Without a Clunes

 We are heading off to Lastres.  Lastres is one of those tight laned towns, with steep steps and tumbling lanes. It is mostly in a cleft in the cliffs, charging down to a, now, developed, port.  It features in an awful lot of tourist literature - and so it should.


The town had Romans in it, exporting minerals.  Fishing, and whaling in the 16th Century, was the basis of the places’ wealth.  It became the setting for the TV show Doctor Mateo - the Spanish version of Doc Martin.  Ut us the home for about 2000 people.




We will tiptoe passed CoolRooms and enter the upper town, passing by the field that serves as the most decent space to park - don’t try in town   We will follow the road which heads for the cliff top,.  The ground north of us falls away and the pass that winds down to port. Level with us os the Church of Santa Maria de Sabada.  It is a big, solid 18th century place. It gets 4.2 stars. A month ago Jose wrote ‘It dates back to the 18th century and was designed by the Asturian architects Manuel Reguera and Joaquín Vigil. It was built in 1757 and remodeled at the end of the 19th century, except for part of the tower, which was completed between 1791-1794.’  





Asturias’ summer is marked by the moving Mediaeval market. It is what it is.  Wooden toys, diverse foods, vaguely ancient crafts and occasional gems. They had a spinner. He had a cigarette and a spinning wheel which was many hundreds of years old.  Winifred used it, to the amazement of all concerned.




We will pop into El Meson del Pescador.  According to Google it is a ‘Down-to-earth restaurant offering homestyle Spanish dishes, including seafood, paella & stews.’  It gets 4.3 stars from 1802 reviews.  Yesterday Vanessa gave it four stars. ‘Delicious food and pleasant and close attention. The kitchen closes at 10:00 p.m., so I recommend going in advance.’




I am slightly annoyed the launderette has now reviews. We will end the day sneaking down some stairs and missing the somewhat narrow place where traffic squeezes.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more