New Year's Day

Happy New Year everyone! I realise I have been most lax with my blog recently and hereby resolve not to let this happen again in 2008.

Despite our hearty New Year's Eve celebration - I wore pyjamas and we drank cava and red wine aplenty - I felt fine enough by 4pm yesterday to go on the walk that Matt insisted upon: it would 'do me good' as he put it, although I would've been just as happy to skulk indoors.

Getting up to the land above our house is always a bit of a trek, never helped by the fact that Matt seems to glide effortlessly up on his long legs while I puff and pant and struggle to keep up. I usually have a good moan about it and then enjoy myself once I'm up there. It's hard not to, especially with the weather we've been enjoying recently.


Finally up there, and yes, I admit it, it was worth it (but I'll still complain about the walk up next time).

Naked trees

The lake catches the sun's light

More disrobed trees

Getting home, just before the sun sets

You may have noticed that the mountains currently have almost no snow on them. This is set to change very soon with a week's rain forecast and snow above 1000 metres. So, in preparation, today I have been mostly sawing wood. With a little help.

It's not so bad when you have company.

Visitors

Before I start, I'd like to make it clear that I'm normally very good at remembering to make sure I have a functioning camera on me. However, this last week when Sue and Simon were visiting, my brain became all fluffy in the camera department which meant that on one occasion I forgot to take spare batteries with me, just when it needed them. And then when we went camping I forgot to take it with me altogether. Explanation given, here's my account of the last week:

I always look forward to visits and was not disappointed by this one. Sue arrived at the airport (only forty minutes late) and we made it back to El Entrego just before Simon's train arrived at the station. Good timing. It didn't seem obvious that he'd been out the night before until about five am and in fact Sue was the one slacking by the time we'd had our dinner, although it wasn't late by the time were all tucked up in bed.

On the Sunday we went for a long walk on the land above the house - we normally do one of two routes when we're up there, but this time Matt decided to combine them into one long one. This was a slight shock to our system and an even bigger one to Simon's - I kept promising that this was going to be the last 'up bit' we did and then Matt changed the route again and there was more 'up'. Sorry Simon!




Sue and Simon on our Sunday 'stroll', with the Peña Mayor in the distance.











For a change the next day we decided to go and see the bears and do the nearby cycle route. Sue was most excited by this prospect and wanted to know if they were 'as big as Gentle Ben'. However, due to significant alcohol consumption and lots of mountain air the previous day we stumbled out of bed too late to make the bears and opted instead for another walk.

This time we went up into the Parque Natural de Redes, a national park just up the valley from us which encompases over 370 square kilometres of woodland, meadows, mountains, lakes and streams, along with traditional Asturian villages. We chose a route which started from a village high up in the park, Tarna, and which led to a waterfall. On the leaflet we'd been given in the tourist office, the route was described as easy and taking three and a half hours. Ha! It was a climb from the start, past verdant, and tree-filled meadows. We found a flat-ish flower-covered meadow with stunning views to stop in for lunch and then valiantly resumed the hike. The two lightest members of our party, Matt and Sue, also with the longest legs strode ahead while Simon and I trundled along behind.

The next part of the walk passed through an old beech forest - where, to be fair, it did flatten out and we were able to catch our breath, fortunately, as we had rather full bellies from lunch - which so reminded me of Klimt's paintings that I thought he could've done them there - dappled light falling down through green leaves onto the earth below. It was incredibly peaceful. I could've stopped then and there and spent the afternoon relaxing beneath the tree tops.


Seeing as I forgot the batteries you'll have to make do with Klimt.


Instead, we carried on and made our way out of the forest, down a slope to unspoiled meadows and, at last the waterfall in the distance. As we slowly got nearer, we had to ford the stream from the waterfall several times - I was pleased I had my trusty hiking stick with me - and then made our way up the slope to observe the cascade from higher up. Easy? No way, but by now my legs had finally warmed up and got into the swing of things so I climbed on ahead up the slope with Matt. Reaching the top was wonderful and made the hike up there worthwhile. There were views of the surrounding mountains, and the waterfall itself, which fell from a height of 1,800 metres (we must've been at about 1,600). The spray cooled us down as we stood at it's side comtemplating the rush of glacial water falling past us. (It's here where I curse myself yet again for forgetting fresh batteries for the camera. If Sue sends me her pictures I shall post them for you.)

After two days of long walks - never mind three and a half hours, the last one took at least five - we had a day of rest on the Tuesday- with mango and cava cocktails in the evening - and then headed to Vega beach on Wednesday to do a spot of camping. So busy was I rushing around to get everything ready so we could camp in comfort that, yes, I forgot the camera.


Enjoying cava and mango cocktails.


Vega campsite is our favourite on the Costa Verde - it's small, friendly, well-run and all the pitches are separated by hedges making it private too. The owner himself is from El Entrego so they're particulalry friendly with us, even though we only go for the odd night in the summer when we have free time. They know me there as la inglesa de El Entrego (the Englishwoman from El Entrego). So, as a reward for two tiring walks we took two lazy days on the beach, reading, jumping waves, playing Scrabble (in English and Spanish), and eating and drinking to our heart's content. The sea at Vega can be very surfy and I have a memorable image of Sue, Simon and me, in a line, jumping waves, all desperately holding onto our bikini bottoms/swimming trunks as each rather large wave approached and we whooped with delight. The sunsets are also particularly spectacular at Vega - the sun sets over the sea - and we spent one evening contemplating the sun as it disappeared below the water, and then, in the dying light, Sue happily contemplated the surfers in their tight wetsuits.


By the time we got back on Friday afternoon we were all to tired to do much more than unpack and have a nice cup of tea with some biscuits. Matt dashed off to his guitar lesson and the rest of us settled down on the sofa for a few episodes of Sex and the City which Sue had kindly brought me as a present. A perfect ending to a enjoyable, but tiring, week (I think it was the Bacardis on the Thursday night camping followed by hot chocolate with brandy that really did for me). I'm spending today recovering.

Birthday weekend

I had a full, but happy birthday weekend. I managed to escape from work at 6.30 on Friday to meet my Mum, Keith, her partner, and Matt and we went straight to the house my mum has in a hamlet near here for the weekend.

We had a tasty dinner of home grown broad beans and new potatoes, with a herb omelette made with fresh, free-range eggs from our neighbour, washed down with some very quaffable red wine that they'd brought from France.

Saturday morning we went up the Peña Mayor, and it was cloudy, again. I keep saying that the next time I do it, it'll be with clear skies but I haven't made it yet. We only did part of the walk as the meadows were covered with 'viscious' horned cows - my mum has a slight bovine-taurine phobia since she was chased by a bull years ago - so we turned back once the cows became too numerous, mum looking over her shoulder just to make sure we weren't being followed by the beasts. To be fair, there were so many cow bells ringing it did sound as though we were carefully being stalked and surrounded. The effect was heightened by the birds circling low, overhead - I think they were of the same type we saw last time, eagles or possibly vultures we think; we've been speaking to people in the know and you get griffon and Egyptian vultures in the area, as well as golden, short-toed and booted eagles.


Horse and foal on the Peña Mayor - the meadows were full of horses and their young.



A nosy calf - this my mother could handle - no horns yet!



One cow too many - this was when we had to turn back.

Anyway, we eventually made our escape down the mountain, unharmed, you'll be pleased to know, and completed our Saturday with a piggy lunch at the local bar near the house, where Keith was invited to join in with the locals chess game - he politely declined saying to us he'd never known a game of chess to be so loud - and we went back to the house for a relaxing afternoon on the terrace.


The hamlet taken on our way back from lunch.


We awoke on the Sunday to bright sun - perfect for the Peña Mayor if only we hadn't already been up there the day before. So we decided to go to the beach and spent the afternoon at Vega. I had been looking forward to a doze in the sun but we spent it jumping waves, walking along the beach and finding unusual stones - the geology of the area is quite interesting, even for someone like me who normally takes little interest in that sort of thing - and there are all types of rocks and stones on the beach in as many colours as you can imagine with lots of blue-green coppery shades mixed with deep red sandstone and seams of white marble in jet-black rock.

When we finally made it back home after dropping mum and Keith off at her house for their last night we were too tired to do much celebrating. We poshed up a simple pasta dinner with a bottle of something sparkling, then watched James and the Giant Peach on DVD before going to bed.


A birthday tipple.


I'd left the boxes of books in the kitchen to be dealt with on Monday morning and I've just about got them all squeezed into the office now. Unpacking them was great, I kept discovering books I'd forgotten about and would squeal or "ooh" and "ahh" with glee whenever I came across one. I now also have a good stock of new books from Amazon that should keep me going for a fair while too.




Elbi investigating my books - she had to be removed when the nibbling started.

Puds, bugs and flowers

Some photos I've taken this week:

We went for a walk up by the lakes behind the house one morning. Everything seemed to be flowering.

There are many different types of orchid in Asturias - these seem to be the most common.

Wonderful, large dog daisies.

We get lots of foxgloves around here too. Something I very rarely saw in the British countryside.

The lakes were covered with a mist that was blowing down the valley. If you watched for long enough, it seemed that it was the mountain moving, not the mist.

The mist cleared later and the horses appeared for a drink, as if they'd been waiting for that exact moment.

On the way back we stopped to give some dandelion leaves to the neighbours young hens.




Back home, our roses are flowering.



Beetles are common round here too - big ones - this is about medium-sized by our standards.



And finally, two very good friends dozing on the terrace.

My day off

Although rain was forecast for today - yet again - we awoke to clear, blue skies. To take advantage of this rather lovely surprise we made our way up the hill to the land above the house for a pleasant morning walk.

We do this quite often, but it's always different up there depending on the season, time of day, weather and the light. There are also numerous routes we can take so I never get tired of exploring and enjoying the surroundings.

Also, it was fairly clear today and the mountains seemed that little bit closer because of it. I've never lived this near to mountains before and even though I've been here for over two years, I'm still not tired of looking at them. Despite their being huge lumps of ancient, solid rock they're constantly changing.

Looking north, past the concejos of Siero and Nava, we could easily make out the sea (although it's not quite so easy in the photo!).

Hmmm, I could quite happily take another day off tomorrow.

A day at the beach and the rest of the week

We've had Matt's mum staying with us this last week, and yesterday, with the idea of showing her some of what Asturias has to offer, we went to our favourite beach at Vega.

Unfortunately, much of the Costa Verde, as the Asturian coastline is known, is becoming highly developed. However, due to the presence of some interesting geological formations, the land directly behind this beach is a protected area. This makes it very hard for even the most determined developer to get his dirty paws on it, no matter how many brown paper envelopes he produces. I'm keeping my finger crossed it remains this way because the beach is wonderfully unspoilt and, even at the height of summer, relatively quiet. The village of Vega is also very lovely as it's mostly traditional stone houses, many of them with walled gardens. If I ever come by a vast amount of money, this is where I would choose to own a house.

We passed several relaxing hours on the beach. I wasn't quite brave enough to go in the water - it was only the 21st April after all, and the water at Vega is never very inviting, even in September when it's been warming all summer. After that we hopped into the car and drove west along the coast to Llastres. Matt and I had driven through the village one cold, wet day in December when we first arrived in Asturias. We found the place much more to our liking yesterday. It's a Cornwallesque village, built on cliffs overlooking a harbour, and again, full of traditional houses. We had a beer in a bar overlooking the port while we drank up the view. I was tempted to change my 'ideal house location' to Llastres, but in the end decided Vega had the edge due to the large, peaceful beach and not being packed in summer. Still, were it to be offered, a house in Llastres would do me fine.

Above Llastres, looking towards the Picos de Europa.





Matt and I looking none too pleased to be photographed.




Houses overlooking the harbour.


Also this week we've made it up to the land above the house for a quick walk before I had to have lunch and dash off to work. We normally only go on days when I'm not working, but it was so relaxing I shall make a point of getting up there more often on work days. Despite it being hectic at the Academia this last week - the sun has made the students more boisterous - the weather has put me in an excellent mood, as can be evinced by my springing out of bed at a vaguely decent hour.




Taken from our terrace this week. Early morning (for us anyway) cloud in the valley.




On our morning walk.


A slow worm, seen on the way back from our walk.


A recent sunset. Since the clocks have gone forward I can sometimes get back home from work in time to enjoy them.