Spring Break Trip to the North: Gijon

The next stop on our journey was Gijon in Asturias.  Asturias is famous as a culinary capital of Spain and the food did not disappoint!  Actually, food was pretty much what I did there.  Upon arriving, we checked into our hotel and then wandered out to the coast for dinner at a traditional sidreria, or cider house.  We went to Sidreria Tierra Astur and had a great experience.  (Careful: the link plays music!  Once there, hit "poniente" which is where we were.)  The site is in Asturian but you can figure it out without problems if you speak Spanish, and in any case you can look at the pictures of this cool little restaurant.

And if I can just talk about cider for a minute, it was awesome.  This place had all its cider lined up under a little "waterfall" to keep it cold.  You ordered a bottle, which usually cost around three euros for the whole bottle, and the waiter would come over and pour everyone a little glass.  The trick, apparently, is to knock that glass, a mouthful, back like a shot.  This is because of the distinct pouring method used: the waiter holds the bottle over his head and pours into the glass held down around his knee.  This "awakens" the cider and releases the gasses in it, which gives it a sharp bite and makes me cough.  The cider here is tart and borderline sour.  So we drank cider and ate yummy food while cheering on Real Madrid in el Copa del Rey.  It was a good night!

from the internet: cider is poured

Cheese plate of Asturian cheeses... half of it was eaten for breakfast the next day with a really great loaf of nutty bread.

vegetable grill platter

a corn fritter with wild boar meat and gorgonzola sauce
The portions at this restaurant were just insane and everything was really reasonably priced.  The staff was also really friendly and accommodating with explanations and such.  If you're ever in Gijon, check it out!

The next day we got up and headed to the market, where Lyla and I got bread and apples to eat with all that leftover cheese, as well as a piece of nut cake.  Then we headed out to explore the town.  On our adventures, we also found an artisan street fair, where we got to try handmade cheese and sausage and bought some other sweets.

colorful buildings

a church crammed in with the apartments

statue by the port

This is out on the town's peninsula where the fishermen used to live.  It's cute.

an ode to lost sailors

coast line
The north of Spain is said to be the continent's Ireland, and I get it.  It's so green and lush, and people also play bagpipes.

me

bagpiper overlooking the sea

a church by the coast

a view of the peninsula from the beach

So Lyla and I then wandered the town some more and found a few parks before getting a lunch of an enormous salad and patatas ali-oli (easily the garlicky-est I've ever eaten and delicious!) with a bottle or two of cider.  At the little place where we were eating an old man came over and explained the cider drinking tradition to us and showed us how to knock it back so I didn't cough quite so much.  Then it was again to the bus station and off to the last stop of our trip: the pilgrimage town of San Sebastian in Galicia.  This bus trip awarded us with some amazing bits of sunset, but of course those never photograph well from a bus!