Soaking Up the Sun in Asturias

After flying to and from the USA for Gillian’s wedding, I was glad to have a fairly tranquil week back in Madrid to make the trans-Atlantic fiasco easier. Fortunately, SK & I had already booked train tickets to Gijon in order to visit Ida again. We traversed half of Spain, speeding through Castile-La Mancha and winding throughout the Cantabria Mountain Range of Asturias. Already knowing Gijon, I was hoping that this weekend would simply be one to relax and spend time with friends; my hopes were realized.

Throughout this school year, it has been such a pleasure to spend time with Ida on those special weekends when we have gotten together in one place or another. Since we don’t have her in Madrid, SK and I enjoyed being around her calming presence and sharing in her love of Gijon this past weekend. We also enjoyed meeting and re-meeting a couple of her friends, Jennifer from Brasil and Alex from Canada. We got together with those girls for some beach, some food, and some dancing fun!

We had superb weather during our entire stay! The north of Spain is characterized and infamous for its rainy, dreary weather, whose gusty Atlantic winds wrack the coastline for most of the year. Apparently, SK & I came for the best weekend of 2010 to date with temperatures reaching the lows 70s, clear blue skies, and a cool breeze (well, I thought it was a pretty cold at times). The locals were taking full advantage of the marvelous spring weather and everyone was out on the beaches, sitting in outside terrazas, and wearing shorts and dresses… and we did, too!

We joined the sun-deprived masses and spent a few hours on the beach on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The water was way too cold for my liking, but I was perfectly content to soak up the soft rays of the Sun (while wearing lots of sunscreen!) and have a seat in the sand to do some serious people watching. Don’t worry… no topless ventures this beach trip. They’re not as loose in the North as they are in the South.

Of course, we ate quite well while over the weekend. In Asturias, the portions are much more generous than in other parts of the country, and we reveled in their gloriousness. We dined on Asturian meats & cheeses and on their fruits of the sea, such as shrimp and pastel de cabracho. We also enjoyed that very singular Asturian beverage called sidra (cider); we either marveled at the servers pouring the fermented fruit juice from above their heads into the culín below their waist or we gave it a shot ourselves. Many good hours were spent either around a ciderhouse table or reclined in a metal chair, feeling the warm sunshine on our faces and taking deeps breaths in the fresh sea air.

We did venture out of the center of Gijon to get a glance at Ida’s school and to reach the top of the University tower, as seen below. The lush green mountains and quaint groups of houses are characteristic of Asturias, which was what Sarah and I saw for much of our train ride back to Madrid on Monday afternoon.
I promise… I DO actually live in Madrid. I made it back on Monday afternoon in time to have a couple of private classes. Work—school and private lessons—continues as normal. My free time in the city has been enjoyable, and I am working on the Mother of All Blogs to relay to you the highlights from my spring months in Madrid. Just you wait…