Asturias

Gijón by nightAsturias is a long way from Jaca. The itinerary for our first day works out at 591km, broken down into 299 to Castro Urdiales, 153 to Llanes, 46 to Covadonga, 9 to Cangas de Onís and 84 to Gijón.That was on Thursday. On the way home on Sunday, Gijón to Ribadesella, 62 km, another 62 to San Vicente de la Barquera, 56 to Santander, and finally 368km to Jaca. 548 in total. I think the difference between there and back is the Covadonga bit.We were lucky with the weather. It's been very hot, but while we were away it was quite dull and threatening. I know that in Jaca it rained a lot, but we hardly needed the umbrellas and raincoats we'd taken. I say hardly; yes, it rained, but we missed most of it.Well, a quick stop in Castro Urdiales, dinner in Llanes where we had time to go for walks. I remember stopping there many years ago to pick up the keys for the house we were renting in Sobrepiedra, near Cangas de Onís. When we went to the agency office on Saturday it was closed with a sign saying it wouldn´t be open till Monday. What a panic! I remember we went to the local police for some help. Of course the agent turned up after dinner (maybe four or five o'clock) and sent us off with a complicated set of instructions for the back-route to Sobrepiedra. That was where 5-year-old David saw a mouse in the kitchen.Anyway, back to our trip: Next stop, the sanctuary of Covadonga.I like these bottlebrush plants Callistemon citrinus . The church or basilica is behind it. 
There's a well-trodden path down to a shrine in a cave, above a waterfall. There are waterpipes where people can drink down by the waterfall.  
Like many of these "holy" places, it's in an amazing natural environment.
For lack of time and being on a big coach, we didn't stop in Cangas de Onís to see the bridge with the emblematic cross.
Here it is from Google. The cross is the symbol of Asturias.
Ok. Gijón. Hotel. Supper. 14 stories or storeys of rooms. Two lifts, one for two people, the other in theory for six, but when there were six of us in it, it refused to go and had to be reset. Nice long walk after supper onto the seafront. Another nice long walk, a paddle for some, the next morning. I wished I hadn't taken my caghoul.

This was the limit of our walk.
We had dinner in the hotel and in the afternoon set off for Pola de Siero where we were to give the concert.
This is the inside of the parish church San Pedro.
There's a garden at the church and we did some posing for photos...

Unfortunately most of the men were elsewhere so they missed the photos. After the concert we were taken to a centre where our kind hosts fed us and gave us local cider. It has to be presented in a special way:

Holding the bottle as high as possible and the glass low so the cider is "beaten". It's handed to the drinker who tosses it back immediately, leaving a drop in the glass which is used to clean it out and put back on the table for the next drinker.