Villaviciosa – Capital of the Cider Region
Welcome to Villaviciosa, the Vicious Village, where nightmares are reality and your screaming only makes the villagers thirstier for blood!
September 8th, The Day of Asturias
We always have a hard time remembering the holidays of new countries and on September 8th, another one sneaked up and took us off guard. The Day of Asturias, which celebrates the Principality's patron saint, The Virgin of Covadonga.
The Gaita Asturiana
Until moving to Asturias, I shared the popular notion that bagpipes are from Scotland, and that the instrument's presence necessarily indicates Scottish influence. That turns out to be completely wrong. Bagpipes have a long history in all Europe, from the Balkans to Scandinavia, and definitely in Northern Spain. There's nothing uniquely Scottish about bagpipes; they weren't even invented there.
Avilés – The Third City of Asturias
The three main cities of Asturias form an almost equidistant triangle, all within a half hour another. Oviedo, the capital, is in the center of Asturias. A short drive northeast brings you to Gijón, the biggest city. Go the same distance northwest, and you'll end in Avilés.
Plaza del Riego
Found near the historic seat of the University of Oviedo, the Plaza del Riego is a small, triangular shaped plaza in the center of the city, which buzzes with activity from morning until evening, when its outdoor terraces are consistently packed.
Day Trip to Cudillero
Asturianu is the indigenous language of Asturias, though there aren't many people who speak it anymore. And Pixuetu is a dialect of Asturianu spoken only in Cudillero, a tiny village on the Cantabrian coast, distinuished by its use of Nordic words. Its no wonder that parents around the world are in a rush to teach their children Pixueto, since it's totally going to be the next Chinese.
Day Trip to Gijón
Everything I'd read about Gijón, the largest city in Asturias, described it as "industrial" or "working-class", so we arrived fearing that it'd be boring. But we needn't have worried: Gijón is beautiful, full of students, lively bars and charming plazas.
El Mercado del Fontán
The largest market in Oviedo is found in the Plaza del Fontán, which has been home to the city's food merchants since the mid-16th century. In the middle ages, the plaza was still on the outskirts of the small city, and bordered a small lake filled by natural springs, which gave the plaza its name.
Restaurante Punto y Coma
On the recommendation of one of our new Asturian Twitter friends, we chose Punto y Coma for our first big lunch in Oviedo. When we arrived at 14:30, the place was already packed and we were lucky to get a table.
San Miguel de Lillo
Just 300 steps from the Santa María del Naranco, we find its companion building: San Miguel de Lillo. Ramiro I built both in the same year, 848, for different purposes; Santa María as a recreational palace, and San Miguel as a church. Together, they make Oviedo's Naranco Hill one of the most important areas for Pre-Romanesque art in all of Europe.
Famous Ovetenses: Alfonso II the Chaste
King of Asturias for 51 years, from 791 until his death in 842, Alfonso II el Casto had an impact on Oviedo that has barely diminished over the course of the centuries.
Santa María del Naranco
Originally constructed in 848, the Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo are Oviedo's most important Pre-Romanesque structures.
