Jorge was alone when he picked me up this morning because Gema was working. They are also in the process of buying a new car. It is different in Spain than in the States. They have to transfer the down payment from their bank to the dealership, then once that is done, the dealership gets the plates, and has the insurance changed. Once all pieces are in place, the dealership calls and tells them it is ready to pick up. They think this will happen on Thursday, but that is the day that we will be in Valladolid taking me to the train back to Madrid (among other things), so they won't get it till Friday.
We decided not to go too far today. We drove to Oviedo, where we went to see a couple of churches outside of town that are from the 8th and 9th centuries. After we parked, it was a bit of a hike up. I told Jorge that I feel like I am in "Camino Boot Camp", constantly walking up and down hills. My biggest problem is just having to stop to breathe, but I think that is mostly due to needing to lose weight, not because of a real medical problem. My knees are good, and I am really not tired or sore the next day at all. When we got up to the first church, whose name escapes me at the moment, we discovered that we actually could have driven up there, as several others did. There was a steep dirt track up to the building from the road. I took a longer, though less steep, route up through the grass. When Jorge came up, I asked if he had taken the dirt track, and he said no, he had taken the paved path. Oh. Didn't see that. We were just in time for the guy to come and unlock the building so we could go inside. They have an alternating schedule for opening the buildings, for 20 minutes at a time. Our visit in the first church was at 12:30. Then at 1:00, the same guy came to the other church to unlock that one for a few minutes (they are very close together). We took all kinds of pictures, though at the second one we were not allowed to photograph inside. The only reason that I could see for that was that the second one had places where you could still see some of the original painted designs that used to cover the whole ceiling and walls. As we came out of the second church, someone speaking English told their friend that "now they had fabada to look forward to for lunch". Jorge told him that was our plan, as well. But we still had something else to see.
Jorge said that the next place we were going was actually uphill from the first church, so he walked down and got the car while I waited for him to drive back. Up, up, up we went, on a tiny, twisting road. The blind corners were a little scary, I have to admit, especially since I was on the outside edge of the road. We arrived at the top to find that we needed to cut across to the next peak to see what we came to see - the statue of Christ at the top of the mountain, and an incredible view of Oviedo. This time, instead of parking and walking over and up, we drove all the way to the base of the statue. The view of Oviedo and the mountains was unbelieveable. So was the cold wind (with me in capris and sandals). The "love locks" thing has come here, too, and there were numerous locks hanging from the metal railing, some with names and dates, all signifying some couple's undying love. The locks made the railings ring like chimes in the wind.
Then it was time to go back into town to find a place for fabada, a traditional Asturian dish of beans, ham, chorizo, and morcilla sausage. Jorge knew of a place that was famous for its fabada, so that's where we went. It is in the Michelin guidebook, in fact. It wasn't easy to get to, since there were several places where we were rerouted by roadwork, and the traffic was crazy. But when we sat down, guess who we saw at the back table - the same group from the church! We said hello when they walked by on their way out, and the guy said, "I guess we really did have the same plan!"
The beans were served separately from the meats, so you could add what you wanted. I chose only ham, and Jorge had all three. Absolutely delicious! It was sort of breathtakingly expensive, but a really memorable meal. And it's not like I do this every day. Dessert was rice pudding covered with a layer of crunchy burnt sugar and cinnamon. I couldn't finish mine - it was just too much food! We lingered there for maybe an hour, then came back to Mieres. I took a little siesta, and Jorge went to take care of something at his work.
We met back up at 7:30 so that he could take me to the ATM and a grocery store. On our way, at the end of his block, we saw Paula with three of her friends. The minute she saw him, all four scooted into a doorway, and were on their way inside when we caught up to them. She was clearly completely embarrassed that he not only talked to her on the street, but also talked to her friends. It was so funny! Errands completed, Gema met up with us, and we went for a drink at one of the little bars. Each one has an outdoor tent, full of tables, that will stay there all summer. I had a diet Coke, Gema had coffee, and Jorge had a beer, and we were brought a plate of tapas - little "pizza roll" fried things, and ham and pimento on bread. A few minutes later, they brought around fried calamari on bread, too.
What's on for tomorrow? I'm not sure yet. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment