Oviedo, a fairy tale of a city
With a forecast of persistent heavy rain, taking shelter in Oviedo to continue our exploration of Asturias seemed eminently sensible. There's a lot more to see under cover. Arrival by FEVE brings you to a large open square minutes from the centre, although in the cloudburst that greeted our arrival this was more akin to a paddling pool. Oviedo, the capitol of Asturias and the oldest Christian city in the region is an important stop on the Camino de Santiago and we passed many sodden pilgrims on our way to our hotel. The city's more recent claim to fame is the location of Woody Allen's film 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' stepping in for the somewhat busier metropolis of the film's title. Oviedo, a city of statues, thanked the controversial film maker with a life size sculpture in bronze and you can find him, frozen mid step in a street leading to the park, Campo de San Francisco.
It's a beautiful city, the main street is lined with ornate houses and the cobbled historical quarter is stuffed with brightly painted squares and charming statues, seemingly celebrating women in many forms.
Spain has excellent museums and Oviedo was no exception. Even if rain does not provide you with an excuse to visit these, I strongly suggest you make a detour, you won't regret spending a cultural few hours here.
Archaeological Museum of Asturias (free admission, closed Mon-Tues)
Sitting just behind the cathedral on the Corrada del Obispo and housed in the 16th century Benedictine Monastery of San Vicente, this museum is deceptively modern and airy inside. On the ground floor is a temporary exhibition space, which had a delightful exhibition of early postcards from Covadonga at the time of our visit. Moving up the wide open stairs you climb from pre-history to the dawn of the modern age, lit up by sunlight filtered through a huge translucent marble wall. The building design is as fascinating as the artefacts on display. On the second floor, the museum extends into an older section of the building with an impressively creaky wooden floor and shuttered windows looking over a cloistered garden. This gallery is full of Roman history, rich in detail of their daily domestic lives. A sand coloured grand staircase leads back to the entrance, overlooked by a round stained glass window, the light on these stairs is extraordinary.
Follow the stairs down and push open the ancient wooden door to enter the garden you had seen from above. Here, under the vaulted arches, you can feel the spirituality of the former monastery and view several tombs of aristocratic knights.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias (free admission, closed Mondays)
With a huge collection of art across the genres, distributed across three large interconnected buildings overlooking the cathedral, its all to easy to lose yourself in this wealth of art. Starting in the first building, the Velarde Palace, dating from 1765, the collection takes you through the 14th to 19th century with works by Goya, El Greco and Zurbarán. Sombre faces of apostles line the walls interspersed with the occasional Madonna of ornate and exquisite beauty.
Following the suggested route through many rooms you enter the next building, the Oviedo Portal House, built in 1660, which houses turn of the century art by local painters and a small section of photography. Paintings of scenes that had become familiar over the previous days, colourful houses tumbling down the hills of Cudillero, waves pounding the Cantabrian coast and laughing workers in fields held our attention.
The final section, the Modern Wing, is an architectural marvel, a modern glass and steel building within the facade of a much older one. Each window framing a view of Oviedo like a painting. Here there are works by heavy weights such as Picasso, Miró and Dalà interspersed with many others in a fascinating collection. This is a large museum and you may well find the need to take a break, as we did, for lunch. Sensibly the museum re-opens in the evening so its possible to indulge in a very long lunch and return to finish the final rooms before setting out into the night for a little more sidra.
A suggested place to take your break from history and culture is the restaurant El LLar de la Catedral, with a perfect setting on the Plaza de Alfonso II el Castro. With such a prime site, chairs and tables spilling out onto the cobbles of the square, I would normally have expected a rather touristy sub-standard menu of high prices and was pleasantly surprised to see a reasonable €12 menu del dia.
The place was buzzing with wedding guests from the many ceremonies taking place around the square. Its a great place to watch the elegantly dressed wedding guests in impossibly high shoes negotiating the cobbles on the arms of proud men. Service was prompt and very friendly, despite the number of people crowded around the bar and a couple of large ice cold glasses of wine were delivered swiftly, the perfect antidote to the humidity of the stormy day.
The starter of grilled goats cheese and cecina (paper thin, air dried cured beef) on bitter leaves and speckled with walnuts was simple and delicious. For the main dish, I chose the traditional merluza en sidra. It arrived simply, a large piece of hake in a slightly alarmingly orange sauce with a couple of slices of grilled apple but was actually very lovely, the fish perfectly cooked and very fresh. We finished with a slice of Asturian cheesecake and a couple more glasses of cold wine. The total cost €24 plus a tip for a perfect lunch.
Oviedo is a fantastic city and despite it being a key point on the Camino its surprisingly un-touristy. There is plenty to tempt the curious traveller to stay a while and explore its history. A lively food scene with many places to eat out and a real pride in its regional identity, its a wonderful place to extend your stay in Asturias.
Following on from my posts from my trip to Asturias, further posts are published on InnTravel's excellent The Slow Lane, inspirational tips and trips for taking life at a slower pace.
A Piper's Dream - following the bagpipe around the streets of Oviedo.
Welcome to Ribadesella - exploring this fantastic coastal town on the edge of the Picos de Europa.
Lunch at Arbidel - celebrating in style at chef Jaime Uz's Michelin starred restaurant.
It's a beautiful city, the main street is lined with ornate houses and the cobbled historical quarter is stuffed with brightly painted squares and charming statues, seemingly celebrating women in many forms.
Spain has excellent museums and Oviedo was no exception. Even if rain does not provide you with an excuse to visit these, I strongly suggest you make a detour, you won't regret spending a cultural few hours here.
Archaeological Museum of Asturias (free admission, closed Mon-Tues)
Sitting just behind the cathedral on the Corrada del Obispo and housed in the 16th century Benedictine Monastery of San Vicente, this museum is deceptively modern and airy inside. On the ground floor is a temporary exhibition space, which had a delightful exhibition of early postcards from Covadonga at the time of our visit. Moving up the wide open stairs you climb from pre-history to the dawn of the modern age, lit up by sunlight filtered through a huge translucent marble wall. The building design is as fascinating as the artefacts on display. On the second floor, the museum extends into an older section of the building with an impressively creaky wooden floor and shuttered windows looking over a cloistered garden. This gallery is full of Roman history, rich in detail of their daily domestic lives. A sand coloured grand staircase leads back to the entrance, overlooked by a round stained glass window, the light on these stairs is extraordinary.
Follow the stairs down and push open the ancient wooden door to enter the garden you had seen from above. Here, under the vaulted arches, you can feel the spirituality of the former monastery and view several tombs of aristocratic knights.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias (free admission, closed Mondays)
With a huge collection of art across the genres, distributed across three large interconnected buildings overlooking the cathedral, its all to easy to lose yourself in this wealth of art. Starting in the first building, the Velarde Palace, dating from 1765, the collection takes you through the 14th to 19th century with works by Goya, El Greco and Zurbarán. Sombre faces of apostles line the walls interspersed with the occasional Madonna of ornate and exquisite beauty.
Following the suggested route through many rooms you enter the next building, the Oviedo Portal House, built in 1660, which houses turn of the century art by local painters and a small section of photography. Paintings of scenes that had become familiar over the previous days, colourful houses tumbling down the hills of Cudillero, waves pounding the Cantabrian coast and laughing workers in fields held our attention.
The final section, the Modern Wing, is an architectural marvel, a modern glass and steel building within the facade of a much older one. Each window framing a view of Oviedo like a painting. Here there are works by heavy weights such as Picasso, Miró and Dalà interspersed with many others in a fascinating collection. This is a large museum and you may well find the need to take a break, as we did, for lunch. Sensibly the museum re-opens in the evening so its possible to indulge in a very long lunch and return to finish the final rooms before setting out into the night for a little more sidra.
A suggested place to take your break from history and culture is the restaurant El LLar de la Catedral, with a perfect setting on the Plaza de Alfonso II el Castro. With such a prime site, chairs and tables spilling out onto the cobbles of the square, I would normally have expected a rather touristy sub-standard menu of high prices and was pleasantly surprised to see a reasonable €12 menu del dia.
The place was buzzing with wedding guests from the many ceremonies taking place around the square. Its a great place to watch the elegantly dressed wedding guests in impossibly high shoes negotiating the cobbles on the arms of proud men. Service was prompt and very friendly, despite the number of people crowded around the bar and a couple of large ice cold glasses of wine were delivered swiftly, the perfect antidote to the humidity of the stormy day.
The starter of grilled goats cheese and cecina (paper thin, air dried cured beef) on bitter leaves and speckled with walnuts was simple and delicious. For the main dish, I chose the traditional merluza en sidra. It arrived simply, a large piece of hake in a slightly alarmingly orange sauce with a couple of slices of grilled apple but was actually very lovely, the fish perfectly cooked and very fresh. We finished with a slice of Asturian cheesecake and a couple more glasses of cold wine. The total cost €24 plus a tip for a perfect lunch.
Oviedo is a fantastic city and despite it being a key point on the Camino its surprisingly un-touristy. There is plenty to tempt the curious traveller to stay a while and explore its history. A lively food scene with many places to eat out and a real pride in its regional identity, its a wonderful place to extend your stay in Asturias.
Following on from my posts from my trip to Asturias, further posts are published on InnTravel's excellent The Slow Lane, inspirational tips and trips for taking life at a slower pace.
A Piper's Dream - following the bagpipe around the streets of Oviedo.
Welcome to Ribadesella - exploring this fantastic coastal town on the edge of the Picos de Europa.
Lunch at Arbidel - celebrating in style at chef Jaime Uz's Michelin starred restaurant.
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