We have arrived in our third Spanish Province, home of Kevin’s new favourite beer Estrella Galicia Especial 1906, so things are looking good 😀. The morning started misty and murky on the shores of Gijón, so I decided it would be a good cool time for a run with the dogs along the level seafront (I have never run on the level or years being normally in Cornwall). We set off round the bay to the old town. Lola in canicross harness, Lizzy on a lead (she has cataracts and sensibly does not trust Lola to guide her). We passed through the park to get to the coastal path, which was full of egrets (and seagulls) snacking on the grass. We were on our way not long after daylight and had a clear run at the wide promenade.
Lola was mainly running sideways trying to get on the beach or alternately trying to slingshot at passing pigeons using the bungee of her harness 😂 She got fairly close to a couple, obviously unused to such fast moving determined predators. We made it round to the old town Igelisia de San Pedro, stopping for an obligatory selfie, to prove we had made it.
Kevin had breakfast already for our return, so we were soon on the road to Lugo. It was couple of hours drive today, passing some beautiful coastal villages, innumerable viaducts (on a clearly well funded stretch of road), beaches and estuaries. We turned inland and south and were soon into really low cloud / fog. Obviously, this weather was very predominant locally as there were many matrix boards with warning and very piercing LED lights to guide the way, the red element of which flashed as cars passed, so you you could judge the distance to the car in front.
It stands to reason the Romans built Lugo, the capital of Hispania in its day at the highest point of land around. So, we continued our ascent into the town. After a bit of confusion based on roadworks, we were installed into the perfectly level large motorhome Aire, 10 minutes walk to the old town. Below us in the valley is a medieval recreation of an original Roman bridge. We have some serious sightseeing round the 2.2km circular call walk and 71 towers. However, today is Easter Sunday and the sun was coming out as we parked, calling for a much more chilled afternoon plan.
We headed into the old town by the beautiful Wisteria lined park above us. We had read in the guide books of the plethora on narrow old style tapas bars to be found within and were keen to sample. We entered the Plaza Major square and were passed by the robed priests heading for Easter Sunday mass. However, there seemed to be many more people lining the street cafés having a drink in the sun so we decided to join the alternate masses.
We found a narrow street in the shadow of the Roman wall lined with thronging tapas bars. We had read in the guide book that they offered a couple of free tapas with every drink which you can chose. We obviously thought that sounded like nonsense. However, when U asked about food (hoping for a late lunch), we were offered a verbal selection of tapas. My best translation actually manifest to something we were expecting with a beautifully served glass of Estrella Galicia in the sun. What is not to like?!
After a couple of drinks, it was time for some more substantial sustenance, so we crossed the narrow road to an alternate bar that seemed to be serving now very late lunch. We took the advice to try the house speciality of Tortilla, with some asparagus and peppers for me. Such simple food, such as we never see at home, served amazingly well. Kevin rated as one of the best meals so far.
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Back to the truck to feed the dogs, write the blog etc ready for sight seeing tomorrow, plus some re-provisioning.
In for a Penney 