Just before Easter, we flew to northern Spain to tour by car from Oviedo over the Pyrenees to Barcelona – an adventure, wild and enticing. At the airport in Madrid, we picked up Luisa’s dad and drove to the homeland of his grandparents, Asturias, where countless beautiful spots awaited me, a contrast between surprise and splendor.
A journey through mountains and coast
From Oviedo, we headed to the majestic Picos de Europa before sliding back to the Atlantic coast into the Basque Country, between Llanes and San Sebastián – wow, a dance between mountains and sea, rough and delicate. The delicious food and many cheeses rounded off the trip, a pleasure that warmed the heart.
Preview of the second part
The second part of our tour over the Pyrenees and the days in Barcelona will follow soon – a promise swinging between nature and culture, deeply rooted in memory.
Snowy peaks poke through the clouds – flying into Spain just before Easter.
Snow and rock blur in the haze of cloud.
A palace between tall conifers.
Formal gardens with urns and hedges in front of wooded mountains.
Left, windows with stucco; right, a wing of the palace in front of snowy slopes.
A white doorway in pink masonry.
Tiled roofs as far as the eye can see – an old town from above.
Lanes, squares and a cathedral in the middle of the sea of houses.
A street lamp and street signs on the sandstone corner.
A man in a dark suit walks along the sandstone wall.
Gothic windows and towers, twice – in Oviedo.
A weathered inscription in the stone of a church.
Three balloons against a sandstone wall.
Left, a balcony window; right, “Caja de Ahorros de Asturias” on the facade.
Left, an ornate facade; right, the terrace of “El Quinto de la Tarde”.
A small pre-Romanesque church between bare trees.
Heavy clouds over the mountains, rain falling into the valley.
Curved concrete fins against a grey sky, twice.
A fan of white ribs above a sheet of water.
Slats in grey and white, twice.
From below: the ribs converge like rays.
Slanted concrete surfaces cut across the sky.
A stepped arch seen between the slats.
An old house with a red shopfront on the wet street.
A weathered facade with glazed balconies.
Cheese upon cheese – the many varieties rounded off the trip.
An old stone bridge over the river, a cross hanging beneath it.
Karst hills beneath a grey sky.
A bend sweeps through the mountains of the Picos de Europa.
Mist drifting through the karst valleys.
The road winds through the karst landscape, snowy peaks behind.
Bends, valleys and mountain ranges to the horizon.
Light and shadow over the mountains of Asturias.
A ridge disappearing into the mist.
A pink basilica with two towers in front of the mountainside.
Left, carved capitals; right, the facade with its rose window.
The nave with a chandelier in the half-light.
The chancel with its cross and tall windows.
The basilica above the trees, the rock face behind.
Grey sea beneath a grey sky – back on the Atlantic coast.
Lots of sky, the coast right at the bottom.
A fishing harbour with colourful houses and boats in the rain.
“Mirentxu” on a pink house wall.
Boats in the harbour basin in front of houses with glazed balconies.
The harbour basin in the rain, houses all around.
A house with a glazed veranda behind branches.
On the road between Llanes and San Sebastián.
Houses reflected and distorted in a glass facade.
Curving metal surfaces against the sky.
A glass wall between metal shells, a person behind it.
Silver spheres stacked in front of the metal facade.
A yellow facade with balconies and blue tiles.
A wide sandy beach at low tide, two tiny walkers.
“Auténtico Raff 2,99” – tomatoes in the crate.
A tiled sign with a drawing on the stone wall.
“Merkatua” above the market.
A wave breaking beneath a grey sky.
A facade with balconies and shutters in San Sebastián.
Through the archway with a lantern to the facades of the square.
A Baroque church facade at the end of the lane.
A white arrow on the paving.
A brightly painted rowing boat from above.
Rows of houses along the harbour street, twice.
Colourful containers on the harbour wall.
“Untzi Museoa – Museo Naval” on the harbour.
Spray and surf up close.
The bay with its beach, the mountains behind.
A church tower between narrow houses with balconies.
“Sebastián” above a dark shopfront.
“Tabacos” above a green door.
A narrow house with balconies, a bench in front.
Left, an old lock on the wooden door; right, a barred window.
A blue door above a balcony on the peeling facade.
Fishing boats at the quay, the bay beyond.
The sea through a dark window, twice.
Surf on the cliffs, a boat out at sea.
A winding road above the sea.
Tilted rock strata on the cliff coast.
The cliff coast against the light – between mountains and sea.
