Asturias

Today we drove west along the coast from Cantabria to Asturias. These are what we might call provinces, but which Spain calls “autonomous regions,” which is more culturally accurate and is part of why no one can agree on anything around here.

The scenery along the way was very beautiful.

In an attempt not to go another day without eating anything until 5:00, we stopped in the village of Comillas for lunch and then walked around. We ran across this archway that had a plaque explaining that it was designed by Antoni Gaudí himself, who envisioned it while walking on the Comillas beach and sketched the outline in the sand with a stick. Which made me realize that every story I have ever read about a famous architect designing anything always starts with a sketch on an airplane napkin or a coaster or an envelope or something like that. Did they never start by going to work in the morning and making an architectural drawing at their desk or having a brainstorming session with the summer interns?




We ended the day in Ribadesella, where we stayed here, the former summer home of a Cuban tobacco baron who named the home after his wife Rosario. The hotel is called Villa Rosario. This is one of many grand former summer homes along the Ribadesella beach that have been turned into boutique hotels, that even though they can be appropriately called “boutique,” are so much cheaper than similar places in the U.S.

This Ribadesella tree reminds me of our dog.












Couple of questions here:




1. When is the last time you saw a store with this word on the sign?

2. Did you ever get bored with your job and think “I'd like to shut down for a few days. No particular reason; I just want to shut down.” Well that’s what the owner of this store did, who posted this sign saying that he or she just wanted to rest for a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience. So much to learn from these people.