25 May - Bus trip Madrid to Oviedo, and afternoon in Oviedo

Up early. Walked to Sol Plaza and took a taxi to the Sur bus station. Bus station organized with Spanish efficiency. Had a coffee, then onto bus. Leaving Madrid land is flat with large fields of green and gold, young grains growing, like the land near Bredasdorp.

Just passed Leon and can see snow on the mountains ahead, 17degrees outside. Seen trees / forest now for first time. Driving through the mountains breath taking. Went past huge dam.

Arrived in city and found hotel. Went exploring and had lunch. Made a bad lunch choice - had Asturian stew, then tuna omelette and salad. The bean and pork stew had my tummy grumbling for the rest of the day and night.

Took a taxi to the Naranco pre-Romanesque palace and church. Amazed at the lack of security and the state of the buildings which had been built in the 880s. Walked down. Foot sensitive. Glad that I taxied up and did not try and follow the directions I had. Glad that was out of the way before the big day.  Later I went to the old cathedral, had my passport stamped and did the tour. Saw the relics. Thought about the past and what people believe in and thought control.

 Naranco pre-Romanesque!  

Evening wet and cold. Could not seem to find a bar that sold food - probably too early. Went into one bar and found an Argentinian tango dance class in progress - lovely. Bought 2 rolls, went home and wrote the diary. Tried to catch up on two nights of poor sleep.

Cathedral in Oviedo

23 - 24 May - Start days in Madrid

Had a really bad night as the drunken people in the bar four floors down spent much of their time in the street and the sound carried up to my room. Slept until about 7. From window saw refuse collectors out early, and people washing the road with huge powerful hoses. Fetched coffee from the vending machine in the hall, yuk. Dressed and ventured downstairs. Went to bar for breakfast of coffee and roll with olive oil. Have just checked Booking.com - other people had same complaint! Should have read the reviews!

Walked to Sol Plaza and then down to the cultural hub of the city intending to visit the Museum of Archeology. Many joggers out doing their own thing. Such a clean beautiful city, huge buildings with ornamentation.

Walked past the National Library and decided to go in, no cost. I am aware that this was a 'national' library but everything was so professional and the exhibition was very high tech. All signage in Spanish, nothing in English. Thank goodness for iPad and Wikipedia. They had an exhibition of Teresa of Avila, well known in the Catholic faith and much on the history of Don Quixote and printing. Not sure how a Rubens tapestry or Teresa fits into a 'library' exhibition and museum.

Went on the Archeological Museum but they were only opening at 13.00 - not my day! So turned around to walk to Prado. Walked past huge building - Palacio de Celibes - went in, modern art exhibition, no cost, fine. Had hand held English guides. Fascinating. Great lunch in museum of fried strips of marrow in humus and honey.

Went back to Archeological Museum. Closing at 3. Had 1/2 hour to look at things - saw red painted Greek vases (wrote exam on them) and huge Roman mosaics. So glad I done the course with Unisa. Tired so went back to hotel to catch up on sleep.

In late afternoon walked to Plaza Real to see the opera house where I have tickets for Fidelio. Had seen signs all over town for Cape Town opera's Porgy and Bess. Give guided tours between 10.30 and 13.00. May take a tour when I come back.

Plaza Sol is one of the busiest I have seen, people wandering around until late at night - buskers of all kinds trying to earn cash. One very slick group did break dancing. Sol is the official centre of Rome.

Another night of noise, downstairs drunk men and next door room TV. I have sensitive ears.

Dinner in Madrid

  

  

Dinner at a little restaurant in a busy street! A different world!

Grilled vegetables in season, wine and chickpeas

Flight out via KLM

Bought my ticket to fly to Madrid last year. At the time the cheapest flight was via KLM. I realise now why it was cheap. The flight was late at night, the plane was small and the passengers were cramped in. Nevertheless, the service was efficient Dutch.
Schipol airport is huge. Many shops have bulbs and cheese for sale but I guess I cannot bring any back to SA.
The image is of a placemat on the tray for breakfast. Nice picture - looks like a plate but is paper.

Planned route and guide

I will be ambling from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela. The time is between 16 and 20 days. Below are some maps of the route.
I am starting from Oviedo on 26 May and must be back in Madrid to fly out on Wednesday 17 June. I would like to be back in Madrid to attend the opera on Sunday 14 but since I have discovered that my ticket is for standing room, that is not a priority anymore.

Guide written by Liz Brandt ready and printed. The guide was downloaded from the Camino de Santiago Forum. The metal badge is of St James and the witch is unique to Galicia - given them when I volunteered as hospitalero on the French Route in 2012.