First Full Day in Gijón

Thursday, January 9, 2025

I had a much needed night of sleep that was interrupted only by my concerns for Michael and Susan D'Antuono who are now without a home after the latest round of wildfires in Southern California.

I wish that there were something magical that I could do or say to help them but there just isn't.

I opted to start my day by exploring a little bit more of my new neighborhood.

OK, Gijón, let's see what you've

got for me today

One thing was apparent instantly

It is Winter and we are quite a bit north of the Equator. This was the view at 8:00 a.m. when I exited my apartment.

The skies began to light up finally about twenty minutes later.

I headed to the Café Luzmar Poniente around the corner for breakfast.

The Café was quiet as they had just

opened and I was their first customer

My first café con leche and tortilla

Española were both solid choices

At only 3.40 Euros, it was a bargain to boot.

I was ready to set off on what would become a 2.2 mile morning constitutional.

Lots of graffiti and lots of eating

spots not yet open at this hour

I stumbled upon a nearby butcher shop

Sheldon Cooper opened up a school?

May Day Parade poster

Work Less

Produce What Is Necessary

Distribute

Another dining spot offering

traditional Asturian food

Remember, Gijón is located in the Province of Asturias.

This music school deserved

a closer look

Most interesting

Gorgeous architecture as

the Sun rose, nice crane too

One Cool Dude!

More eye pleasing architecture

I need to find out this building's function

Good sign, good harbor

Impressive

Ode to Asturian Green Sidra Bottles

King Pelayo

Founder of Asturias in 718 A.D.

King Pelayo is credited with the start of the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors.

By establishing the Asturian monarchy, King Pelayo became the forefather of all of the future Iberian monarchies including the Kings of Castile, Kings of León and Kings of Portugal.

I just liked it

A government building perhaps

Goofy Gijón based shirts for sale

City Hall, I believe

Nothing says "Northern Spain"

more than a Chinese dragon head

Lovely

Just a random church

The Cantabrian Sea was calm

but not for long

Built in 1928, the Municipal Fish Market

is now full of city government offices

 

Iglesia de San Pedro in the distance

Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus

The Iberian Peninsula was part of the Roman Empire two millenia ago.

Remember, in the movie Gladiator, Russell Crowe's character was called "The Spaniard."

I would find out why his statue was here a bit later in my walk.

Iglesia de San Pedro looked

great this morning . . .

. . . it was solid looking all the way around

It is a relatively new church built between 1945 and 1955 on the same site as a 15th-century church which functioned as the city's only parish church up until the late 19th-century.

The Royal Yacht Club

I've always liked this color which

is quite common in Europe

 

Behind these ancient walls is

an elementary school playground

A lone surfer paddling out on

Playa San Lorenzo

AHA!

The reason for the statue of Caesar Augustus nearby was these Roman Thermal Baths built between the 1st and 4th-centuries. 

They were rediscovered in 1903 and are now a museum which allows visitors to see the baths and several archeological objects on the site.

It warrants a full visit in the next few weeks.

Our surfer caught a wave

Playa San Lorenzo was spectacular

at this early hour

"Remember, it is possible to live

without drinking our cocktails but

you would be living worse."

One big star

Great architecture . . .

. . . lots of great architecture!

Jesus overlooking the city

Aqua ceramic tiles are a nice touch

Basílica del Sagrado Corazón

I opted to step inside.

WOW!

The Public Library

I need to return with my passport to get a library card next week.

Iglesia de San José catching

some early morning sunshine

In 1946, this church replaced a 19th-century one that was reduced to ruins during the Spanish Civil War. 

Asturias is famed for its worker

friendly, rebellious attitude

A Mexican restaurant close

to my apartment

A politically active city

"If the capitalists want war,

let them kill each other."

In the afternoon, we met at this

spot for a meeting with the Press

Pura Vida is a consortium of seven bars that have been long time sponsors of the Mariners.

Outside the Pura Vida, the Cantabrian

Sea was getting rough as it drizzled

One of my Guadalajara Stings friends who loves Asturias told me that in this northern province you can get all four seasons in one day.

He may be correct from what I've seen so far today.

2025 Gijón Mariners Schedule

The top sticker was the original

oner used by the team years ago

One battle hardened helmet

Tony, on the right, was one of the

co-founders of the Mariners

Here he is gifting the old helmet to one of the owners of the Pura Vida.

Tony met fellow Mariners co-founder Daniel Casteñon a quarter of a century ago and found that they both had a passion for American football.

After buying a football, they started playing catch on the beach in front of my apartment during the Summer.

First there were the two them, then gradually other beach goers joined them playing catch and eventually pick-up games of touch football erupted.

This friendship and the interest for the game that others showed in playing it, led to the founding of the Gijón Mariners in 2001.

The rest, as they say, is history.

At 8:00 p.m. tonight, I finally got the chance to step onto the practice field with the Mariners team for the first time.

Warmups on a good synthetic

grass playing surface

We use this facility for practice only, our games are played in a nearby stadium that has a natural grass field. 

Head Coach Nacho Valdés setting

the night's tone

The early part of practice was

devoted to Special Teams

Here we are about to Kickoff with players looking good in their new, used jerseys donated by Terry Terrazone and the St. Francis H.S. Golden Knights.

We had a sharp, spirited practice and I was quite impressed by our Defensive players techniques, aggressiveness, knowledge and quickness tonight.

We now move on to a one hour walk through practice at 9:00 p.m. on Friday followed by Game 1 of the 2025 season opener on Saturday at home against the Coslada Camioneros.

The complete LNFA Week 1 Schedule

The Eastern Conference bye this week goes to the Mallorca Voltors.

In our Western Conference, the Zaragoza Hurricanes are off this week.

A solid first day of exercise in Gijón

Grim News From Home As I Traveled to Gijón, Spain

Tues. & Wed., January 7-8, 2025

This was supposed to be a fun post about my long set of flights to Spain and would have been until I got word from Laurie about another set of wildfires in Southern California driven by fierce Santa Ana winds.

Although we had a calm, smooth drive to the airport early on Tuesday, Laurie sent me a text message when she got back home that the Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas were all ablaze.

When I finally arrived in Gijón, I dashed off a text to Michael D'Antuono to make sure that he and his wife Susan, who we had brunch with on Sunday and have a beautiful home in Altadena, were safe from the fires.

Soon after, I got the a message back from Michael that they were both safe but they had lost their home in the firestorm.

Absolutely devastating news which hit hard.

Their now lost home of about 50 years was beautiful and held memories many wonderful soirées.

Heartbreaking.

As for my trip . . .

My first flight to chilly

Philadelphia was on time

This five hour and nine minute flight was a good one overall until we landed.

My legroom was livable

I had my usual aisle seat and was fortunate to have the middle seat unoccupied.

I only had a one hour and 27 minute layover before my next flight to Madrid took off.

Our plane arrived a bit early but as we got just a hundred yards from the gate we came to a halt. A disabled plane and several planes pulling away for takeoff were blocking our path.

We sat on the tarmac for 38 minutes. Once cleared to move, we were at our gate in less than a minute.

Then the cabin started to unload as slowly as possible making my connection tougher by the second.

Like those old O.J. Simpson Hertz car rental commercials where he ran through airports, I moved as fast as I could to my new gate aided greatly by the use of the many moving sidewalks in the airport.

I MADE IT!

An aisle seat with MUCH more legroom

This flight lasted six hours and 54 minutes and led to another sprint through this time the Madrid Airport for my next connection.

I had a 90 minute layover and memories of a long ago slow bus ride from one terminal to another at this airport worried me.

Little did I know that in the intervening years a high speed underground rail service had been added to the scene making the terminal-to-terminal trip much more efficient.

I got to my gate with plenty

of time to spare!

Nice architecture in Madrid's airport

Absolutely NO legroom on this flight

The two pluses were that no one was in the middle seat again and it being only a one hour and 15 minute flight.

As a final bonus, my one large suitcase that voyaged in the three different cargo holds made the transfers successfully with me.

Kike Prado Alonso, the Gijón Mariners President, met me at the airport and whisked me off to my new apartment.

After dropping off my bags, we walked about two short blocks to a great restaurant for lunch.

Tierra Astur was the call

Traditional Asturias sidra bottles

turned into green ceiling lamps

It added to the authentic Asturian ambience of the meal.

Queso Cabrales is not for everybody

This local cheese favorite is best described as bleu cheese on steroids.

I loved it!

Great meal, GRACIAS KIKE!

Now as for my new neighborhood . . .

My apartment is on the ground

floor in the middle of this building

My apartment faces this beach

 

Nice weather for a walk today

Art at the beach is a nice touch

Boat like buildings

Back in the day, our beach area was a mecca for boat building, thus this architectural tribute to the area's history.

The Gijón Aquarium is only five

minutes from my apartment

An interesting artsy train engine

structure in front of . . .

. . . the Train Museum of Asturias

This site is only a five minute walk in the opposite direction of aquarium.

Cool building that houses the

Alimerka, my local supermarket

Arcades give clues to local

weather patterns

I have found over the years living in Europe that they signal a city in need of to cover for pedestrians from rainy and/or snowy conditions or from burning Summer Sun or both.

A good touch regardless of the reason.

A Clam Shell in the sidewalk

A reminder that the Northern Route of the Camino de Santiago runs through Gijón.

Located in the corner of my

apartment building

I will be trying it out tomorrow morning for a café con leche and a slice of tortilla Espanola.

As for Gijón Mariners doings . . . 

The local newspaper ran this

article on Tuesday

It must have been a slow news day locally.

I had a good video phone call with the Mariners LB Coach Iván Canto in the evening in preparation for Thursday night's practice. It was a crucial talk as this is . . .

. . . GAME WEEK!

Rather sudden, but we open the 2025 Spanish Division I season at home this Saturday against the Coslada Camioneros from the Madrid area.

Things happen quickly around here!

Reading Is FUNdamental!

A fascinating read juxtaposing

Guglielmo Marconi's experiments

in wireless communications and a

gruesome murder in London

This was another great book recommended by Michael D'Antuono.