Winter Highlights
Cities of Asturias: Oviedo, Gijón, & Avilés
Sometimes, the demographic makeup of Asturias seems to favor cows over people. The rural landscape of mountains, farms, and small villages dominates the area. The urban areas of Oviedo, Gijón, and Avilés are the exception, although locals joke that they are "big towns" rather than "small cities". While I sometimes miss the big city energy of Bilbao, the more relaxed pace of Asturias agrees with me. Oviedo, the capital, is the largest city in Asturias. It is home to the University of Oviedo, so there are a good number of Erasmus students studying abroad and a college town energy that energizes an otherwise sleepy city. It's most notable attractions are Mt. Naranco and its 13th century cathedral. These were featured in an earlier post, so today I'll feature 2 additional Asturian cities: Gijón and Avilés.
Gijón, just 30 minutes away, is a slightly larger city on the coast. (Just imagine Oviedo with the addition of seagulls). In addition to being the largest city in Asturias, there are several paths that allow visitors to enjoy vast coastal views. For example, Cerro de Santa Catalina is a grassy hilltop overlooking the Cantabrian Sea. Here you will find the unmissable Elogio de Horizonte, roughly translated to "Ode to the Horizon". Many locals consider it an eyesore, but I personally like it because when you stand in the beneath it, the sound of the ocean is amplified dramatically, as if you were right in the middle of the sea, close enough to touch it and not 200 unreachable feet above it. There's also a promenade path that winds from the Church of San Pedro past the dog-packed San Lorenzo beach and along the coast out of the city. There are sculptures and small art installations along the path, making it an even more aesthetic experience.
Avilés, the smallest city, is also on the water and has developed thanks to the nearby airport, which serves the entire community of Asturias with a total of 9 gates. Just minutes from Avilés is the Faro de Avilés, a historical lighthouse dating back to 1861 and featured in the film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Otherwise, the city is quite small and industrial apart from a quaint historic center.
The Asturian Diet (or lack thereof)
Prior to the damage done by climate change, most days in Asturias were overcast, sometimes with full weeks of near constant rain. This resulted in a hearty diet full of comfort foods like fabada, pote asturiano, and lentils (soups with meat and beans). Being coastal, there's also a lot of seafood dishes. It's also Spain's dairyland and is known for producing milk, butter, and most significantly, cheese. The cheese in Asturias is simply unmatched in taste and smell. My favorite is Cabrales, artisanally made blue cheese that stinks to high heaven. Below are a few of the meals I've enjoyed in recent months. The first cake (top left) is a róscon, a sweet bread dessert typically eaten on 3 King's Day (Epiphany). Also pictured is a strawberry cake won at a pub trivia night in Gijón. It's not traditional but I just wanted to brag a little bit.
Hiking Highlights: Cascada de Chrorrón, Ruta de Alba, & Carmenes-Canseco
Not much to say here except that I love waterfalls, snow, cows, and petting strangers' dogs.
Bufones de Pría: An Asturian Hidden Gem
Near Llanes, in eastern Asturias, you can visit the Bufones de Pría, incredible natural blowholes that made me feel like a kid at Disneyland. You can only appreciate the spectacle during high tide and when the waves are especially strong, as they were when I visited last week. Of course, that means it's best to go during windy, stormy weather, and it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll be getting soaked to the bones. Call it an immersive experience!
Tenerife
In December, I spent a holiday weekend in Tenerife, Canary Islands. While part of Spain, these islands are geographically much closer to Africa, and enjoy much warmer, subtropical weather. I flew into the island's north airport and spent my first day at Jover Natural Pool, relaxing in the sun and eating an authentic Canarian luch of grilled fish and papas arrugadas, salty boiled potatoes served with traditional red and green mojo sauces made of garlic, herbs, and local pepper varieties.
I took the bus south to meet up with a friend and spent the next 2 days in the tourist-soaked area of Adeje. Okay, that's dramatic, but the this beach town is definitely a tourist hotspot, with lots of northern Europeans looking to escape their own bitter winters with a cheap flight. The main strips with bars, restaurants, and shops get the most traffic, but quieter areas are still very much within reach. For example, Playa Diego Hernández is a totally bohemian hippie beach that requires about 15 minutes of hiking to get to. Popular areas like Las Americas and Playa El Duque are much more crowded, but have a lively energy that's fun for a short beach weekend.
I also visited Mt. Teide, an active volcano and the highest peak in Spain. While we couldn't summit to the top without a permit, we still climbed more than 3,500 meters and took in incredible views over the entire island. It was a fantastic but exhausting hike, requiring a refuel of tapas to finish the day.
I returned to the north to fly home and spent the morning in San Cristóbal de la Laguna. The city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the colorful 16th century architecture is quite well-preserved. As usual, the churches and cathedrals are the city's proudest artifacts, but the vibe of the whole city is very dynamic and light, perhaps due to the chronically perfect weather or friendly, dazzling locals. If the pictures remind you of Latin America, you have a good eye! The design of San Cristóbal de la Laguna served as the inspiration for the design of many Latin American cities that were conquered and built by the Spanish.
Home for the Holidays
When school let out for winter break, I flew nearly 4,000 miles to spend Christmas in the U.S. It had been 15 months almost to the day since I had been back in the U.S. I was so excited to see Zoey! (And of course my family.)
Kentucky is not quite as exotic Oviedo, nor is North Carolina as nearly as warm as the Canary Islands, but I can't complain. I got to spend the holidays surrounded by friends and family. We rang in the new year with some brand new traditions. First, a polar plunge into the frigid waters at Ocean Isle. I was invited to paint "2024" on a driftwood art installation. And at the stroke of midnight, I introduced my family to the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes to get good luck in the New Year!
An Expat's Review of the Spanish Healthcare System
Perhaps the grapes didn't work, because in the final days of January, I was admitted to a public hospital near Gijón for a tonsil abscess and infection. This is not a serious condition and was easily treated with antibiotics and needle aspiration. I was released from the hospital 4 days later and have felt fine since. If you see my mother, please tell her to stop worrying! However, I've been asked multiple times since about how the Spanish healthcare system compares to the American one. The honest answer is that I don't know. I've been healthy and lucky enough to have had very little contact with the American healthcare system. But here's what I do know:
Here, I experienced wait times that felt a bit long but not unreasonable.
I was treated kindly and professionally throughout the duration of my stay.
I first went to an "urgent care" that probably should have sent me to the hospital that night instead of urging me to come back in the morning.
The first ER I went to sent me to a second hospital because they didn't have an ENT on staff.
I did have to wait 4+ hours for a medication, I assume due to understaffing.
The Spanish friend who had driven me to the ER became a makeshift interpreter, and I became invisible. Several staff members heard my accent and gave up on communication efforts, even though I'm highly proficient in Spanish (although admittedly less so with a high fever).
More importantly: I didn't pay a cent.
Most importantly: My illness was treated effectively and I'm currently as healthy as a horse. (Knock on wood!)
A Galician Road Trip
Another long weekend for the books! This time to Galicia, the northwest corner of Spain bordering Portugal. I walked through this region for about a week while finishing the Camino de Santiago in September. The Camino concludes in Galicia's capital, Santiago de Compostela, which is a really fun city with a great energy. But Galicia is a pretty large region, and I felt like I had seen very little of it despite hearing great things about its world-renowned seafood, lush green landscape, and breathtaking coastline. Additionally, Galicia is similar to the Basque Country in that it has its own language, Gallego, which sounds like a mixture between Spanish and Portuguese. The culture has celtic roots, so seeing symbols like the trisquel (similar to a Celtic knot) and hearing the gaita (similar to a bagpipe) is not uncommon. Eager to experience a new Spanish subculture, I took a few days to visit a good chunk of Galicia, making a huge circle through Ourense, Cambados, Finisterre, and A Coruña.
First stop: Oursense. This is a small city is situated on the Miño River and known for hot springs called termas. I visited Termas Outariz for a relaxing afternoon by the river. Prices were reasonable, the vibe was great, and like any Spanish institution, it included a full bar. Back in the city, I attended Ourense's Carnival celebration, which was much bigger than I expected. There were multiple stages for DJs and bands and hundreds of people in full costume. A brass band played for hours, everything from modern pop to American rock n' roll to Spanish hits. These "orchestras" are very common during Carnival and during the summer, which is when cities and small towns have their summer parties and festivals.
I have to highlight the my favorite moment of the night because it perfectly captures the spirit of Spain that I've come to love so much. The weather had been fickle all day, the literal epitome of "if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes". There had been brief showers throughout the morning and afternoon, but so far the weather had held up for the evening festivities. Around 1 a.m., the clouds rolled over us once again and released a steady pour of rain. Almost instantly, the crowd collectively opened their umbrellas and continued dancing, unphased by the storm and eager to continue the fun. So there we were, hundreds of grown adults in silly costumes, umbrellas in one hand and drinks in the other, dancing to a Galician orchestra playing pop songs. The Spanish love a party, and something as trivial as nasty weather never stops them.
Pictured below: Carnival festivities and unbelievable food, including Galician specialties like octopus and zamburiñas (served in seashells).
The next day, I stopped in Valença, a charming Portuguese town on the border for a coffee break and a chance to stretch my legs. I wandered through the quaint old village and around the military fortress that once protected the city from invasion.
Leaving Portugal, I made my way toward Cambados, a quiet coastal area known for a local white wine called Albariño. Albariño is strongly floral and acidic, pairing well with seafood, which is the impressive wine vocabulary I learned during a visit to Mar de Frades, a posh local winery, for a tour and tasting.
Next stop: Finisterre, the end of the world. The Romans named this place finis terrae in Latin because they believed it to be the westernmost point of Europe and therefore, the end of the world. We know now that the world is round (at least most of us do), and that Finisterre isn't even the westernmost point of Europe, but when you visit, it's easy to understand why the Romans believed that it was. The vast views of the ocean stretching past the cliffs certainly feel infinite. While I ended my Camino in the city of Santiago de Compostela, some pilgrims continue on to Finisterre, a more literal "end" to their journey, and burn their clothes on the rocks in a symbolic rebirth. (That is, if these well-worn clothes haven't disintegrated already.)
Last stop: A Coruña, a dramatically underrated port city with beautiful ocean views and unique glass architecture. It has an exciting and bustling energy, perhaps due to the Carnival celebrations or the heaps of day trippers coming in from city-sized cruise ships. It is a fabulous city to just wander around because the architectural styles are so unique and interesting. Most of the city built up throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, making it more modern than other Spanish cities. In addition to beautiful old churches, the city boasts several blocks of tall white buildings with elegant glass-enclosed balconies. Since the north of Spain gets so much rainfall and cloudy weather, the galerias, as they're called, were constructed to let in as much rare, precious sunshine as possible. At the edge of the city, you can visit Torre de Hércules, commonly regarded as the world's oldest surviving lighthouse. It was built in the first century and is situated atop a gorgeous overlook.
En route back to Oviedo, I stopped for lunch in the town of Betanzos, which would be an ordinary town except for a very poorly-hidden gem: the best tortilla in Spain. This title is not to be taken lightly, either. Tortilla de patatas, the quintessential Spanish breakfast (or lunch, or dinner), is a staple of Spanish cuisine and can be found in literally any bar, restaurant, or grocery store in the country. It's a thick pan-cooked "omelette" usually made of eggs, potatoes, and onion. Spaniards have very strong opinions on what makes a "proper" tortilla. Some like it dry, others like it practically in soup form. There's a hot debate over whether it should or should not include onions. (I personally support the former.) And war may break out over whether it can be served with extra ingredients, like ham, sausage, or cheese.
So you get the point. The best tortilla in Spain is a very tall order. And yet, Mesón O Pote in the town of Betanzos is more than deserving. Not only was the tortilla incredible, but the salad, croquetas, and café celta were also phenomenal. The owner, poorly disguised as a waiter, was lovely as well and made everyone who walked through the door feel like a welcomed guest. (This is particularly special in Spain, since a big cultural difference is that customer service isn't usually prioritized. They don't work on tips!)
Final Reflections
A Spaniard remarked to me recently that I tend to get overexcited about little things: the color of the ocean in A Coruña, the bus driver remembering my name, eating octopus for dinner, to name a few. In my defense, eating octopus is not exactly a little thing for an American! But there is some truth to the comment. Things that are commonplace for locals are exotic and thrilling for me. I get to try new things every day and that is a privilege. But on some level, I think I choose to be excited about my life. I practically squealed when I saw the views from Torre de Hércules, even though I've seen the ocean dozens of times before. I've literally jumped up and down over a good thunderstorm and smiled like an idiot over a halfway decent sunset. Just because something is common doesn't mean it isn't special or beautiful. There is so much beauty and perfection in our lives that we don't even choose to notice: a good cup of coffee, a kind word, hitting all the green lights en route to work. These things may not be rare, but they are miraculous if we choose to appreciate them. It's an attitude I don't always carry with me, but try to as much as I can.
Here's to a great winter and wishing all who read an even better spring!
Ciao,
Julia
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