Coaching for Pizza: A GREAT Day for Yet Another Exploration Walk and a Powerful Play

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Let's start this post with an update from Camarillo about my young bride Laurie's health.

After her horrific car crash Wednesday night, she is doing remarkably well. Her two main issues are the bruises left on her arms when the air bags deployed and a baseball sized bruise on a shin of unknown exact origen.

Her spirits are as upbeat as always. I'm sure that all of the support that our family and friends have given her in the last few days has been a big part of bolstering her attitude.

She actually drove my car down to the towing yard to see what was still left in her car.

The Blueberry was declared a total loss by our AAA insurance agents. The man at the towing yard once he realized that Laurie had been the driver of the Blueberry had but one comment, "How in the world did you walk away from that?"

By the grace of God, a good seat belt and the amazing Honda air bag system would appear to be the correct answer.

After a relative day of rest on Friday . . .

. . . it was time to attack another day!

It was time to stretch my legs and see more of the sights of wondrous Gijón.

A highly ranked dining establishment

Only a few blocks from our La Cabaña

It was highly recommended by Mariners Team President, Kiké Prado Alonso, as well when we drove past it Thursday night.

Sounds like a good spot for dinner once Laurie arrives.

A freshly washed arcade this morning

The harbor was peaceful

Is that an old, repurposed cannon?

King Pelayo was looking resplendent

on this beautiful morning

Damn, it's a music concert

I saw the squared circle at the bottom and thought that pro wrestling was coming to town.

Today's breakfast spot was on

the tranquil Plaza Mayor

It had a fun nautical and

Cuban rhythm to it

Across the top of the bar was an

interesting medical inscription

It read, in part: "The most famous master formulas from the island of Cuba. Unbeatable specifics."

The Mariner of Havana

Information on Cuban Postal Service

Steamship travel times

Yes indeed, a cool nautical vibe that

matched yet another solid breakfast

Café con leche and a slice of tortilla de patata as usual.

No churros y chocolate today, I'm eating healthy today.

I love these old crests spotted on

random buildings as I stroll

The Playa de San Lorenzo was

whispering my name

While I was listening, I had one planned visit to make first.

My stop was near the Iglesia de San Pedro

The ancient Roman Thermal Baths that

date back to the end of the 1st-century A.D.

These were once public baths used

by citizens and slaves alike

They were a great spot to meet friends, gossip or talk business depending on one's needs.

A nearly 2,000 year old pot

I wonder what it says

Much of the baths have still not been

excavated as they sit under the nearby

Iglesia de San Pedro

Ruins are fascinating to me as I

channel my inner Indiana Jones

There was a necropolis discovered

here as well

A remaining, colorful Roman wall

This was the second museum that I have visited in Gijón, the Train Museum was the first. Both did not charge for admission, how refreshing for us travelers on a budget!

This site was fairly small but was still of interest to me, now what was that whisper that I heard earlier?

On the beach at Playa de San Lorenzo

The city of Gijón's coastline ends in a small peninsula known as the Cimavilla that splits the coastline in two.

To the West is the calm, lake-like Playa de Poniente where I live.

To the East lies the Playa de San Lorenzo with its small rolling waves and shallow bottom which are perfect for beginning surfers of which there were many.

A great January day for a dip

But definitely not for me.

Remnants of seaweed from

last night's tides

Riding the wild surf

Four more surfers hitting the

Bay of Biscay waves

MI found ore surfers the farther

East that I walked along the beach

What was that up ahead?

It was indeed a pick-up

beach soccer game

That ball is WAY up there

Defending the Goal at all costs

Keeping the ball alive with

a picture perfect header

As I progressed farther East, I

ran across the hotel that Laurie and

I stayed in during our first visit to

Gijón in 2015

It is the Hotel Principe de Asturias.

One of Gijón's many fine parks

A replacement for Laurie's Blueberry?

A semi-war surplus/survivalist's

dream store

I just liked the sign

A bread line?

There are bakeries all over the city that specialize in selling various delicious bread products.

All of them are easy to get both in and out of usually.

The bread at this bakery must be amazing if people are willing to stand in a slow moving line to get a loaf or two on a Saturday afternoon.

I'll come back on a weekday, maybe the line will be smaller.

Love toucans

I thought that the tree was artsy

against this background

Nice roofline

The City of London is the

name of this store

This was a new street for me

with lots to see

Another bread line, quality has its price

A large public gazebo in front of . . .

. . . this church

Iglesia de San Lorenzo is

tall and majestic . . .

. . . with an ornate Main Altar

The Risen Christ and His Mother

Two Crests of local Bishops

The crest on the left belonged to the bishop in 1901 when this church was first consecrated.

The one on the right was the bishop's crest in 2001 during the church's Centennial Celebration.

There were six similar confessionals

throughout the church

The priest's doorways were all different and nicely decorated.

I especially liked . . .

. . . these two

La Virgen de la Covadonga

yet again

He died for our sins

More classic architecture

Is that the color mauve?

It's Saturday, the international day

for youth basketball and . . .

. . . volleyball games at local school gyms

Christ is EVERYWHERE!

A muse residing on the

public library building

Great building resplendent

in the sunshine

Probably on the blog before

but it looked even better today

Gijón is a historically a naval city

The walkway on our Playa de Poniente

is named after this former Gijón mayor

In the evening I was scheduled to go to Gijòn's Teatro Jovellanos to take in a play that was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m.

I left La Cabaña at 7:40 p.m. for the walk to the theater.

I found these two cheapskate soccer

fans peering through a restaurant

window to watch a game on TV

Chestnuts, castañas in Spanish,

roasting on a cold January night

Gijón's answer to Las Vegas

The grand Teatro Jovellanos

Nice glass work above the

main doors

The Teatro Jovellanos is cozy

The view from my seat

This free booklet outlines all of the

events scheduled from January to June

Tonight's most interesting

and thought provoking play

There are but these three actors in the play all wearing these huge full head masks.

They portray a family composed of a mother, father and their son who was born with a defective right arm and right leg.

While there is music and a few sound effects, the play is 100% void of any verbal communication.

The expert body language and pantomime used to convey this heart warming and, in the end, gut wrenching tale about deteriorating family dynamics was truly amazing.

It made for a thought provoking evening at the theater, I'm glad that I attended.