and pedestrian passing by know the current date.  Talk about job security!

This is the public high school where the current Queen Letizia was a student.  From commoner to Queen-- not too shabby.

The Camino de Santiago passes through the city, according to this map, but we were told by those who have walked the Camino that  every city wants to say they're part of the Camino.  Not all signage is correct so you really have to follow GPS lol.

Oviedo is a city of sculptures-- 107, to be exact! And the city provides a guide to seeing them all as you stroll about, and they are everywhere you look. This one, by the Colombian artist Botero, is called La Maternidad.  

This, La Pensadora (The Thinker) is by a local sculptor.  

Many of the statues depict daily life of years gone by.  Here is Don getting chummy with Las Vendadoras del Fontan (the Sellers of Fontan). 

This huge sculpture in the middle of an intersection was one of our favorites-- it's of a writer balancing a writing desk on his lap.  The arrangement of his legs made it seem so much more true to life than had he been sitting at a desk.  

As some of you may know, we love crashing weddings!  But when we can't crash we at least like to look on and wish the couple well.  Here are the bride and groom exiting the town hall.  

The University of Oviedo was founded in 1608.  We had a chance to see the stunning original library.  For in-house research only-- no book check-outs allowed !

The newer campus of the university is about a mile away-- it also wasn't immune to the battles of the Revolutionary War of 1934 as seen here by the bullet holes on a university building.  

The controversial and enormous Palacio de Congresos was built on the grounds of a former stadium and began as a convention center and hotel.  Designed by the wildly creative Spanish architect Calatrava (who also designed, among other buildings, the Oculus in NYC), it came in over budget (as many of his projects do) and is simultaneously impressive and just totally out of place in this small city.  When we stopped by construction was going on-- we were told a new university was going to take over the building.   We anticipate a freshman class full of Trekkies.  (photo not ours-- we're good but we're not that good!)

For one Don Berkman, no city stay is complete without at least one visit (or in the case of Mexico City, 4 and counting!) to the local archeological museum.  The Museo de Arqueologia de Asturias  was on the smaller side but our visit was made that much more interesting by the tour given by an archeologist from the US now living in Oviedo.  Not only did we hear of some interesting asides from his days on digs he also whipped out of his pocket this amazing 3 million year old nugget!  It has always been Don's dream to hold an artifact in his hot little hands and on that day he was in heaven.   

This post's Spanish lesson-- read how teachers and staff encourage (guilt??)  students into arriving to class on time by posting these ditties on the main entrance of a high school.   The most biting-- "How curious.  You always arrive late and class always starts at the same time. "  ouch!  We can only imagine the staff room on the day the teachers came up with these zingers.  See how many more you can decipher.

Because of Oviedo's location near the northern coast of Spain, many mornings outside our window looked like this-- intense fog over the mountains that burned off by early afternoon.  Very much like England weather, we thought.  

Spanish lesson #2-- A clever ad for eyeglasses, basically saying if the captain of the Titanic had been wearing our eyeglasses, well....

Day 1 of a new, extended stay always involves stocking up not just food but those items that we have come to require in our new kitchens.  Some kitchens are better supplied than others but items usually on the list these days include-- a salad spinner (hard to come by!), decent knives, dishwasher gloves, cooking tongs, measuring cups and spoons (that lactose-free banana bread isn't going to make itself!), storage containers and a cutting board.  Spanish cities usually have numerous discount stores so buying and leaving these items for the next guests isn't an issue.  If the item can be pricey (a tea kettle?) we'll ask the host if they wouldn't mind supplying one now for the convenience of future guests.  Many hosts, knowing we write a travel accommodations review blog (liveabroadreviews.com!  check it out!),  are more than happy to oblige.  

Our visit to the archeological museum had us meeting up with the terrific Helene and Ruben from Seattle.  New to the nomad world, we shared with them some tips and tricks of the trade as we hiked the Pista Findandesa...

.... that also includes part of the Camino de Santiago (or so they say!). Here is a refuge for pilgrims  that featured a basin for washing up and a faucet for filling water bottles as well.  

Cuisine for Don Berkman isn't all pizza and spaghetti these days-- far from it! Even though this meal was essentially chicken and potatoes it was in a Moroccan restaurant so the sauces and the salad were new to the Berkman.  Judging from the smile on my face I was a happy camper that this is a new option for our communal eating!  My dish was an almond and chicken pouch of loveliness.  

I did partake in many a bowl of fabada, the luscious smoked paprika and  bean soup.  Yes, it always includes a hunk of blood sausage that I have to put to the side-- a little too real for me.  Yes, yes, hypocritical but this soup tho.  Imagine my joy when I found a canned vegetarian version that more than sufficed for home enjoyment.  Deliciousness, guilt-free, whenever I wanted!  But yeah, it's the soup of the region.  Try it-- it's amazing.  

Another dish of the region we saw in many a restaurant but opted to avoid to protect our cardiovascular system is the cachopo. Breaded, deep fried veal and cheese -- thanks, we're good. 

We unfortunately didn't try as many Asturian cheeses as I would have liked, what with Don's lactose issues and my brief bout with dizziness after eating one of the delicious blue cheese variety.  When I looked up why I felt this way, apparently this is not uncommon for those unlucky enough to be allergic to penicillin.  I've loved blue cheese forever but maybe this is the real McCoy and my body's not having it.  (Add the wooziness to the list of very odd ailments I've enjoyed these past 6 months!) Maybe one of you can partake and let us know if these cheeses are as delicious as they look!

This is the cheese that did me in!!  I include the picture only because the name of the cheese sounds like a sound my mom would make when describing something falling down the stairs.  Always entertaining.  

We in the USA grew up with the always useful "spork".  Who knew paella restaurants would take it to a new, classy level ?  And yes, the paella shown was tasty.

The train and bus system served us well, as it usually does in Spain, and we took advantage of them to see other towns, not least of which Gijón.    The building in front is the original hospital where my mom was born, charmingly named 

La Gota de Leche (the Drop of Milk)!  It houses municipal offices now but a friendly worker gave us a brief history-- the hospital was started in 1925 by a pediatrician looking to improve prenatal and postnatal care for next generations.   

Oviedo has an expansive malecón (boardwalk) that's beautiful to walk or bike along day or night, both of which we did.

A beach resort with natural pools by the Iglesia de San Pedro had us wishing we had our bathing suits!   

Just another beautiful building in the middle of Gijón.

Sidre (cider) is the drink of Asturias and every restaurant offers their own brew as well as mass produced varieties.  The pouring and drinking of sidre is very specific, as you'll see later in the post as our SOL (slice of life.) Seen here dwarfing Don on the malecón is a tree of bottles used for sidre. 

The train and bus also brought us to Candás where we stayed overnight to catch the one, the only, Freddy Mercury-- Spanish style!  We went with zero expectations but the dude put on a great show and based on the audience response, he has his enthusiastic followers.  

The show started at 9 pm (late for the Berkmans!) so we did what everyone in Spain does-- we made a reservation for dinner at 10.30 pm.  The waiter didn't even blink an eye.  And when we arrived later that night, the restaurant was bopping, people were being seated  after us for meals  and the family with two little kids stayed longer than we did!  We agreed we couldn't eat this late all the time but it was fun to be part of the local dining experience (bc trust me when I say there are next to no tourists in this little town) so late at night.  

Luanco gave us sandy beaches, a delicious seafood lunch of grilled squid and a layered cod dish,  and this pointed and cheeky message for dog owners.  

"Please have your dog pee on the wall and door of your own house."

The first sight that greeted us when the bus pulled into Avilés was a rainbow bridge (just in time for Pride!) leading to Centro Niemeyer, a cultural center with art galleries, cinemas, theaters and the round tower for 360 degree views of the harbor, estuary and the medieval city.  

 

We saw a terrific photography exhibit showing Spain in the early 20th century.  Our favorites-- 

"Keeping up with the news"

"Goooooooooooooooooooooolllll seminary- student style"

This walkway has two very different surfaces--  back in the day the smooth surface was for the wagons and the rocky surface for the animals pulling the wagons.  

We're always "home shopping" for the next house we'll never buy lol.  This one caught our eye.  

This one did not!  These horreros  or granaries are present everywhere in the region and were traditionally used to store whatever was grown on the property.  The design is ingenious-- they are elevated from the ground on tapered legs with a panel on top of them to discourage rats from invading.  There are usually stairs and they're positioned a short distance from the doorway with the idea of also making it difficult for rodents.   The open-air design airs out the crops to prevent rot but the wide roof keeps the rain out.  On our many bus and train rides we played "Where's Waldo?", counting how many of these puppies we could see.  

So that was Asturias!  We really enjoyed our time there and looking into my mom's brief past there was very insightful.  Now I know why she loves fabada so much-- it's in her genes! And it was fascinating to think that she and my grandparents probably walked the very streets we walked and took in the same sights.   But the cloudy, rainy weather did get to Don after a while and he's like a puppy, always wanting to be outside (while I love a good cloudy day to hang indoors every once in a while)  so a return trip probably won't be in our near future.  But we did escape the heat of the south (yes, even by end of April) no doubt about that!  And no, unfortunately no sightings of "obviously you're my long lost cousin 3rd removed!" but maybe another time.  

Ok, here's the SOL as promised:  Fancy a sidre? Don't just pour it in your glass like a beer, for pity's sake! Only pour a little at a time, lest you lose the aeration from it sitting in the glass too long. Watch the pros and see how it's done. In a couple of restaurants we went to it was the waiter's job to come by and give us a new pour while in others there was a new-fangled gizmo on the table that siphoned the sidre to get the desired aerated effect. This restaurant owner proudly gave us the full show.

We head to ABQ at the end of the month to spend some time with Don's mom (NM in August anyone??). Then off to Seattle to see Javi, where Zach will join us for a spell before we see him again in Mexico City... for his wedding! All good stuff coming up and we feel fortunate for it! (And as of this date, no more weird ailments!)

Thanks as always for following along!

Don and Monica