For 91 Days in Oviedo

Adventures, anecdotes and advice from three months exploring Asturias

For 91 Days we lived in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias. An ancient, noble city surrounded by unbelievable nature, Oviedo provided a wonderful base for three months of hiking, sight-seeing and culture.
Whether you're planning your own journey to Asturias, or are just interested in seeing what makes it such a special region, our articles and photographs should help you out.

Fireworks for San Mateo

Last night, Oviedo invited the pyrotechnic company to light up the Parque de Invierno with fireworks. The Valencian company also did the closing of the World Cup, and we are already well familiar with their incredible work from our time in Valencia.

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Fernando Valdés Salas – Inquisitor, Educator, Fanatic

In the middle of the University of Oviedo's courtyard is a statue of its founder, Fernando Valdés Salas. The statue's expression is fatherly; benevolent but stern. The sense conveyed is that Valdés was a serious educator dedicated to learning, and a kindly, wise man. But a little research reveals that a loathsome monster reigns in the University's courtyard -- rarely does history provide us such exquisitely evil characters as the Archbishop Fernando de Valdés.

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The Museum of Mining and Industry in El Entrego

While we were in Oviedo, I found myself thinking a lot about mining for the first time in my life. The trapped Chilean miners were making headlines worldwide, a miner's strike was big news in Spain. But once I started considering the profession, I couldn't turn my mind off it. The vulgar exploitation of both workers and the earth for the further enrichment of corporations makes the mining industry the zenith of human greed and misery. There's something grotesquely romantic about it.

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Crime and Murder in Oviedo

Oviedo and the rest of Asturias enjoy a reputation as one of the safest, most crime-free sections of Spain, a country that is itself quite free of violence. In fact, Gijón and Oviedo recently ranked #2 and #3 respectively in a list of safest Spanish cities (#1 was Pamplona).

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San Mateo Has Arrived

Las Fiestas de San Mateo are the biggest event of the year in Oviedo, taking place over the course of nearly two weeks. Oviedo has celebrated the saint's feast day for over a millenium, since the days of Alfonso II in the 9th century.

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