Aviles

Today it was a short mid morning bus from Gijon to Aviles. You can also see our entire route here, from San Sebastián in the east. 

Of course it was coffees opposite the bus station before departure.

Aviles is one of the three main cities in the Asturias region of Spain, and has a dual personality. Industrial and historic, dating back to Roman times.

The attraction for tourists, is the magnificent old town. This is the main square, Plaza Espana.

We are staying in the plaza at Palaccio de Aviles Hotel.

This was something of a treat for our last night in Spain, but still costs way less than a Novotel in Sydney. Lovely inside...

...and a room with a view as well. We think the receptionist took pity on us due to our pelegrino looks.

We had enough time for a quick look around town before lunch. The oldest church in Aviles, the 13 th century Inglesia de los Padres Franciscanos...

...beautifully ornate inside.

Lovely colonnaded streets...

...and an old market square.

There are lots of great looking bars and restaurants here, but the hotel offered us a great lunch and breakfast package so we dined in. As usual, we were first in a 2 pm..

An, English speaking couple checking out as we came in told us the food was excellent, and they were right..marinated fresh sardines with cauliflower cream...

...grilled squid with couscous...

...traditional veal stew in a corn meal pie...

And for dessert, apple with caramel ice cream and dulce de leche, and some crunch....

...white chocolate mousse and mango.

Siesta time again after that, but our rest was disturbed by the sound of waltzing matilda being played by a bagpipes band. Turned out to be a band from Auckland over for the medieval/Celtic festival that was on in the town.

We strolled the streets and went to the town museum. Turns out Aviles was the main port of embarkation for those seeking their fortunes in Cuba. Those that realised the dream came back and built statelet homes.

There were more colonnades...

...one of the biggest parks in the Asturias....

..and the usual early evening buzz.

We decided on the much recommended El Panol restuarant. Lovelyeople, but a little disappointing we thought. The signature dish was stuffed artichokes...

...and the recommended main, grilled octopus.

You certainly couldn't complain, but no wow factor. We walked through Plaza de Cabayo..

...and watched the Celtic singing, quite an atmosphere, but not really to our taste.

The streets though looked quite something.