A Working/Walking Thursday

Thursday, January 16, 2025

First and foremost, thanks to all of you who contacted us via Facebook or telephone in a tremendous show of support during a tough day in the aftermath of Laurie's car accident.

It was greatly appreciated to say the least.

Laurie is doing great. When I called her today to see how she was doing, she said that she felt much better than she expected.

I asked what she planned on doing for the remainder of the day expecting her to say that she would be resting at home. Instead I was told politely, "I have a hair appointment at 4:00 p.m., that I can't miss."

Thanks to the Miracle of the Honda Air Bag System, life goes on as scheduled.

I started my day with a stroll

through the ever present arcade

"Jacob, what are these

denizens of the deep?"

Lots of funky store windows

espied in Gijón today

Zoo can be a great Mariners Blitz

The Zooh's store window

You had to be there

The last two lines are so true

Now, THAT'S a proper sidra pour

Four hardy surfers were out to catch

a wave on Playa de San Lorenzo . . .

. . . and a few beach combers too

What sea life lurks in these rocks?

Interesting mini-courtyard

A sharp mural next to that same courtyard

How old is this weatherworn rock?

Modest church bell

The Plaza Mayor was quiet today

The yellow tiles were a good look

Old, new and a reflection

I am discovering more Chocolate y Churros

shops every day, they must have heard

that I was in town

A former bank building

Gorgeous . . .

. . . with interesting faces

I walked past this cool, eclectic

bar and plan to return for breakfast

tomorrow morning

I attended part of the Mariners Junior

flag team practice tonight

I mentioned Daniel Casteñon, the Mariners passionate coach of all three Mariners flag teams, in a previous post.

Passionate may be an understatement.

Daniel's coaching nights start with the Youth team at 5:00 p.m., followed by the Junior team workout at 6:30 p.m. and then the Senior team's practice at 8:00 p.m.

One of Daniel's long range goals is to be part of the Spanish Flag Football National Team's Coaching Staff for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

As hard as he works at his craft, I hope to see him in SoCal in three years.

Speaking of flag football . . .

The Mariners are home for a pair of 

flag football games this coming Sunday

The Juniors will take on the Oviedo Phoenix Rookies at 11:00 a.m., followed by the Seniors game vs. the Oviedo Phoenix at Noon.

It should be lots of fun.

Our Senior tackle team practice today was another good one performed in relatively balmy temperatures of 8°C/46°F, much warmer than at Tuesday's workout.

I love working with coachable players, we are making progress, little-by-little, day-by-day.

Week 2 Schedule of Serie A games

Western Conference games on the left,

Eastern Conference match-ups on the right

Our Mariners (0-1) have the Bye this week in the Western Conference.

In the Eastern Conference, the Barcelona Pagesos (0-1) are also resting this week.

The last college game of the season

will be played on Monday night

kicking off at 1:30 a.m., Gijón time

This works for me

Then there were eight

Another performance like this

would help greatly vs. Philadelphia

A typical Los Angeles Rams

Defensive Lineman

As for my Asturian workout regimen . . .

I did quite well in my first week abroad

Averaging 12,769 steps a day is,

for me, SPECTACULAR!

A Phone Call in the Middle of the Night

Thursday, January 16, 2025

It happened at about 3:35 a.m., Spanish time, this morning.

My phone rang while I was in a deep sleep yelling that Koreen FitzGerald was calling.

This could only mean one of three things.

1. She had butt dialed me, a common occurrence.

2. She was actually calling and forgot about the time difference between Camarillo and Gijón.

3. Something serious had happened.

It was #3.

Laurie had been in a car accident.

Her car, a.k.a., "The Blueberry," was totaled but the airbags had deployed as designed saving Laurie from any serious harm. She suffered only a bruised arm and a slightly scraped up shin.

Of course, the adrenaline had kicked in and she was a tad shaky when Brian FitzGerald arrived on the scene to help her.

He stayed with her as the police took over, a squad car happened to be passing the scene of the accident just after the crash.

Three eyewitnesses stopped and gave their statements to the police officer which all agreed on what had happened.

Laurie was turning left on a green arrow and the other driver ran a red light. The accident was definitely not her fault according to these statements.

It could have been much worse, thank goodness that she was safe and that friends like Koreen and Brian could step in during my absence.

Speaking of Brian, when he offered to drive Laurie home the police officer on hand said "No," Laurie would drive Brian's car home because Brian had been drinking.

Brian protested because he has taken up the "Dry January" banner and not had a drink in 11 days.

The officer would have none of it and forced Brian to take a field sobriety test that he passed with flying colors.

No good deed ever goes totally unpunished.

I had a video call with Laurie as Brian was legally driving her home and she was upbeat all things considered.

Still scary to say the least.

The Blueberry

THANK YOU Honda for your injury saving airbag system!

THANK YOU again Koreen and Brian for your friendship!

First Day Trip of the Season: Oviedo

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

I felt long overdue for a travel day so I headed to the Gijón Train Station to start the day's adventure.

The flags of Asturias, Spain and the

European Union

Using my Tarjeta Dorada discount card for the first time, my round trip train ticket for the excursion cost me only 3.80€.

I did have one snag in Gijón, my train was scheduled to leave at 10:00 a.m. from Track 1.

As I entered the rail yard, there was Track #1 on my left and I boarded the train on it to get out of the brisk air. It was an older train but it was warm inside, so I was good with it. At about 9:58 a.m., I heard the station's P.A. announcer say that the train I needed was about to leave on Track #1.

At the appointed departure time, a sleek looking new train pulled out on a track to our far right, but we just sat there.

I was on the wrong train but still headed to the correct city. We finally left at 10:20 a.m.

The train that I had wanted was an express making few stops along the way. The one that I was on was a local, stopping at every single train station along the way. Slower to be sure, but I made it.

The problem, I later found out, was that the Gijón Train Station has two Track #1s. One is for local trains and the other is for express runs.

Always learning, así es la vida . . .

Regardless, I made it to lovely

Oviedo

Founded in the 8th-century by the Asturian ruler Fruela, Oviedo is Spain's oldest Christian city.

It is now a university city with a charming medieval Old Town.

Time keeping at the Oviedo Train Station

is a MUST!

Oviedo's Train Station is medium sized

The Oviedo Train Station is not new

Based on my years of experience riding the rails in Spain, it seems to be the norm that Spanish train stations in big cities never have a tourist information (TI) center in the station.

Instead, one has to wander about asking kind strangers the way to the city's major sights.

Also the norm, I eventually stumbled upon a TI in the center of town and was given a map that perfectly met my further needs.

As always, the architecture wowed me

This was my one church of the day

Gaudy but cool

But which one was it?

Aha, the Basilica de San Juan El Real

Long time Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, was married in this Basilica in 1923.

Let us enter . . .

Ornate

Colorful

This was in an alcove filled with

burial wall units

La Virgen de la Covadonga

is the Patron Saint of Asturias

The main altar

I love cupolas

One last look at this beautiful

Basilica and its intricate decorations

D. Luis Riera Posada

beloved former Mayor of Oviedo

It should be noted that Oviedo has artful sculptures scattered throughout the city.

Yep!

Another random house of worship

a few blocks away, I did not enter

The souvenir store for the

Real Oviedo soccer team

I entered into a mini Real Oviedo

museum in the entryway

The RO club is now 99 years old

Lots of trophies on display

Onward to another huge mural

Ode to a Nudist Colony?

Just a guess on my part, all other sculpture photos have the correct titles.

Laurie and I ate lunch in that

building in the middle years ago

It is called Café Opera.

The opera theater around the

corner from the Café Opera

No comment

"Hope Walking"

The Ballerina

Soothing fountain

Maternity

Palacio de la Junta General del

Principado de Asturias

Hammer Time in Oviedo?

Ponies on Parade

Entry to the University of Oviedo

Anonymous Traveler

Big yellow buildings are all

the rage in Europe this season

Palacio de Valdecarzana

Four friends soaking up the

sunshine and sharing friendship

La Catedral de San Salvador

erected in the 16th-century

A nice fountain on the Catedral's

Plaza Alfonso II El Casto

 

La Regenta

Nice crest

La Catedral's tall tower

La Catedral's Main Entrance

Lots of detail

It cost 8.00€ to enter.

I didn't.

Looks Roman to me

Plaza Alfonso II El Casto

Remnants of a Renovation

The Camino runs through Oviedo!

Twice!

For the Coastal Route continue straight ahead.

For the Primitive Route, turn left now.

These two Camino routes that will

both end in Santiago de Compostela

Makes sense to me

King Pelayo perhaps

Ornate, the whole city is ORNATE!

In the Garden of the Caudillo Kings

A bold Warrior Caudillo King

A noble Noble

King Ramiro I

Keeping the Asturian dialect alive

Keeping my waist line alive

I was getting hungry.

How old is this crest?

I wondered the age of this next building

1780 it was!

Oviedo's City Hall

A lion on guard at City Hall

The Fisherwoman

The Fish Peddler

La Lechera

On her way to market

Just a gentle reminder that

Laurie can't get here soon enough

My DK Eyewitness Northern Spain

Guidebook mentioned but two places

to eat in all of Oviedo

This out of the way sidreria was one of them.

I entered.

It was empty when I entered but

packed when I left

Of course I ordered a bottle of sidra

It is the traditional adult beverage of Asturias.

But this tradition can be had by the bottle only. I was game but did not finish it, but not for lack of trying.

This fancy contraption eliminates the need for the usual tall, aerating pours by a waiter.

I got it to work beautifully.

I needed some greens

I ordered this apple and queso Cabrales salad with walnuts.

Amazing, but not for the faint of heart.

The salted veal steak and fries

were fantastic

So was the flan buried under

all of that whip cream for dessert

 

This was a GREAt dining experience

Thank you DK Eyewitness Northern Spain Guidebook!

Another plaza and an albergue

catering to the needs of pilgrims

on their Camino walk

Close up view of the City Hall

after my sumptuous meal

Randomly on a church

"NO BALL PLAYING ALLOWED HERE!"

Left over from the Holidays,

I think, in a nice city park

The famed Spanish language cartoon

character known as Mafalda

One of several sculptures named

Maternity

Grandson Jacob can rest easy,

Oviedo is indeed a town officially

Back at the Oviedo Train Station

This time I got onto the express train for a much faster ride home to Gijón.

It was good to have a day to myself with no football to speak of.

The Mariners will be back at it tomorrow night, should be FUN!

How about one last statue named

Maternity