part 2

Saturday 8 September 2018

After breakfast we want to walk into the city and we pass the buses and cars of the cycling teams of Astana and UAE. We check how far it is to the departure point of today's Vuelta stage  and for what the departure is planned. It turns out that we still have 2.5 hours and that it is about 50 minutes' drive away. We decide to drive to the departure point at Cistierna. On the way there we get company of cars belonging to the organization, which are preceded by a police escort. Speeding at 110 km/ h we surf with them behind the police motorbikes through the villages. We arrive a little before eleven at Cistierna. We walk to the departure zone  and see the various buses with the riders. We take positition next to the podium where the riders have to sign the stage register. This way all riders will pass us by and we can take photos, encourage them and gather no less than 23 signatures, including Bouke Mollema, Steven Kruiswijk and Peter Sagan. It is fun, but also very tiring. When the last rider (Quintana) has left we go back to León.
In León we have lunch and take a siesta. We then look at the vuelta stage on TV. Simon Yates wins after Kruiswijk has made a few attempts to get away from the leading group. It is a tough stage, which ends uphill.
Around 6pm we leave the hotel again for the Basilica San Isidro. On our way there we pass the Casa Botines, a design by Antoní Gaudí dating back to 1892. It has recently become a museum dedicated to the architect, his work and the era in which it was built. The many ornaments and the cast iron fence are typical of Gaudí. In front of the building, the architect (in bronze) is drawing a design sitting on a bench.
The San Isidro is a large Romanesque church with a beautiful altar. The church is the repository of the bones of San Isidro of Seville. Next to the church is the Panteon, part of the palace of the kings of Leon. Here you can admire beautiful frescoes. We have to visit with a guide who tells us a lot about the objects that are preserved here from the 11th century. Among them handwritten Bibles and chorals. Highlights are the frescoes with images from the life of San Isidro. These have been beautifully restored. Images of the restoration are shown. Then it goes down into the crypt where the 11 kings of Leon are buried. The vaults are painted with scenes from the Bible. The four evangelists are depicted with animal heads and Christ as Pancreator. There is also an agricultural calendar to see. The cloister has been declared world heritage site.
It is now too late for a drink and we go directly to restaurant Las Termas. We eat well prepared food in a dining room that is closed off from the outside world. The service is somewhat stiff. Although it is already well past 9 PM, we are still the first in the restaurant. Around ten o'clock a large group arrives, making a lot of noise. At half past ten we are ready and walk back towards the hotel. We sit down for a  drink on Calle Ancha and then to the hotel.

Weather: cool start 12°C / 54°F. Then sunny and 25°/ 77°F.

Sunday 9 September 2018

León - Oviedo: 127km / 1:24 hrs

After the  breakfast we walk to the Cathedral. At half past nine the old church opens for tourists. The exterior of the church is impressive. The late Romanesque, early Gothic church has a beautiful facade and especially the west side with the rose window is promising. The decorations of the main entrance show the final judgment and the cooking pots for the sinners are already heating up.
Inside we are immediately confronted with the portal of the choir. On it representations from the New Testament. The stained-glass windows are impressive for a Romanesque church. The inspired by similar windows from Flanders and France, but the use of color is Spanish. Surface wise (1800m2) only the Cathedral of Chartres has more windows. The scenes are biblical, but also historical and dynastic relating to the kingdom of León. The altar is also very beautiful.

After the visit to the Cathedral we walk to the Santa Maria del Camino square. This is one of the most charming squares of the city with two old trees, paved with pebbles and a small parish church, the Santa Maria de la Mercado. We walk back to the hotel, load the luggage and leave for Oviedo.

On the way to Oviedo on the AP 66 we pass several tunnels that lead the highway through the Cantabrian ridge. We stop at a lake, the Embalse de los Barrios de Luna. Here we let the drone take some beautiful images of the mountains and the lake.

In Oviedo we stay at the Gran Hotel España. Spacious room and the car can be parked under the hotel for 14 euros per night. We have lunch in the nearby and and take a break after that. It is a Sunday so in the evening it is rather quiet in the city and most restaurants are closed. We find El Gato Negro to be open. This typical Asturian restaurant is also a sidreria, a cider bar. Cider is sold here per bottle and the waiter will pour a glass or rather a sip on request. He does this from a great height and the waiters take pride in not looking at the glass, but up. You do not need to top up yourself, the waiter does that for you. We eat reasonably well and later drink a coffee on a terrace. In the hotel room we watch the international match between France and the Netherlands, which ends in 2-1 loss for our team. Unfortunately, that was all our Orange team could manage, but especially the 2nd half, the team did reasonably well against the world champions.

Weather: cloudy with sunny periods 22°C / 72°F

Monday 10 September 2018

After a good breakfast we walk to the Ecolaundry a short walk from the hotel. We wash our clothes and drink coffee while the machine is running.
We then walk into the old center and see the Cathedral of Oviedo. The altarpiece, in Flemish tradition, is very beautiful. The sacred chamber, commissioned by King Alfonso II of Asturia, is also interesting. The chapel served to preserve relics that had been rescued from the Moors in Toledo. The columns consist of the 12 apostles, who seem to be in conversation with each other in pairs. The eyes of St Thomas stand out because he just wanted to believe that Christ had risen if he could see it with his own eyes.
The side altars for St Teresa and the immaculate conception are also impressive. We walk further into the old town and arrive at the market square. Here is a simple market with cheap clothes,  fruit and flowers. The squares on which the market is held are surrounded by columns and look nice.

After the tour through the old town we take the car to Cangas de Onis, about 60 km east of Oviedo. Here is a Parador where we use a delicious lunch. The Parador is a former convent of San Pedro de Villanueva from the twelfth century. We have lunch here with a view of the garden. After lunch we go to the Roman bridge. This bridge looks beautiful and stretches over the river Sella. The bridge is not original from Roman times, but looks beautiful and classic. We continue  to Covadonga, about 5 km southeast of Cangas. This is an important place in the history of Asturias and of Spain. Here King Pelayo of Asturias chased off a Moorish army in 722 and the seed was laid for the Reconquista of Spain on the Moors, which was finally completed in 1492. At the very spot of the battle a chapel has been built in the caves, where Pelayo is buried. It is an important place of pilgrimage, where thousands of tourists come on holidays. There are 5 parking lots with a shuttle service to the sanctuary. Fortunately, it is not so busy today and we can continue to P1 and walk up  to the cave via stairs.
The Spanish visitors all want the picture with the sanctuary and the holy Mary statue. The surroundings are beautiful. The pink basilica that was built next to it dates back to 1877.

We drive back to Oviedo. In the evening we eat Asturian snacks at Tierra Astur, a very Asturian restaurant and shop. All this while enjoying Sidra, the drink of Asturia.

Weather: cool start with 17°C / 63°F, later it rises to 30°C / 86°F

Tuesday 11 September 2018

Oviedo - Fuente Dé: 190km 2:23 hrs

After breakfast and coffee we drive to the coast of Asturias. The highway leads us eastwards along the coast, but we only see the sea sporadically from the road. There are many low-hanging clouds that unable to pass the coastal mountains. This creates fog patches on the road. Again we are struck by how green the landscape in the north of Spain is. We have seen a lot of Spain over the years, but never this green. Green forests, meadows, fields ... In addition to that, there are lots of high mountain peaks that reach beyond the tree line. We drive to Llanes, a fishing village on the coast. The easternmost fishing village in Asturias in fact. It has a beautiful center with a medieval core. The river runs through the village and there is a big difference between low and high tide. From a  dam we have a beautiful view of the village, the harbor and the coast. We drive a bit along the coast out of the village and find a nice place to make some aerial drone shots.

Then we eat a sandwich at a cafeteria before we drive to our destination in the Picos de Europa. First we drive a bit further east on the A8 motorway to Unquerra, where we take the N621 towards the Picos de Europa national park, the high mountains south of the coast. The road becomes narrower and winding and the valleys deeper. The mountains rise high and are covered here and there with pieces of eternal snow. We follow the Rio Deva, which roughly forms the border between Asturias and Cantabria. In the very busy village of Potes we leave the N621 and we hit the CA-185. This road is even narrower and more winding and leads us into the National Park. Just past Espinama is our hotel, the Hotel del Oso. A large building with a traditional look. Our room has a beautiful view of the mountains and pool of the hotel. It is now half past three and lunch is just getting under way. We have lunch and then take a rest in our room. The curves of the winding road is still in our system. Around 5 pm I am going to swim a few laps in the swimming pool, which has a pleasant temperature. After swimming we drink a beer on the terrace and at 8.30pm we sit down for dinner. Delicious food (duck / salmon) and a delicious Rioja (Muga Crianza) wine that goes with it.

Weather: cool start 17 ° C  / 63°F in Oviedo. Later in the day it becomes sunny and warm 29 ° C / 84°F

Wednesday 12 September 2018

We are a little too early for breakfast and are faced with a closed door. 8.35 we try to get in the breakfast room ourselves and find  that everything is ready. They had simply forgotten to open the door. The breakfast is very extensive. Everything is there. After breakfast we drive to Fuente Dé, which is 9 km away and which is where the road ends. Opposite the (modern) Parador is the valley station of the teleferico or cable car, which brings us to the top of the mountain range. Up there is a cafeteria and a souvenir shop and plenty of walking opportunities. We are still early and so it is still relatively quiet. We allow the people who were on the cable car with a head start so that we can walk in peace. We take the path to the hotel-regufio. It goes uphill for about 20 minutes. The views are beautiful. Then it goes down again. After an hour we stop and return to the mountain station of the cable car. We are tired, but satisfied for all those beautiful views.

Back down again we drive back to our hotel, where the room is not ready yet. That takes another hour. Then we take a shower and  have lunch. We spend the afternoon lounging in the room and at the pool. Dinner at the hotel in the evening.

Weather: morning 17 ° C  / 63°F. In the afternoon it becomes sunny and warm 25 ° C / 77°F

Thursday 13 September 2018

Fuente Dé - Santillana del Mar: 105km 1:45 hrs

We drive north through the winding valley of the river Deva. We stop for a cup of coffee in the busy town of Potes. Then we drive on to the highway that runs along the north coast. We continue towards Santander and turn off at Santillana del Mar. In Santillana we stay in one of the two  Paradors. The room is ready and we can have a rest before we have lunch in the other, bigger Parador Gil Blas. After a small lunch (for a change) we keep siesta and later we explore the town. It is very busy here with lots of tourists. We visit the cloister of the Santa Juliana church. Very nice. There is a speaker system that explains the features of the church. This does disturb the serene atmosphere of the cloister. Santa Juliana is buried in the church itself. The sarcophagus dates back to the 3rd century. Unfortunately, it is not allowed to take pictures inside the church.
The village or rather mini-town consists of two long streets with tourist shops, that lead to the Plaza Mayor. It all looks picturesque. On the main road at the beginning of the village is the Museo Regina Coell and Convento de las Clarissas. Here a large collection of religious statues is preserved, which have been carefully restored by the nuns. Several sacred figures are shown how they were depicted through the ages. In particular San Roque with his dog, who licks his blisters caused by the plague, is prominently present.

In the evening we eat in the Parador Gil Blas. The food is of excellent quality. Better than in Santiago.

Weather: sunny and 23°C / 73 °F

Friday 14 September 2018

Santillana del Mar - Lerma: 234km / 2:15 uur

We have breakfast in our own Parador. The presentation of the breakfast is a bit disappointing after what we have come to expect from Paradores. We drink coffee at a bar at Plaza Mayor and then drive to Lerma. That is about 30 km south of Burgos in Castile, the heartland of Spain. We are here because there is a beautiful Parador here. It is a former palace of the Duke of Lerma, who built this town and the palace at the beginning of the 17th century. It is now a Parador, a beautiful hotel. We have a room overlooking the Plaza Mayor of Lerma, a rectangular square surrounded columns. Just like so many cities in Spain, with some prominence in the 17th and 18th century.

Around 5 pm we drive through quiet farmland to Santo Domingo de Silos, about 34 km east of Lerma. There is a Benedictine monastery, where the monks practice Gregorian chanting during mass which is open to the public. We want to experience the Vesper or Evensong at 7pm. Having arrived in Santo Domingo we look at the village and visit the monastery. Then we wacht the final kilometers of the Vuelta stage in a bar. Steven Kruiswijk improves his standing on the overall leader board. He moves up to 3rd place. At 7pm we are in the church. The monks have gained world fame since they started recording CDs with their songs in the late 90s. The number of monks who sing  has decreased (about 15) and, given the age of the men, this will soon decrease further. The Gregorian chant sounds very beautiful. After the mass we drive back to Lerma.

Around the Plaza Mayor there are a dozen grill restaurants, Asadors, that serve the local specialty lamb shank. We eat at "Casa Anton" where you do not have to order anything. You just sit down and then get the leg of lamb with lettuce, a house rosé and a homemade pudding. On the wall are photographs with local and regional celebrities who have previously eaten at Anton's.

Weather: 25 degrees (77F)

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