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Criss-crossing Asturias

A longer stay abroad has a lot to do with experiences and adventure, and as seasoned German train passengers, Mecki and Mike know exactly where to reliably find all that: on the train.  Riding on a German train is always both exciting and entertaining, because who knows whether the train will run at all, and if so, when, and who you'll be sitting or standing next to.  Mecki and Mike definitely enjoy traveling by train.

Now, in Asturias, the Spanish railroad company Renfe has an absolutely irresistible offer for the two of them: the four-month ticket for the Cercanías Asturianas, Asturias' local rail service, for as little as 10 euros in total.  Mecki and Mike learned about this offer in their language class “Español para Inmigrantes”, and they think that this tip alone made the language class worth attending.  And the savings get even better.  If you travel on the Cercanías 16 times during these four months, Renfe will refund the 10 euros at the end.  In other words, free local rail transport, thanks to the Spanish taxpayers who finance all this for the greater good of reducing the country’s CO2 footprint.  It goes without saying that Mecki and Mike bought the ticket straight away.  Let's have a look at what they experience in Asturias – whether it’s by bike, car, bus or train.

Some figures first : Asturias is located in northern Spain, between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains.  At 10,000 square kilometers, it is roughly the size of the Rhineland, and its population of 1 million people is about the same as Cologne’s.  So, few people but lots of nature.

The easiest destination to reach from Oviedo by Cercanías is the neighbouring city of Gijón.  On the one hand, this is very practical: Gijón is a great place for shopping, you can take a stroll along the coastal promenade, and last but not least Mike works at the Technical University of  Gijón - and he really enjoys doing so.  On the other hand, Oviedo and Gijón do not have an uncomplicated relationship.  The two cities are similar in size - the only major cities in Asturias - play in the same soccer league - la segunda división - and over the course of many decades have developed a rivalry of the finest kind.  Ovetenses and Gijóneses, as you say in Spanish, like each other like people from Cologne and Düsseldorf, Austrians and Germans, Canadians and Americans.  So it’s no surprise that if you live in Oviedo and work in Gijón, you'll be cautiously asked which side you're on.  Mike prefers to answer this question with his Real Oviedo fan scarf or with a reference to their visit to the home game against Tenerife - 3:1 for “us”, by the way, a great evening - and is pleased to discover that his friends and colleagues from Gijón very much respect his decision for” the other side”.  When it comes to such an important issue, you do have to take a stand, and if leads to disagreements - no big deal, Spaniards love disagreements.

But of course Asturias has way more to offer than its two largest cities.  The Cantabrian Mountains begin right behind Oviedo.  At Las Segadas, the third Cercanías station after Oviedo Central, you are already in the middle of them.  Thus, a slightly extended after-work excursion can actually play out like this: You need eight minutes on the train to Las Segadas, then an hour and a half to hike up Pico Bustiellu, where you take a rest at the summit to enjoy the mountains around you.  In the case of the Cantabrian Mountains that includes not only great views but also - and quite reliably so - the sight of numerous griffon vultures soaring in the updrafts of the mountains.  From the top of Pico Bustiellu, it’s roughly an hour to return to Las Segadas, and almost back home you are.  Not too bad.

However, the most exciting tours through wild Asturias are of course the hikes with Mecki’s and Mike’s senderistas (hikers) friends of the Grupo Montaña del Naranco, who head off for the mountains every second Sunday.  So, every 14 days, there is a tough but really beautiful, often downright spectacular mountain tour with nice people and entertaining conversations.  Sure, for Mecki and Mike these conversations still include a lot of gestures, but they increasingly often work out in more or less regular Spanish.  After all, you learn something new every day.  And every hike.  Wet feet, for example, means pies mojados, and summit kiss means beso de la cumbre.  Which gets you pretty far already.

And if, at some point, your language skills still aren’t good enough, no reason to worry, for Spaniards will do all they can to help out a lost German visitor.  Like, for example, Firmin, the landlord of the country inn “Marroncín” in Cangas del Narcea, who first patiently explained the menu to us - which can be quite tedious in the case of Mecki, who likes to understand menus in their entirety instead of ordering contentedly like Mike does as soon as he has reaches the first dish he likes - and then asked about the cycling plans for the next day.  He found them quite good, but not good enough, because a trip to the Puerto del Connio should be much nicer.  Sure, the pass might be a bit remote and sometimes quite steep, but there’s hardly any traffic and the views from the pass road into the Rio Muniello valley are the most beautiful far and wide.  With this recommendation, he finally made his way to the kitchen to place Mecki’s and Mike’s order, and what can we say?  Firmin didn't promise too much.  Steep climbs, refreshing and speedy descents, a deep valley and the glowing autumn forest – some tours just stick out from the ordinary.

If you like sporty and steep cycling routes, Asturias is the place to be.  How good that Mike managed to finish building his new bike just in time - click here to see how it was made - and that Mecki got her new carbon racer as well.  It's more fun to fight your way up a mountain riding a bike you like, and there are plenty of beautiful mountains around Oviedo.

And then, there is of course the sea.  Mecki and Mike often head off for a hike along the coast with their friends Olga and Sascha from the Spanish class - to get some fresh air, watch the waves and ships and have a chat.  And these chats are special.  They are always in Spanish and always rather on the awkward and funny side, as you can hear from the very first sentence that in this group, definitely nobody’s mother tongue is Spanish, and in fact it is either German or Ukrainian.  Oncoming hikers often get an amused grin when they meet the four Spanish struggling foreigners.  But Mecki and Mike think that this is just fine.  Asturias has given them so many wonderful things - griffon vultures, summit kisses, wet feet - that they are happy to return a little bit of amusement every now and then.

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