Gijon, Spain

Gijon, Spain
12 June

Today we opted for a tour of the old city of Oviedo.  Well, that’s what the ticket said. It wasn’t what we did though. We opted to take the tour as a way for me to get to the city center so I could take some photos of some sculptures.  

You see, I have this particular Spanish artist that I like and a few years ago when George and I did our tour of Spain looking at his public works, Oviedo was a bit far out of the way.  I always said we would come back one day to see these, and today we did!  

When we got to the bus I told the tour guide of our plans and she said sure. Just make sure you meet us at the bus at 12:30.  Easy!  We took about 20 minutes to get from the ship to the city center.  We had a panoramic bus tour of the city and I saw one of the sculptures that I wanted to see from the window!  (Actually, I had 6 sculptures I wanted to see.)  We carried on and stopped at the cultural center for a few photographs. This place looks like a crab or a space ship. It cost the city over 300 million euros to produce. Originally it was bid at 70 million.  That’s a lot of cash.

From here the bus took us back to a medieval walled building and dropped us off.  We were reminded to return by 12:30 and off we went.  

I had 6 sculptures that I wanted to see and we took off in search of the first one.  My first Berrocal of the day was El Diestro.

This is the statue I saw from the bus window.  It sits about one block down from Culis Monumentalibus; which of course I had to imitate. 

From here we also saw the Ballerina and then headed over to see Woody Allen.  

Wow!  I’ve barely walked 2 blocks and have found 3 of the 6 I wanted to see.  

The next Berrocal is at the end of San Francisco park. This one is entitled Torso Fruela.  

After this we wandered through the park and were able to find Malfada,

and Sabino Fernandez Campo.

Maternidad was placed just across the road from the park.  

But even more beautiful in the same area was Encarna con Chiquitin.  

The final two sculptures that really stood out for me are the 7 figures entitled Monumento a la Concordia

and the base around the tree in Plaza del Carbayón.  

Of course there were many more sculptures we enjoyed.  At the end of the day, I had only seen 29 of the over 150 sculptures in this amazing city. I will have to come back just to take the rest. Sadly the city does not have a 'sculpture tour' or even a pamphlet to let you know where they are all hidden. 

After a while George’s back began to hurt so we found a Sideria for a glass of cider.  Ok. It was interesting and something you must try once, but that was enough for me.  In fact, we left it sitting and walked away.  

Throughout the city we were reminded that we are on the St. James Path.

At 12:15 we met the bus and returned to Gijon.  

Here we just missed the shuttle into town so we went to the room and dropped off some stuff and made our way back for the next bus.  The original intention was to have lunch, but by this time it was almost 2 and we opted to skip it.  

We had a small wander around the town and decided to climb to the top of the hill to see the Eulogy to the Horizon.  This is nicknamed "King Kong’s Water Closet" by the locals and cost over 600,000 Euros to build.  It has a wonderful sound amplifying quality, but other than that…I didn’t like the concrete and steel structure that is in the first stages of decay.  

Along the way we saw a few interesting buildings and a massive cider bottle sculpture.

We wanted to see the Roman baths but sadly they were closed until 5 pm and since our ship left at 5:30 this was a big no.  

We ended up finding a Carrefour and buying some more milk for me before returning to the ship for dinner.  

Sea day

13 June

Once again we find ourselves being lazy. We have a game of cards at 1, a massage at 4 followed by watching the live broadcast of the January 6th committee We will enjoy it because tomorrow is Lisbon and we’ve been told the ship will be full to New York.  

Last night we didn't get a notification telling us to get COVID tested.  I called the front desk and was told it is no longer necessary as all restrictions have been lifted. Fine.  We don't need the nasal molestation again.  Today at noon I was called and told I was required to get tested because we still haven't contracted the disease. We went up and got swabbed for the umpteenth time.  As luck would have it, we are still negative.  I think those of us that made it through the ATW without testing positive should be given some sort of a reward.  Instead, I feel as though we are being punished for staying healthy.  Another swab! Yuck!  And to make matters worse, when I asked if we would need them before getting off in New York, I was told it was up to me, just like last night.  I'm betting that we will have one more swab before heading home.  

Gijon I would not return to again.  However, Oviedo is a beautiful city that is a must return to place.  Should we end up here again, I'll spend more time than just a few hours. 

Thus ends the penultimate leg of our ATW trip.  175 days gone. 21 to go.