April 28 - You don’t always need a plan, just go

That’s what I did today and I had a wonderful time.  Today we arrived in Gijón (pronounced  He-Hone), the largest city in the region of Asturias.  Today the sun god must have been busy elsewhere because it was dreary, foggy, occasionally misty and cold. No matter.  Instead of going on a group tour I decided to find a taxi and have him take me on a little tour.  We were docked in a very large industrial port and Seabourn provided a shuttle to the old city.  When I got off the ship the bus was leaving for the drivers’ lunch break.  There was a delightful young woman, Laura, from the Gijón Tourist Bureau on the pier and with her help a taxi came and picked me up and off we went. It took a while for the car to arrive and while I waited Laura and I had a lovely chat about her education and family.  

My driver was José Antonio and I sat in the front with him as I like to do. He spoke only Spanish, but I’ve found I’m remembering more and more as the days go by and I understand basically everything.  We headed first to the old city, the Cimavilla.  It’s a small enclave by the sea with winding cobblestone streets and old buildings, some made of stone and many in the process of renovation. Gijón doesn’t have a cathedral unlike many cities, but we passed the oldest church.  In one of the squares there was a statue of King Pelayo, the first king of the Kingdom of Asturias.  It was he who defeated the Moors at the battle of Covadonga, sometime around 718 AD.  That battle is considered the first  one of the Reconquista, or Reconquest of Spain by Christians.  It ended in 1492 when Isabella and Ferdinand finally defeated the Moors.

King Pelayo, sorry it's not a better photo

We passed the aquarium (which I later heard was worth visiting.  Next time I guess.), the old railroad station which is now a railway museum and a little church which houses a Black Madonna.  There are many Black Madonnas in churches in this country because I’ve seen several others on other trips. This one was in a tiny little chapel which was very pretty.

The Church of the Black Madonna

We left the downtown and passed a more affluent area.  As we drove I had an interesting conversation with José.  He told me that people in his city try to buy their residence and many do because they don’t like renting.  I asked him if they have a problem with migrants like many other parts of Spain have.  He told me that they really don’t because 1) Gijón is not really on the way to other parts of Europe and 2) in Asturias migrants get very little assistance so if they don’t have a skill and can’t get a job, they are out of luck. Hmm, I wonder if there might be a lesson in there someplace?

We drove next to the Universidad Laboral de Gijón, a branch of the University of Oviedo.  This was a very interesting place. First, the building is the largest one in Spain. It began as a school founded by Francisco Franco, the dictator who ruled Spain after his forces won the Spanish Civil War in the 1930’s.  Franco was in charge when my family lived in Madrid. After his death he was really vilified because that civil war was very brutal, not unlike our own.  Back to the school. It was founded to care for and educate children orphaned by the deaths of their parents in the many mines in Asturias.  Over the years it was converted into a public university and now is home to the school of engineering. As we drove to the school José told me about the education system. (He has a 19-year-old daughter going to the university.)  Public ones are tuition free. If a student gets very good grades and wants to go to a university not close to home, she gets assistance to pay for living expenses including room and board. If his grades aren’t quite up to snuff, tuition is still free, but he must come up with the money to live on.

Can you tell I'm fascinated by this building?

The building is magnificent with a very tall belltower, a huge inner plaza and lots of decorative sculptures. There were students walking along and I thought they looked more professionally dressed than some of the students I see around William and Mary and they also looked a little older.  After we stopped so I could get out and take some pictures we drove on and passed the football (soccer) stadium and the bull ring. Needless to say, football is big. There are currently no bullfights because, according to José, the current mayor banned them.  He told me that he hopes if a new mayor is elected they will be able to be held again during fiesta days.  We may think they are brutal, but I think bullfights are a little part of the Spanish soul.

On our drive back to the ship, we talked a little about the politics in Spain and the world in general.  I was interested to hear that Franco’s legacy is not as negative as it once was. José seemed to think that the current king Felipe is a pretty good guy.  I think something in the king’s favor is that he’s married to Letizia, a commoner and former TV news journalist from Asturias. We discussed the war in Ukraine (they have some, not many, refugees in Gijón.) and we both agreed that finding a solution that will satisfy everyone will be very difficult.

Then we were back at the pier and we said our goodbyes.  Laura was there and I got a big hug and European kiss, kiss and went back onboard.  It may not sound like a typical tour day, but we did what I like best;  I got to talk to real people and learn something about how they live their lives.  Frankly at my age I find that much more interesting than seeing another cathedral or racing through a museum which by all rights should take hours or days to visit.  I hope that the people I encounter also learn from me that we Americans can be pretty nice people too because too often when I’ve been in tour groups there have been some people that are an embarrassment.  Okay, I’m off my soapbox now.

And last, but not least we played Trivia and we won again! That’s three in a row.  If this keeps up, our team members are going to have to stay well away from any railings. We’re getting all the faux leather, made in China, wonderful prizes and the natives will become restless.

Tomorrow is Bilbao and I don’t know what I’ll do there