http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain , Principality of Asturias en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:26:24 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:26:24 +0000 Ron has been reading Ghost Train to the Eastern Star aloud to me in bed and I blame Paul Theroux for that allnight train ride from Barcelona to Oviedo I really do. I lay lonely and claustrophobic in my bottom bunk which was a bit like a coffin without the amenities. As the old train rattled its way north my poor bones jiggled from side to side and my head did that bobblehead thing you used http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-461214.html I arrived back in Oviedo last week for the final 17 days of my year abroad and somehow 11 of them have already disappeared Time has mainly been taken up with revision and exams and Oviedo in its inimitable style has provided us with mostly grey days although it is just proving me wrong at this moment by bringing out the sunshine. I have my three final exams next week and then it is all ove http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-410461.html We are on yet another holiday This time we are on a 4 day mini break in Green Spain. Green Spain as the name suggests is the bit of Spain that is very green. It is on the northern coast and it does not really look like Spain at allWe are currently staying in Hotel Posada del Valle which is on organic farm in the mountains. The view from the window are lovely.We drove here in our hire car whi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Covadonga/blog-407319.html I'm taking a break from packing from my birthday trip home to write this excitable and surrounded by clothes and general disorder Finally we've had a week of glorious sunshine. It's been so hot 30 degrees every day. So all in all Fiona chose a pretty good weekend to visit Oviedo. Rosy and I met her from the bus station on Friday still getting used to the novelty that was hot sunny weather. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-404938.html Well they weren't wrong when they said it rained in Oviedo and coming from Britain you wouldn't think that would be too much of a problem. But what we don't get in Britain is the astounding unpredictability of weather. I know it's something I've mentioned before but this week wins in the fickleness stakes hands down. Ever had all four seasons in one day Brilliant sunshine temperatures in the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-399684.html With 7 weeks left to go of my year abroad time is flying. The workload is piling on in preparation for the exams and that's what this week has mostly been about. I worked fiendishly to get all my creative writing pieces done for my Lengua Espanola class and now it's all ready to hand in So that's one thing out the way but I have a LOT of Portuguese to get going on before the exam and tons of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-398360.html Sitting here now bathed in moisturiser drinking copious amounts of water it's hard to believe how changeable the weather was at the start of the week. One minute it was raining and blowing a gale and the next it was sunny we didn't know if we were coming or going. The umbrellas were up and down coats were on and off flipflops were put on and immediately regretted... April is the month of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-395927.html Picos de Europe Gijon etc. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-391053.html It's a cold and grey Sunday afternoon quite a change from the last few weeks of beautiful summer weather but nevertheless we've been having a lovely day. We all find that Sundays can be 'dead' days because nothing's open nothing's going on and we don't always get together leaving Sundays for boring things like work and cleaning essential things but not necessarily fun ones. And even when y http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-385796.html After the weekend in Leon we were all absolutely shattered and the weather meant we spent a lot of long lazy days sunbathing in the park broken only by the odd lecture. It really did feel like we were on holiday only with lectures We didn't even have a night out which is very unusual but which suited me down to the ground. Instead we spent Friday and Saturday evening at Jo and Sarah's on http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-384020.html And miraculously touch wood the rain has gone away Sitting here now the sun is streaming through my window it is a truly joyous sight after a solid week of rain It did mean however that we got to see the truly impressive sight of Oviedo's umbrellas. The sky turns grey and suddenly everyone and I mean everyone is carrying an umbrella. I don't mean those flimsy foldup ones that slot nea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-379896.html Right it's got to be a quick one as I'm sitting here typing fast hoping that my laptop battery doesn't run out because the power's gone in the flat this morning I don't know why but it's a pain as I'd just put a load of washing on. Noone else is up yet and as it's a Sunday I don't really want to call my landlord but if it goes on for muh longer I think I'll have to. Anyway yesterday was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-377795.html Here goes part 2 another country another uni another experience After a lovely month at home recharging my batteries and writing my French year abroad project I arrived in Oviedo on Wed 18th Feb. I was sort of looking forward to it but also sort of not but travelling with Rosy made it much better than it would have been alone. Literally the moment we landed as we were waiting at the lugg http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-375860.html In loving memory of my father Alan Joyce a linguist historian and fearless world traveler. The following are exerpts from emails he wrote and photos he took during his fifth and final Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain last spring.How to spend Good Friday in Oviedo 820722 March 2008Dear Friends and FamilyI promised I'd write something about what these flinty Northerners do for Hol http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-358012.html In August in the UK it is traditional to go on a summer holiday. Who am I to buck a trend You know how I like to be doing what all the kids are doing. Accordingly I took a WHOLE WEEK off work and N and I headed to the north of Spain for a lsquocompromise holidayrsquo consisting of walking and relaxation. Actually it was not that much of a compromise as I love walking and am quite hopel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-340819.html The remaining stages of our journey onwards to Gijon passed without major incident or impediment. Notable mentions go to three drunken locals with megaphone waking up the entire campsite in Ribadesella with three hours of sustained shouting starting at 530am and also a night where our accommodation options dried up and we had to pitch in a field on a 30 degree slope. So we have arrived. Gijon m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Gij-n/blog-317406.html With the excitement of the Picos now ten days ago we have returned to more sedate wanderings along the north coast enroute to Gijon. Gijon is where the campsites on the Camino del Norte dry up and the path turns inland. From Gijon we will take a bus back to Bilbao to meet our ferry.We crossed from Cantabria into Asturias several days ago. Although we have covered limited ground in our latest regio http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Gij-n/blog-317405.html With this final drive along the northern coast to San Sebastian we bid Spain goodbye. Our twoweek tour of this most amazing country has drawn to a close. We will meet up with our French tour manager this afternoon and begin a journey to the French Riviera. This is the first overcast morning we have encountered and it feels appropriate for I am truly sad to leave Spain. The mountains around http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-290501.html My travelling companions Sandi Heath and Lynne Rose and I finally found an internet cafe in Spain. And guess who we found inside it clacking away My lovely friends Jim and Linda Lequesne. We last saw them a few days ago in Bilbao and then went our separate ways. I wonder what the odds are of finding friends at 830 p.m. without having made arrangements to do so Higher than I think Anyway i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Gij-n/blog-277996.html See text in English below16 de enero de 2008Cuando salgo del albergue est lloviendo y todo est muy oscuro. No importa que haya alerta naranja en toda Castilla y Len por viento y lluvia yo circulo sigo para adelante. Dejo a Joe y a los coreanos durmiendo como angelitos y me dice la chica de la recepcin Pero como sales para Astorga si est el tiempo muy mal Que s que s que voy http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-251864.html