Sunday, March 15, 2009

Gijon and Bilbao







Back to my travels...The first stop on the second cruise after leaving the port of Lisbon was a place on the northern, Asturian coast of Spain, named Gijon. It is pronounced much like a donkey's bray (or if you speak spanish, you may try their phonetic Xixon (accent on second syllable)). Our tour also took us into Oveido on a Sunday. Many shops were closed, as I expected, but a few were opening up. Our first point on the tour was an ancient Roman structure (about the size of a small barn) that had served several uses over its thousand years. It was up on a hillside overlooking the city and the view it commanded was just grand! The weather was cool and breezy, and it was perfect for a morning hike. My poor mother was about three fourths the way up, and realizing that she was going to have a hard time going down and debated whether it would be best to start right away. I am glad she persevered and got to see it. The structure itself was used as a summer house by conquering Romans, a troups barracks, a storage house, and finally as a national historical site. It is amazing how long some things last, if preserved even a little. We had to hike back down the hill, and my mom convinced the tour guide that a cab was essential, not just for herself but also another. The bus driver was not very cooperative, and my mom may not have hiked at all if he hadn't insisted she get off the bus, but it worked out well in spite of it all. The next spot for the tour was Oveido where we got to see many local Roman Catholics filing in to their church service. I am sure they loved (heavy sarcasm) a bunch of American tourists getting in the way and gawking at their buildings. Right after noon, there was an impromptu celebration parade of drumming and flute playing groups dressed up in traditional costumes. I don't think it was planned, but an amazing coincidence. There were several of these groups, some only eight members, some as large as 50. They marched through their streets (most of which were pedestrian only) playing and carrying their banners. I think the best description might be that they were clubs organized by heritage? It was amazing to watch and the music was lively. There were also a number of public statues to look at, and mimic. Our favorite was the 'travellers' since they, laden with luggage, looked so much like our own experience. However, another statue deserves a mention - the double butts. How funny that statue looked in this very conservative town! There was also a 400 year old University. Think about that next time you visit our own schools.

I need to mention how clean these cities were, especially Bilbao. Bilbao was a fairly large city and it had NO dirt or trash anywhere. There were no homeless people, no beggars. Everyone was well dressed and proper. There were sidewalk cafe's filled with customers. There were high-rise buildings all around with excellent public transportation busses and trams. It was like an urban utopia, and I did wonder what it cost them. Do they have to pay high taxes to support the cleanliness? Do they lock up all their unsavories somewhere, or just take them someplace else? I saw young people and old, but no one who was really old. It was a little bit creepy in that respect. One of the four Guggenheim museums is located in Bilbao, and it was impressive in a modern way. Near it was a unique playground for kids of all ages. There was a snack stand and restroom (free!). There was a giant ropes structure on which you could climb, and I was so glad I had taken my daughter. We played for an hour on this playground. There were also really strange variations of traditional playground equipment, and there were mound of texturized semi-spheres in the ground on which you could sit or jump. Older kids were playing there too, jumping from sphere to sphere. In front of the museum is a giant statue of a puppy that is a 3-D flower bed, covered with the pinks, yellows, reds and greens of blooms and leaves. At the gift shop, we purchase a tshirt souvenier with the flower puppy, and the cashier said, "Grathiath" in perfect kings' spanish lisp. I marvelled that such an advanced society still spoke spanish like thick-tongued five-year-olds. People are amazing. My daughter and mother did very well on this tour, and it was amazing to see such places that I never would have guessed were there.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing! It is great to get a chance to see other parts of the world, and other people especially. I wish the people around here would take more pride in their surroundings and keep the place clean.

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