I've been monitoring rides on BlaBlaCar, Europe's biggest ride sharing app across cities / countries, and one just showed up the day before my departure for a ride that would get me close to Oviedo. I would then need to take a 1hr bus ride from near the drop off point to Oviedo City.
So I booked it, as it now cuts down my travel time from 6 hours down to 3.5hrs (based on the BlaBlaCar drop off point).
The driver German arrived in a white Kia at 10.15am. It was extremely clean and comfortable on the inside. There was another passenger whom had also booked the ride and turns out German's final destination is San Sebastian and I will be the first drop off.
The drop off however was somewhat confusing for me, because BlaBlaCar app indicated my drop off as 1 spot, and German was going to drop me off at another which I had no idea where I would be, nor how to get to Oviedo from his planned drop off.
We compromised and I got dropped off near the bus terminal of Gijón, which worked out better for me, because I now get to quickly see this city as I was toying on whether to stay in this one or the next one.
I took a short walk towards the waterfront area of Gijón, passing through a few of the city streets. It was a good thing I decided not to stay there, as the town lacked character.
The other good thing about getting dropped off at the bus terminal in Gijón, is that the bus journey to Oviedo will only take 30 mins (no stops on a highway), vs the 1hr journey with multiple stops in between if German had dropped me off at the spot indicated by BlaBlaCar.
I soon arrived in the hostel HiHome ahead of my schedule. It was a self check in but this place really feels like home. I was just very surprised that it feels like I am the only 1 in the entire place.
I wasted no time and headed out to explore the city. I really love the architecture, and the town of Oviedo has quite a lot of character. It's also bigger than I expected it to be.
Some of the key highlights :
Basilica of St. John The Regal
This Basilica is nicely done. There were some good paintings around the Basilica, and it also contained a place for niches.
Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador of Oviedo
This is the biggest cathedral in this town, but I didn't enter
Iglesia de San Isidoro el Real
It was not open when I was there. I was however puzzled by the strange markings on the wall.
Parliament of the Principality of Asturias
I was attracted by the architecture of the building, but didn't enter.
Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias
This museum was a very pleasant surprise. It looked small from the outside of a new building, but when I entered, it had a few buildings (both old and new) that were interconnected together.
There was even a roman ruin covered in glass on the grounds below the museum entrance.
There were a sizeable amount of art work at the museum, some of which are below.
Around the city
There were also a number of statues dotted around the city such as Woody Allen, Mafalda (a character from a Spanish cartoon), Botero. There seems to be a butt fetish by the curator of the collection.
There was also an open air photo exhibition on the street, and again more butt related pics!
Food wise, this town seems to have a lot to offer. They are said to be part of Asturia, 1st time hearing the region name, but it also meant there were regional Asturian food.
It's also famous as a cider town, and I visited Sidrería Tierra Astur Gascona, one of the many cider houses on the famous cider street.
It was fun to see how cider is being poured from mid air, so as to aerate the drink. Reminds me of teh tarik!
It should be served only a little each time and a little frothy, with the waiters going round pouring for the guests whenever they see a glass empty. It seems there is only 1 size to the cider, so I had to finish the whole bottle of Cider on my own.
The cider tasted strange at first taste, as it isn't at all similar to the bottled cider we get from eg Somersby or Strongbow.
The subsequent taste was better.
I also had to have a meal while drinking, and ordered a local dish called Cachopo, which is essentially very similar to cordon bleu, but maybe thinner and with more cheese in it.
I opted for the chicken version... What have they been feeding the chicken to get it so big! This is a lot of food... Help!!!
Sweets wise, there are 2 famous items here. Carbayones are the house specialty at Camilo da Blas, which is a thin pastry filled with almonds, covered with yolk cream and a glaze made with egg whites. I like it as it is not overly sweet too!
The other must try item is Moscovitas from Confitería Rialto, almond filled cookies topped with chocolate. They don't seem to sell them in loose pieces, so I had to buy a box and will give them to Thierry when we meet. Hopefully it taste good!
There were still a few places recommended to visit in Oviedo, which were mostly churches or involved climbing a hill and so I chose to pass on it.
Oviedo has been really nice, and I could see myself just chilling here for a couple days more, but for now it's good enough and off to Santander tomorrow!
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