From Asturias to Galicia

Time to move on. We'd been comfortable in El Mirador del Oso, apart from the problems here and there as mentioned in the review and other stories. I'd miss the mooing and the fresh morning air... and the previous evening's drive to Bandujo would at least leave me with something wonderful to treasure.

Shot with the mobile phone, the mooing culprits

As we were leaving, Toño was cleaning and preparing a room for the next guests. He insisted on helping us with the suitcases again - such a fine gentleman. Experiences like this, and I've had the pleasure of a fair few, reinforce my belief that staying in privately-hosted apartments is so, so much more pleasant than lodging in cold impersonal hotels.

After a brief conversation, we bid our goodbyes and headed northwest. Our first stop: Luarca.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it seemed a strange town to me. Of course, one can't judge a place in a mere few hours, but that was my feeling. The restaurant I wanted to try was full, so we ended up in La Estrella, which added to the "strangeness". Don't get me wrong - I'm not being critical.

What I'd thought was a small restaurant was actually quite big. The room where we sat in led to another, which led to yet another! I found this arrangement to be quite common in Asturias. It was your standard Spanish bar-restaurant type of fare. Nothing fancy, but edible. It looked like a family-run business.

What I felt strange here wasn't as much strange as funny, because it made me laugh. We were waited upon by an elderly-ish man, but dressed in shirt and jeans, in a way that made me smile. He wasn't very smiley, but he wasn't rude either. The way he moved, the way he took the orders, the way he served, it all made me chuckle. Mind you, if it were in a posher place, if he were a younger person, I'd have probably considered the service negatively.

We had the set meal, which was the cheapest option. Came up to €34 for the three of us. Food, like I said, wasn't out of this world, but edible. Portions were generous.

After a short walk around, we continued westwards. Luarca was to be our last stop in Asturias. Next stop: Ribadeo, our first introduction to Galicia.

Although both Asturias and Galicia are green, you'd find the landscape quite different. The mountains of Asturias, for example, look bigger and higher.

Ribadeo is practically on the Galicia-Asturias border, and we found a parking space easily. Without any idea as to what was of interest here, we just started walking. When it got too quiet, we turned around. We walked downhill and back uphill. Nothing much here, really.

 La Torre de los Moreno, Ribadeo, Lugo, Galicia

Time for coffee, I think.

By the children's playground, there was a café, with a large terrace, quite busy. We sat down, but it was too hot, so we moved inside. It turned out that Linares was actually a small hotel. If you happen to be here, I can thoroughly recommend this cafeteria. Service was great and with our coffees, we were given free peanuts and some churros!

With that sending off, we hopped back into the car.

Bandujo, a scenic drive

After the earlier walk on the Bear Route, and the not-without-problems lunch in L'Esbardu, we were left feeling rather empty, feeling rather dissatisfied.

We decided to go for a drive.

By the time we got the car out, it was already 7pm, and the sky was looking ominous. It wasn't wise to go far; Bandujo looked perfect then. So, off we went.

We missed a turn, doubled back, and went up on the narrow country road. As we climbed, we knew we'd made the right decision. The scenery was breathtaking. Rain clouds floating between lush green mountains rushed us along lest we couldn't make it to Bandujo.

By then, we had to put the windshield wipers on intermittent. I honestly don't remember how long I had to drive; perhaps it was about an hour. I was going slow, savouring the scenery, and besides, it was a winding road. We also stopped a couple of times.

Before long, however, houses appeared in the distance... and the road abruptly ended.

I only had time to take a few shots before the rain started to fall heavier. Had it been earlier and had it not rained, we might have ventured down into the village.

Bandujo is a very small village. According to Wiki, it has a population of 43. Forty-three! And 66 dwellings!

Stone house in Bandujo

Do you want to buy a house?

Rooftops and mountain tops

The most famous landmark of the village, La Torre de Tuñón, "one of the best preserved late medieval defensive towers of Asturias."

Wonder what it'd be like in winter...

Lines and curves

As the rain got heavier, we ran back into the car. My camera isn't waterproof, you know... Actually, come to think of it, we did bring some umbrellas with us, but it was getting late anyway. The drive down was much quicker and before long we were back at the apartment.

Time to pack our bags again...

L'Esbardu, restaurant review

After the bear walk, it was time for lunch. The restaurant we chose was L'Esbardu; it was on the edge of the town, just past the bridge. In fact, from the terrace, you can watch the river, except we were there in summer and there wasn't that much water.

When we arrived, the terrace was almost full; inside, there were a couple of tables which were occupied. We chose to sit outside under the shade of an orange tree. There were two servers, a waiter and a waitress. However, the waiter was the only one taking food orders.

The waitress attended to us after several minutes, brought us the menu, and took our drink orders. One word of warning here - while waiting, we heard a loud thud, and I mean loud! By some miracle, an orange had fallen off the tree and missed my shiny head by inches, hit the table, and bounced off to the ground.

So, choose your tables carefully - you may not be as lucky as I was!

Anyway, in spite of that incident - or perhaps they were afraid of coming near us! - we were practically ignored! Even frantic hand waving didn't catch anyone's attention. Worse, a group that arrived after us had their orders taken first, and naturally, got their food way before us.

We weren't pleased at all.

It's one thing when you're not served because no-one is available, and quite another when someone who comes after you gets served before. And it wasn't that big a terrace. The waitress attended to us first, so it was her responsibility to make sure that the waiter was aware of us, and if he had been more on the ball, he would have kept abreast of the situation anyway.

Food. The portions were huge! Be warned.

It might not have been the right season to have a pote Asturiano, but Asturia is famous for their fabadas and their potes. As you can see, it's something to help you through the cold winters...

Pote Asturiano

 The standard egg, sausage and chips. €6 for this, not a bad deal at all.

Egg, sausage & chips (child's portion)

 I had to watch my cholesterol level, so I opted for a grilled bonito. Wrong choice, probably. It was more of a meat rather than a fish place. Having said that, the bonito looked fresh, but the problem with cooking fish such as bonito and tuna is that it's hard to get the al dente point. To make it worse, this piece of bonito was at least two fingers thick! 

So, to put it in one word: DRY! Go past the al dente point, and this fish just dries up incredibly. It was so dry I could hardly eat it. I must have left at least half of it on the plate - it was huge anyway.

Grilled bonito

 And this was how the bill came. In a red espadrille. Perhaps that's what esbardu means. I never did find out.

Bill in a shoe

Name of restaurant: L'Espardu

Location: Calle del Puente s/n, 33114 Proaza, Asturias

Tel: 985 76 11 52

Web: http://www.lesbardu.es/index.php

Verdict: Conditional recommendation... if it isn't very crowded, and if you're fond of meat.

La Senda del Oso (The Bear Route), Proaza

After a hard day yesterday, when we visited Oviedo & Gijón, I was looking forward to doing some walking today and was hoping for a car-free day...

Toño, out host, encouraged us to do the bear route, saying that we'd be walking through a beautiful forest and that we'd likely see some of the three Asturian bears along the way. Sounded interesting.

At the edge of the town we crossed the bridge, and turned left, where we found Oso Goloso. It's a small café, which also provides bicycles for rent. Prices were tempting, €9 for the whole day, but we preferred to walk. The girl in the shop actually recommended a route going the other way, towards Entrago, saying that it was a more beautiful route, but it was a 14km walk and we hadn't planned for that. Had we known it before, I'd have been more interested in that.

Especially after the walk we did.

It was summer, after all. It was hot, the river was a gentle flowing stream, and it wasn't as green as I'd expected. The bears were actually in an enclosure - there were three of them - in a valley, and the path was some way up. We couldn't go close to the enclosure.

To be honest, it was rather sad. I don't like zoos much, especially when the animals are in small cages. Here, they are a bit freer, but it must be terribly boring for them. They're still enclosed, after all. This day was so hot that we couldn't see any at first - they were all hiding in some shade or other, I suspected.

And then, we spotted it.

A lonely bear (As usual, click on any image to see a larger version)

I didn't have a lens long enough to zoom in close. I could crop the photo, but I prefer to share this view as you can then have an idea of their enclosures.

Later, it came a little closer. Or it could have been a different bear, I couldn't really tell. There were several enclosures, but I think they're inter-connected.

A bear posing

After passing the enclosures, we carried on for a while and then decided to turn back. It was very hot and it didn't look inviting enough for us to carry on. On the way back, we saw all the three bears, although not together except for these two.

Asturian bears

They were walking back into the shade, and so were we...

Urban day: Oviedo & Gijon

The day was dedicated to the two biggest cities in Asturias: Oviedo and Gijón. Oviedo may be the capital, but Gijón is the bigger of the two, probably because of its beaches. More tourists, more employment...

I decided to head towards Monte Naranco first; we would then be in Oviedo right around lunchtime.

At 634 metres above sea level, Monte Naranco provided us with fantastic views of Oviedo and the Picos de Europa in the background. We arrived in the early afternoon, along with a few other groups of visitors, including some Americans, chilling out with their portable stereo, and talking and singing aloud, with Christ looking down at them, not too approvingly...

El Christo,  la escultura del Sagrado Corazón, Monte Naranco

A mini Christ the Redeemer

Oviedo from Monte Naranco

After a short stay admiring the views, we made our way down again. Oviedo isn't an easy place to park in and we should have perhaps planned this better. After several minutes of not getting anywhere, struggling with the one-way streets, we found our way to el casco histórico, and found a car park. Don't you hate it when they put these low barriers, in a position where the driver can't see them, especially when reversing, and if you reverse a centimetre too far, no matter how slow you go, you'll end up with some surprises? They don't make bumpers like they used to. Weren't bumpers made of rubber so that when you bumped, it was no big deal? That's why they're called bumpers, no? To bump?

Well, a surprise was exactly what I got. With the low light, the heat, the fatigue from driving around, I went just that bit too far, having forgotten that there was a barrier. When I looked, there were some scratches. Damn. I started thinking the worst. That this was going to cost me, why hadn't I sent someone out to guide me, etc.

Fast forward a few days, when we left the car at A Coruña airport, and the rep at Europcar said, ok, we'd have to check the car, I was bracing myself for the bad news.

So, I checked in, went back to the counter and when, eventually, she came back and said everything was ok, you couldn't imagine the relief I felt!

Back to Oviedo...

We walked for a bit, past and around the Cathedral and I just had to check out Casa Fermín. Perhaps they'd have an affordable set menu... No, they didn't and no, I don't think I can afford those prices... Let's move on...

We went past a few restaurants, none of which really beckoned us, and we also didn't want to pay too much. Finally, we got to the market Fontán, and there was a restaurant upstairs. The set menu price was affordable and it looked decent, so we went in.

El Fontán overlooked the market stalls and we could see the stallholders cleaning up. For the amount of customers there were, service was somewhat lacking. Perhaps they wanted to have lunch themselves. The food was rather average. I didn't want meat and had grilled fish, but it was tasteless. I very seldom add salt to my food, but this time I had to.

My verdict: find somewhere else.

As so happened many times before, and I'm sure it happens to you too, walking a bit more after lunch, we came across Plaza Fontán, and it was bustling with people still eating and there were quite a few restaurants. We didn't bother looking at their menus, but the plaza certainly looked more inviting than where we'd just come from!

Plaza Fontán

After Oviedo, we headed on to Gijón, It was hot. Walked along the promenade for a bit before heading inwards. No doubt Gijón has its hidden charms, but that day, we didn't find any. In fact, later, we were looking for a café, preferably with some ice cream available...and we couldn't find a single one!

Our tired legs eventually found one, Chocolatería Mayca. What a feat! But, guess what? As usual, Murphy Law struck again. As soon as we walked out of there, we kept seeing cafés after cafés, haha.

What a day!

I couldn't wait until we were back in the apartment to rest my weary legs! The drive wasn't straightforward. At one point, I thought we'd taken the wrong turning, but what happened was that a section of the main road must have been cut off, but Google Navigator re-directed us, quite astoundingly!

The "What a day" wasn't about to end yet.

When we arrived, and it was late, there was no running water! Arghhhhhhhhhh! We were all in bad need of a shower. I rang Toño, our host, and he told us that the whole village was without water. There had been a problem and the authorities hadn't been able to locate it. Chances were that there wouldn't be any water until the next day.

Could you believe that?

I rushed out, hoping to find some shops which were still opened. I remembered the petrol station, and, they had 2 bottles of 1.5 litres left. That would have to do.

Deep down, I never gave up hope, I kept trying the tap to see if some miracle would happen. Minutes later, a little water started trickling from the tap. Mmm, maybe, maybe... There was sufficient coming... let me clean my teeth... And then...

Around midnight, hallelujah! Water gushed out from the tap! A miracle! The shower just felt incredibly glorious, what could I say? 

Happy houses in Proaza

You might have read my review of El Mirador del Oso and might have seen the photos of the inside, but I didn't get the opportunity to take some photos from the outside until two mornings after we'd arrived.

The morning was fabulous, bright and sunny. I'd been struck by the vivid colours with which the houses had been painted and the light of this morning accentuated them even more. I just like to share these photos here - the colours you see in them are what they are actually - I didn't change their saturation level or anything like that.

El Mirador del Oso

That's the window of the apartment we stayed in

House next door

The house behind

The house around the corner

Lake Covadonga, Picos de Europa

After lunch at Casa Morán in Benia de Onís (see review), we headed towards our main destination, the lakes of los Picos de Europa, Covadonga. In plural because there are three of these glacial lakes: Enol, Ercina and El Bricial, the latter is only formed when there's water either from a large storm or from melting snow.

Los Picos de Europa

The lakes are probably one of the top tourist destinations in Asturias, so to protect the Picos de Europa National Park, traffic is controlled. During peak season, private cars are prohibited to go beyond Covadonga. Peak season is summer (normally last week of July until the first week of September, but check on the Internet because even the official sites sometimes do not have current information, so there's no point of linking them here), Easter (usually from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday) and extra long weekends (eg this year, there's one coming up from 6-8 Dec 2014 inclusive).

So I drove towards Cangas de Onís, which was a short drive from Benia de Onís. As we approached, we started noticing huge car parks identified by numbers (Car Park 1, Car Park 2). I drove on, not knowing at which number they would end. There were at least 5. I took a gamble, and carried on driving past the last one (not being sure, at that time, of course, if it was the last). The hour was quite late, so I thought there would be fewer people. We reached Covadonga, where there was a small free car park with an awkward entrance, so you could easily missed it. I drove in to find that it was, unsurprisingly, full.

But, as I was turning the car around to leave, we spotted some people entering, and, sure enough, they were taking their car out.

My advice is if you have no reason to be in Covadonga - we had no time (nor energy) to visit the sanctuary - leave the car in one of the car parks. In busy times, such as the summer, buses run every 15 minutes. Cost is €8, return. ALSA runs the service. In fact, they say that the ticket is valid all day, which would mean that you can hop on and off on the same ticket. Here's their leaflet for 2014.

The ride up was quite harrowing, so even if you could drive all the way to the lakes, you may want to consider using public transport (if there is), so that you can enjoy the spectacular views as you go up and up, round and round. It is not unusual for a bus to have to reverse to make way for an oncoming one as the road is wide enough for only one large vehicle at some points, or to stop because some cows decide to take a break in the middle of the road. The journey from Covadonga to the car park in Buferrera takes about 30 minutes or so.

Black Asturian cow

From the car park, there are several walking routes you can take, all signposted. I wanted to walk around both lakes, but there was no time.

We were unlucky in that the weather wasn't ideal. If it had been sunny, the lighting conditions would have been perfect at that time of day, but it was grey and overcast. I did the best I could as far as photography was concerned. I'm sure that at the right time of year, in good weather, the views would be spectacular.

Going back down the mountains on the bus, I dozed off every now and then, which gave me the strength to drive back to the apartment safely.

Families by Lake Ercina

Lake Ercina.When light is dull, monochrome often works better

Lake Enol on an overcast day

Stone hut

It threatened to brighten up at about 7pm, but it didn't last

Casa Morán, Benia de Onís

Destination, Benia de Onís. It's 110 km away, according to Google Maps and estimated travel time is 1hr 34m. My estimate is 2 hours.

I don't remember how long we actually took. When we arrived, there was a street market going on, so it was quite busy, meaning parking wasn't easy. In the end, I took the chance and parked in a hotel car park nearby. The hotel was quite beautiful.

Hotel Peña Santa

There wasn't much at the market, not for us, anyway, except for this photo opportunity.

Mr Rooster was posing for me. Or was it Mrs Hen?

If anyone can confirm whether it's a rooster or a hen, I'd appreciate it. My guess is it's a rooster. But, I'm no farm boy, hehe. I did some research and apparently, it isn't easy to tell! Roosters are supposed to have larger combs (the red crest on their heads), but how big is big? Haha. This one looks big to me! :)

Whatever it is, it didn't follow us to our lunch table, I can assure you. We had come here specially to have lunch at the famed Casa Morán, famous for the owner, Rosa Morán (Doña Rosita), because of her age. Into her 70s or possibly 80s, she still works every day, no doubt, controlling their production of Fabada Asturiana, their other star.

Fabada isn't your typical summer dish. It's more suited to the Asturian winter, but if you're here, you've got to try it.

Frankly speaking, I was rather disappointed.

As we walked in, we faced a bar, and there were several people scattered around. Towards the left was a door, through which we entered. No-one had greeted us at this point. We saw a roomful of people eating, so we reckoned this was the restaurant. The corridor leads to an exterior patio/garden, off which there was another room.

We then saw a guy busying around, so we presumed he was a waiter, and we asked if we could have a table. Yes, no problem. Sit anywhere.

Minutes later, we saw more staff, only identifiable by their walking between tables and/or serving. No doubt, this was a family set up. I have no objections to this; quite the contrary, I do like the informality and the warmness of a family business. As long as service is sufficiently efficient.

There was no menu à la carte, only the day's offering. First course was a choice of paella, salad, or fabada, and the main course was lamb or cod. These photos were taken with a mobile phone.

Fabada Asturiana

Roast lamb with potatoes

As you can see, presentation was simple. And I'll be honest, taste was simple, too. It was obvious all the food had been prepared in the morning, and all they had to do then was to heat it up. But it wasn't even heated up well enough. The fabada tasted as though it had been heated several hours ago, to boiling point, and ours was just scooped directly onto the bowl. And, similarly, the lamb probably came straight out from a warmed oven. Maybe, just maybe, the chips were freshly fried.

Yet another place living off its reputation is my opinion. Perhaps if you're the early luncher type, you may be lucky to get the food still fresh. I can't guarantee that.

Place: Casa Morán

Address: Benia de Onís (Google Maps have it wrongly located, I think. This is probably more correct. In any case, you can't miss it. It's on the main road leading to the town, practically opposite Hotel Peña Santa.)

Service: casual, friendly, could be faster and more professional

Food: Fabada over-hyped, the rest, average. Not hot enough.

Price: Good value.

Verdict: If you're there, fine, you can try it or perhaps the restaurant at the Hotel Peña Santa (see photo above) may be better. Otherwise, it isn't worth travelling all the way just for Casa Morán.

Good morning, Asturias!

When was the last time I woke up to the sounds of cows mooing and roosters crowing? Too long ago for me to remember, I suppose.

This was one of the culprits!

Honestly, the mooing was so loud, it felt as though the cattle were right beneath the window, but they were in a farm across the road. All right, time to get out and about, say hello to the animals, and see what I could find for breakfast.

Baa baa white sheep...

Boy, this is a change. Misty mountains in the distance protect their valleys between them, the sun slowly warming up the crisp air; it's almost 10 am and the main road was still deserted. The whole town felt deserted. I walked down the road, heading towards the centre.

A hut with the Picos de Europa in the background

Almost looks oriental...

Main road still deserted at 10am

Sexy valley

There were a handful of shops, bars, restaurants, and a couple of small supermarkets. I went into one of them, got some stuff from the small selection, and headed back to the apartment to have some breakfast before heading for that distance in the photos...