Day 17: Relaxing in Villaviciosa

 

Day 17 Relaxing in Villaviciosa

While this wasn’t one of our planned days off, my ankle decided otherwise.  We had to take a day off from walking and just enjoy the surroundings.  It was a wonderful day!

Unlike most of the world, northern-most Spain is cool and mild. Most mornings, Paco wears a hoodie to keep warm. The temperatures dip into the 60’s in the evening, and top out in the low 70’s in the daytime.  Just heavenly (and great walking weather).

One of the signature Asturian specialties is Sidra, or hard cider.  They grow hundreds of varieties of small, tart crab apples which are turned into this low-alcohol brew (4-6% abv).  You buy it by the bottle to share with your table.  The server holds the bottle high above his head and holds the glass below the waist.  It’s a small, bubbly pour that needs to be downed immediately, while still bubbly.  We tried some last night.  It’s definitely an acquired taste!

Apple Orchards

 

Local Cider

The town of Villaviciosa is very charming. It’s located just inland of the ocean, in a low valley south of the estuary.  It’s known for its cattle and dairy industries, as well as orchards and sidra making. The town is filled with small winding streets, cool architecture, and three parish churches. 

City Hall

  

Streetscape

 

 

The Mercado Just Getting Set Up

 

One of the Local Churches

The Tiniest House!

This late-Romanesque/early Gothic Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Oliva is beautiful. 

Santa Maria

 

Throughout northern Spain, we passed lots of small family farms.  They grow lots of corn in these regions, hence the horreos we mentioned in previous days.  What’s interesting as well is their method of planting. They often plant pole beans alongside the corn plants, allowing the beans to climb and secure themselves to the sturdy corn stalks.  Brilliant!

 

Beans and Corn

Of course, we’re never far from political posters.  In May, the Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez called for snap elections. All seats in the lower house of parliament and 2/3 of the upper chamber are up for election on July 23, which is next Sunday. The Socialists are projected to prevail, although there’s a concern about a rightward drift across all of Europe right now, Spain included.

Election Posters

 

We enjoyed a beautiful lunch that included local tomatoes and grilled fish and took a long afternoon nap. An evening stroll and hanging out on the patio rounded out the evening.  There’s a 5:30 am wake-up call in our future!

On the ankle front: it’s still sore, but getting better. A day of rest has certainly helped. We bought some cream to reduce the inflammation and a compression sock for my ankle.  We’re off to Gijon tomorrow, 30 km and 900 meters of elevation in front of us.  Wish us luck!