Summer Part II

As soon as I got back from Corsica, I thought I'd visit my lovely friend Mary Katherine and head over to Asturies, north of Spain, bordering Galicia. Asturies is known for it's vivid cider drinkers, gray cool days, and lots of meat. Mary Katherine and I took advantage of each day and indulged in buttery pastries, small villages and simply strolled, observing yet another colorful culture.

The area is easy to get around on on buses and we made our way to places like Gijon, Cudillero, and Aviles (more names that just roll off your tongue). I got inspired and photographed the sometimes heartbreaking image of people, had cocktails at 5pm in a fantastic vintage bar, listened to the goose bumpy sound of bag pipers and captured the endless amounts of statues in Oviedo.

A trip around the world for only 2€!

The Lovely Mary Katherine

Aviles and its enchanting streets and homes

Reminiscing on time

Passing silhouettes in the tombs of Oviedo's Cathedral

Oviedo's Milk Lady frozen in time

La Regenta from Clarin's novel published in 1884 in Barcelona since it was too scandolous of a story for the conservative Asturians

 We were lucky enough to have the company of Adri, Mary Katherine's amour, who drove us to lovely fishermen villages where we watched as the sun set, ate next to an incredible lighthouse and observed the Little Dipper.

The most northern point of Spain aka: the end of the world or Faro de Peñas

 

  The Greatest part of the trip was the drive we took to Picos de Europa, a 20km mountain range with spectacular peaks and hikes for even the weak at knees, which was precisely our case. We decided to take on the challenge of walking to one of the famous lakes known as Lake Enol in the Covadonga region where apparently Pelayo defeated the Moors and modern Spain was born. Not that we were worried about history, instead we diligently concentrated on the 12.6km walk towards an elevation of 1056m, apparently thinking it would be a piece of cake...after almost 4 hours later and some "weak" moments, we arrived! And it was absolutely breathtaking with snow at the top and cows munching on pasture. Just to have decided to do it and then arrive was exhilirating (Mary Katherine, do you still differ?) and I had a moment of wow.

Lake Enol

 

Greatness

After a long and sweaty walk we went back to Covadonga and were welcomed by one of those refreshing summer mountain storms

Uninvited Guests

Where miracles happen and Pelayo is buried with his sister...
year, 716!

 All in all, it was a fabulous summer, full of green landscapes, images captured in my memory, the ease of being able to just meander through time and places waiting to be discovered and bonding with those you've decided to pack your bags with. A day before leaving I came across this graffitti written in Asturian, reminding us that there are things that are more important than money...and I can admit that there are, even in a time of crisis.