Summer Holidays (2015)

Second week.

Ansó

Arguably, one of the most beautiful villages in Spain.

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  Ansó.
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  A village hanging in the mountains.
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  Made of stones and flowers.
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  More stones and more flowers.
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  The church, with interesting architecture.
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  Remains from the republic.
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  1733.
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  A street.
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  Typical house.
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  The Plaza Mayor.
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  Balcony.
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  Meeting a friend.
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  The main street.
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  River nearby,
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  in the Valle de Anso.

Siresa

The village nearby Hecho, home of a Monasterio de San Pedro.

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  The 'Monasterio de San Pedro.
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  Close-up.
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  Typical house.
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  All stones.
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  With blackberries.
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  Even cars don't spoil it that much.
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  Notice the chimney again.
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  Imposing house.
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  Middle-age Virgin, XIII.
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  El Cristo de Siresa.
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  An impressive presence
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  of eerie modernity.
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  Triptych.
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  Christ again.
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  Middle-age painting.

Hecho

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  Casa la Cope, one of the oldest of the village, with locals discussing.
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  Typical rooftop.
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  Typical street.
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  Typical houses.
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  Typical view.
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  The church.

San Juan de la Peña

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  Incrusted in the rocks.
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  We first tried to visit with Georges.
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  But it was closed when we arrived.
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  So we returned, with Elena and Julia only,
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  to get literally inside the rock.
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  A pause in the visit.
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  The decoration pattern of Jaca.
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  Stones meets rocks.
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  The vault, supporting light and a mountain.
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  An unknown motif (maybe Cain & Abel).
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  Lazarus.
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  The last supper.
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  Detail of Jesus toying with Peter's mouth. Note also the disproportionate eyes.
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  The devil.
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  The famous claustro overall.

Santa Cruz de la Serós

There is also a village nearby, Santa Maria, which is worth a visit.

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  A little church at the exit of the village.
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  The main church.
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  The mountains, in the distance.

Vitoria

On our way to Asturias from the Pyrenees, we stopped by a couple of important locations. First one was Vitoria (or Vitoria-Gasteiz with its Basque name).

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  Typical architecture from the north,
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  with covered balconies,
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  hanging on all the floors,
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  sometimes protruding so much as to define a new house,
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  but always providing a very nice touch.
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  Vitoria's center is a series of concentric streets,
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  these are some of these.
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  A square.
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  Of course several wars also found Vitoria on its way.
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  The various elliptic streets are linked by such radial streets.
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  Vitoria is rich of street art.
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  Same view as above on our way back, in the evening.

Bilbao

Our next stop was Bilbao.

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  A specialty of these northern Basque cities are elaborated tapas ('pinchos).
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  Observing daring birds who like tapas too.
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  The streets of Bilbao are similar to those of Vittoria,
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  maybe a bit more looked after.
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  A beautiful church of naturally colored stones.
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  A shop cast in the church.
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  The sky fragmented between sunny and cloudy added much to the atmosphere.
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  We didn't cross to the other side. Bilbao is one of the biggest city in Spain.
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  Paseo by the river.
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  The main square.
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  More city-birds watching.
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  A livelier street.
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  A typical local game, throwing pellets to a frog.
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  Along the river.
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  The famous Guggenheim museum.
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  Detail of the architecture.
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  Inside.
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  You could make picture of some things, like this spherical mirror, but not everything.
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  This [1] was not supposed to be photographed.
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  Inside the previous structure. We never knew if this was licit or not.
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  This famous balloon puppy by Jeff Koons is all metal.

Beach

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  One of our favorite of Asturias is the beach.
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  There is great local seafood available.
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  The beaches are many and with a strong character.
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  Mixing sand and stones.
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  It makes for very nice walks along the sea.
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  It's not Cornwall but it's definitely superior to the Mediterranean beaches.
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  Julia in her tent.
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  A little fellow in a puddle.
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  Playing with the sand.
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  In the wet sand.
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  Looking at the see.
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  That sometimes get very close.
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  So close you could touch it!
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  Ayyye!
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  El Cabo de Peñas. The North-erst point of Asturias.
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  With impressive precipices.
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  And gorgeous waters.
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  Our little visitor coming there to the first, but certainly not the last, time.

Luanco

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  Luanco is a little village by the sea.
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  It has some of the touches of Northern architecture, although of course with moderation.
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  A nice tower.
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  Our favorite was the church, with its covered walk.
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  Interesting statue.
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  The night falling on Asturias.

Los Tornos

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  The fountain of the village.
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  On our way to the river, to go on the other side.
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  A little house in a field.
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  The abuelos' house from the other side.
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  Julia with the big rock we see from the house.
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  Bien tétée, bien repue.

Santa Maria del Naranco

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  Santa Maria del Naranco is one of the most famous Spanish churches.
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  It is from pre-roman times.
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  And was first used as a royal palace.
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  It is richly decorated and well conserved.
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  Recurrent theme, a man with a stick.
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  In the "crypt".
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  The nearby church of San Miguel de Lillo.
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  Very small, arguably more important.
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  But Santa Maria is more impressive.
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  And pretty.
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  With its imposing, and at the same time, frail, walls.
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  We could have spent the full day in awe of it.

Cangas de Onis & Covadonga

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  Asturias. The A and $\Omega$ of Spain.
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  On the Roman bridge.
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  The church of the Santa Cruz.
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  Covadonga.
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  Holy water from the mountain.
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  The modern cathedral.
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  With its peculiar (for Spain) red colors.
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  Villoria.
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  A little Cangas de Onis.

Soto

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  Soto.
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  With its tower.
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  And cute Asturian houses.

Summer Holidays 2015
First week: Valle de Hecho Second week: On the way to, and, Asturias.