2 for 1 - Day Trip to Gijon and another one another day to Luanco

So one weekend I decided to visit two beach towns, the first of which was Gijon, a seaside city 40 minutes north of Oviedo by train.

We thought we could lay out on the beach and have a relaxing afternoon but the sand was actually wet and cold. Also it was quite windy and not that warm, probably about in the mid 50s lows 60s.

So we decided to walk a little farther down to the right of the beach where we saw people laying down, hoping it was at least warmer there.

It was warmer, and dryer, so we rested a little. After a bit we were bored and decided to explore the beachfront businesses. After a but of walking we were tired and wanted to sit down and have a drink to relax so we stopped in this Indian bar to end the day.

The next day I felt adventurous and walked to the bus station myself and got a schedule for the little pueblos nearby. I asked my host mom Helen where the best photo opportunities were of the various little villages around and she told me either Luanco or Candas, but that Candas was the best option. So I hopped the bus for Candas and Luanco because they were close to eachother and went along for the 40 minute ride.

Getting close to the destination I kept my eyes open for the bus station in Candas. The bus continued into the town and stopped periodically letting locals off at random corners. I kept waiting for the bus station. Then we left the town and got on another highway and I realized there was no station in Candas and now we were headed to Luanco. Oh well, I guess photo op in Luanco it is. So, without an idea of what to see or where to go in Luanco I got off at the bus station, that actually did exist there.

This was the first thing I saw that was interesting. The church was situated right next to the water.

This is the view if you look to the right of the church from the previous photo.

If you continue to turn right from the previous photo this is the view of some houses that once were owned by fishermen at some point probably but now with the way waterfront property goes I'm sure no fishermen live there now.

I then turned around and decided to walk down this side street. As I walked a little old lady approached me and started talking quickly in heavily accented spanish about something to do with transportation and young people today and I couldn't really understand so I apologized and said I was foreign and she laughed and said something else I couldn't understand and walked off.

A little ways down the street was this bell tower. It's not a church, nor part of one, just a tower, with a clock, and some bells. It rang shortly after I started to walk away from it but not long enough for me to catch a video as I tried to capture one.

Here are some of the fishermen that probably don't live in those nice waterfront houses you saw earlier. Fishing is apparently this town's biggest income however as tourism is not really their thing here. This town was described to me by my house mother Helen as more of a working town.

I tried to get somewhere in time to take some photos of sunset but not knowing the town and being on foot kept me from achieving that. So here is a photo of a random street in the dusk. Most of the town's buildings were in this style.

I soon after this walked over to the bus station, which I found by accident on my way back. This town is really, really small. I didn't even know where I was walking the whole time and I still found my way back without even trying. Next post is going to be Madrid, which I visited the following weekend with some friends from a program from Iowa that study here.