Day 86: Oviedo, Spain

The main activity for the day was picking up my sister Siena and her boyfriend Dave at the airport in Oviedo, which was about a 5 hour drive from our hotel in Pontevedra. We got on the road a little before 9am and took the coastal route as much as possible so we could see a little more of the Galician coast and the Rias Altas.

As we drove, I continued my quest to get photo proof of the insane quantity of hydrangeas in the area, and this was the best I could come up with:




Although the road only goes along the water at a few spots, there were some beautiful views of the ocean, which in this area is called the Cantabrian Sea (Mar Cantabrico) and is also known as the Bay of Biscay.






We made it to the Oviedo airport 30 minutes ahead of time - thanks to Frank's excellent driving - and successfully picked up our new traveling companions, who were fine but a little jet lagged. We drove into the old town area of Oviedo and found our hotel, which for a change is exceedingly modern. Our rooms were on the top floor and had skylights with remote controlled window shades.




After a brief rest, we all set out to explore the city. Our first stop was the Cathedral, where we also got to see inside the Camara Santa (Holy Chamber) which was built by King Alfonso II in the 9th century as a chapel to house the holy relics rescued from Toledo when it fell to the Moors.




Here are some of the photos from our street wanderings:




This is a random church I don't remember the name of:




This is the town hall which has an arch you can walk through:






Here are Sien, Frank and Dave in front of a Convent:




Here is one of Frank's famous night shots of the Iglesia de San Juan El Real:




We had a tapas dinner and a late night ice cream stop to round out the evening. Hopefully the cloudy weather will improve a bit, but other than that we are just happy to have our NYC roommates to travel with!

ILM