All 6 entries tagged Asturias

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June 12, 2009

Asturias rocks

Follow-up to A short walk in Asturias from Transversality - Robert O'Toole

Pleistocene cave bears discovered living on the Asturian coast...

Cave bears

If you like limestone, you'll love Asturias...

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Blow hole

Beach

Vandalism?

Art.

Harbour



June 11, 2009

A short walk in Asturias

Follow-up to Ribadesella, Asturias from Transversality - Robert O'Toole

Sand lizards basking on a rock near to the edge of Poo de Llanes. Too fast for Lawrence to catch.

Lizards

Finding interesting insects on the long-distance coastal path.

Insects

A small river runs out of the mountains and down to the sea. We followed its course.

By the river

Spring wild flowers.

Flower

Along the river.

Lawrence

A shoal of fish. Lawrence wanted to jump in and catch them (in the style of Nigel Marven).

Fish

The river bed widens out into a cove.

River and beach

And down towards the sea.

Towards the sea






June 01, 2009

Ribadesella, Asturias

Follow-up to Funicular de Bulnes, Picos de Europa, Asturias from Transversality - Robert O'Toole

The Rio Sella cascades down from the Picos de Europa, quickly losing its momentum, and flowing out into the Bay of Biscay at the smart sea side resort of Ribadesella.

On several occasions we drove the short distance along the twisty coast road from Llanes, for drinks and food at the elegant Pastelería-Bombonería Nerian.

Ribadesella's long beach:

Ribadesella beach

Just like Baywatch:

Beach babe

Lawrence always finds interesting material for a beach sculpture:

Art

The Hotel Villarosario is one of many elegant buildings:

Hotel

Towns and villages in Asturias usually have a new play area:

Play area

The play area is next to a lagoon with a series of bird hides. We spotted a citrine warbler in the trees.

Lagoon

ThePastelería-Bombonería Nerian serves great pizza, hambuergesas, and an amazing selection of confections:

Cake


Chocolate shop

Chocolate shop 2

Fruity




May 20, 2009

Funicular de Bulnes, Picos de Europa, Asturias

Follow-up to El Museo Jurásico de Asturias from Transversality - Robert O'Toole

From our house in Poo de Llanes, Asturias, we could look South towards the Picos de Europa range. I had ridden through the mountains with Martin a couple of years ago, and wanted to take Emma and Lawrence to see the mountains, streams, meadows and eagles.

We drove down to the Arenas de Cabrales for coffee and tortilla. Here's a photo from the Garganta de Cares (gorge of the river Cares) to the East of Arenas:

Picos 1

Steep meadows fill the valleys:

Picos 2

The road winds along the river:

Picos 3

A grain store, typical of Asturias. Traditional farming practices are common throughout:

Picos grain store

Boarding the Funicular de Bulnes train, which travels 2km underneath a mountain, up to mountain village:

Funicular de Bulnes

At the other end of the tunnel, we walked along a remote mountain foot path.

Bulnes 1

Fishing in a mountain stream:

Bulnes fisher man

Goats, just like those in Lawrence's herd in Africa:

Bulnes 3

A view across to the peak of Naranjo de Bulnes, still covered in snow at Easter. As we looked out to the mountain, many large raptors drifted by on a thermal: Golden Eagles & Griffon Vultures.

Naranjo de Bulnes



May 18, 2009

El Museo Jurásico de Asturias

Follow-up to Poo de Llanes beach, Asturias from Transversality - Robert O'Toole

Near to Colunga on the Asturian 'jurassic coast', MUJA is an amazing museum full of fossils, reconstructions, and informative displays. It is built in the shape of a giant foot print, with each toe representing a different part of the Mesozoic, along with some Permian and Tertiary exhibits to put them into context.

It's a great place to hear a lecture by a leading palaeontologist:

Palaeontologist

Some of the exhibits can get quite hungry, best appease them with sacrificial children:

Sacrifice

This photo gives an idea of the vast size of the halls:

Brachiosaur

Lawrence correctly identified the oviraptor and explained its name (egg eating raptor):

Oviraptor

A display illustrating possible colour schemes for various Ceratopsidae.

Caratopsidae




May 17, 2009

Poo de Llanes beach, Asturias

Follow-up to Asturias again from Transversality - Robert O'Toole

This image from Google Maps shows the lagoon at Poo de Llanes, in Asturias. You can see how it has three parts: the shallow lagoon, a second sandy lagoon that fills up with water at high tide, and a creek with a river leading into the lagoon. Our house for the week in Asturias was in the village just at the bottom left of the picture, with a short walk down to the sea.

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The house:

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Countryside behind the house, looking towards the foothills of the Picos de Europa.

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Looking towards the creek.

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Looking towards the sea.

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Mountain weather in one direction, blue sea and sky in the other.

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Wading across the lagoon to a sea cave.

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