San Julian de Los Prados

San Julian de Los Prados, about a mile northeast of the Oviedo cathedral. Constructed during the reign of Alfonso II in the first half of the 9th century.

Exterior, on March 21, 2018:

Interior, photos from postcards and a book, since photography is not permitted inside:

The entire interior is painted.  There are four crosses in the upper registers along the main axis of the basilica-plan church.

There are no humans or animals depicted. The main designs are buildings viewed through windows that are draped with curtains. The building arches are also draped with curtains.

There are plant motifs as well.

There are zones of tromp l'oeil architectural elements as well as the illusionistic windows.

The painted barrel vault designs evoke mosaics.

And a reconstruction. Most of these images are from La Pintura Mural en el Reino de Asturias en los silos IX y X, by Lorenzo Arias Paramo (Libreria Cervantes, Oviedo, 1999).

(Very) Clean Streets

We hadn’t been in Oviedo long before we realized that keeping the streets clean is a very big deal here. There is a wide array of civic street-cleaning equipment, and small vans with rotating brushes make the rounds past our apartment two or three times a day, every day of the week. Workers sweep up with old-fashioned, witchy brooms, but also power wash the streets and public trash bins regularly.

A convoy of street-cleaners

Power-washing

Cleaning the waste bins

The determination of these clean-up efforts was most apparent early on New Year’s Day. We live near one of the main party zones in town with lots of bars, and celebrations were still going strong when we woke up at 8am. By 9am the street-cleaners were coming through, having to wind their way through party-goers, who were just beginning to straggle home. By 10am there was no trace of the mighty revelry that had gone on the night before!

Revelers at 8am (sunrise is 8:55am!)

Street-cleaner and revelers face off at 9am

And sweeping, too

Vans are state-of-the-art, brooms more traditional

Making a neat line

So the van can gobble it up...

and in action!

Cabalgata de Reyes, aka Cavalcade of the Kings

In Spain parades featuring the three Magi take place on the eve of Epiphany or Twelfth Night, January 6. We went to the magnificent version that Oviedo produced last night at 7pm. The procession, with more than 1500 participants (participants, not viewers – the latter estimated at 100,000), began in the newer, commercial part of town, and then passed very close to us in the old city.

It was an Orientalist’s fantasy! Each of the three kings, Melchor, Gaspar, and Balthazar, had his own entourage, and between were courts and emissaries from all possible eastern kingdoms – real and imaginary: Rajastan, Omar, Turfan, Siam, Macedonia, Nineveh(!), Samarkand, Ethiopia. I’ve appended the complete list of the exotic elements at the end of this post. Each group wore stupendously elaborate costumes, and many carried ornate staffs or standards.

Interspersed were marching bands, including church musical groups, the local Asturian bagpipers, and the excellent, professional City of Oviedo Band.

It took about 45 minutes for the whole procession of people, horses, and sheep(!) to pass by. I think this marks the end of what has been an extended Christmas season, all in full holiday mode for the twelve days between Christmas and today. In fact, today is the main gift-giving holiday, so stores and fairs have been promoting their many gift selections over the past week. Post-holiday sales do not start until Monday!

Melchor

Gaspar

Balthazar

The kings were magnificent, but in the nearby city of Gijon they rode on camels!

 The Nineveh contingent

 A horned helmet

 Happy Assyrians

An eastern potentate

Veiled young women, part of the "Court of Trebisond"

 There were many beautiful Andalusian horses that "danced" as they passed

 The entire flock of sheep that accompanied the Galilean shepherds

 Asturian bagpipe band (the Celtic heritage!)

And after the magical parade, the traditional cake -- a bean and baby Jesus inside. The baby finder has good luck for the year; the bean finder buys next year's cake.

The Order of the Cavalcade

1. Policia

2. Guardia árabe
3. Banda Unión Musical del Principado
4. Aliatar
5. Emir de Damasco
6. Califa de Basora
7. Príncipes de Rajastán
8. Banda de Música de San Salvador
9. Rey Melchor
10. Jinetes de Katar
11. Embajada de Omán
12. Dignatarios de Turfán
13. Banda de Música Jesús Cautivo
14. Diáconos de Babilonia
15. Corte de Trebisonda
16. Banda de Música de Guardo (Palencia)
17. Rey Gaspar
18. Caballería de Siam
19. Infantes de Macedonia
20. Gran Khan de Manchuria
21. Mandarín de Kambaluk
22. Banda Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
23. Pastores de Galilea
24. Banda de Gaitas Ciudad de Oviedo
25. Escuadrón de Siria
26. Palio de Nínive
27. Palio de Assuán
28. Banda de Música de Toro (Zamora)
29. Sultán de Smirna
30. Cónsul Ecbatana
31. Banda de Música de Meira
32. Jinetes de Ur
33. Gran Khan de Samarkanda
34. Sultán de Etiopía
35. Banda de Música Ciudad de Oviedo
36. Rey Baltasar
37. Banda de Música de Foz (Lugo)
38. Coche antiguo de bomberos de Oviedo (1920)
39. Camión antiguo de regalo

Appliance Adventures

We are very comfortable in our little apartment in the old part of Oviedo. The building is actually quite modern – we think it was built in the 1980s. It has been a challenge to learn how to operate the appliances in the apartment, however. This is both because they are much more up-to-date than the ones we had in our old house in New Hampshire and, of course, they are European models. We can use most of them quite well now, but a couple remain mysterious.

Refrigerator

We have a modest-sized “Smeg” model, with the freezer at the bottom. When we first arrived the refrigerator compartment was producing puddles of water under the produce bins daily, which resulted in glaciers growing in the freezer. We did a little online sleuthing (the frig was the only appliance not to have a manual here in the apartment) and adjusted the temperature settings and cleaned out a drainage tube – it has been dry ever since. No problems.

Stove

We have an induction range! We did not even know what that was until just before we left the States, when we were staying with my husband’s brother and wife in New Jersey. They were flooded in Hurricane Sandy and had a beautiful, new kitchen installed – with an induction range. They predicted we might have one in Spain, since they are becoming more and more common in Europe. And we do! But we did not know you need compatible pots and pans, or that there are some slight adjustments to cooking methods. At first I first tried to scramble an egg in a pan that made the range say “F” – the egg was quickly scorched almost black. Now we are quite adept at using the “1-9” heat settings and know when to add a kick with the “P” (= Power) setting. We haven’t seen the “F” (for Failure?) recently.

Oven

This seems like it will be a nice unit, although we haven’t used it very much. I am a bit intimidated by the NINE “available cooking functions.” I am used to a plain old oven where setting the temperature and the rack positions are the only variables. It may be quite some time before I figure out the differences among Grilling, Thermal Grilling, and Full Grilling. At least I have a helpful (?) Baking and Roasting Table! I am so happy to know the right settings for a Victoria sandwich, a hare, and sea bream – not to mention “whisked recipies.”

Microwave

This has been pretty straightforward, although we haven’t asked anything very complex of it. You have to do all the settings (power level and time) with the door open, then you shut the door, and press start. But we don’t know what the symbols below the clock mean, or what the two buttons just below are for.

Dishwasher

The dishwasher (also a Smeg!) has definitely given us the most difficulty. But there is a real reason for this – the digital display at the far left is faulty, and we can’t tell what numbers or symbols are displayed. So we have been guessing. So far, when something that looks like a backwards “F” shows up, that seems to yield a good cycle that will clean our dishes. But look at our choices! There appear to be 12 cycles, albeit only with 8 numbers. We hope we have been doing something like cycle 4 = normally soiled pans and dishes. But I’m fond of cycle 6 = very dirty pans and dishes, even with dried-on dirt; and also cycle 8 = dishes that need “freshening up.”

Washer “& Dryer”

The washer works wonderfully. It also has innumerable settings, but there is a good manual and in this case the symbols on the knobs are quite easy to interpret. But…. we thought we would have a dryer, too. It’s next to the washer, right? You don’t need to look very hard, however, to see we can’t open the door due to a big, built-in shelving unit in the utility room. It appears never to have been used (blue tape still in place). So we are managing just fine with a good drying rack. Oh, well. I’m sure we are saving lots of energy.

Beeps

And one final “note.” All of these appliances beep A LOT: when cycles begin, when cycles end, when desired temperatures are reached, when something is wrong, when something is right, and whenever you push a button or change a setting. It can be quite alarming, and it can take a moment to figure out which of our new friends needs attention.

Museum of the Jurassic in Asturias (MUJA)

One of the best things we did soon after arriving in Oviedo was spend an afternoon at MUJA, the Museum of Jurassic Asturias. We had rented a car for our first week so that we could do errands more easily and buy any big things we needed (a TV, for example). We also made a couple of sightseeing trips, including MUJA.

We had no idea, but Asturias is one of the richest areas in the world for dinosaur footprints! Just the thing Amherst College professor Edward Hitchcock studied in the mid-nineteenth century from examples in the Connecticut River Valley (see the Beneski Museum of Natural History at Amherst College). At MUJA, he is duly noted on a paleontologist wall of fame!

The museum is located near a seaside site with dinosaur footprints (Playa de La Griega). The clearest prints were of a large, herbivore sauropod.

 The actual beach with footprints

An information sign with footprints marked

The museum itself is perched atop a cliff, overlooking the beach. It is a gorgeous setting. We were there near sunset, which made it even more dramatic. The grounds feature several life-sized recreations of dinosaurs – seemingly prowling the Asturian landscape. 

 Jurassic Asturias

Under attack

The museum has a striking, tri-lobed shape, meant to mirror a three-toed footprint of a theropod. Inside the museum, the first lobe covers the Triassic period, the middle deals with the all-important Jurassic age, and the last with the Cretaceous.

The tri-lobed museum at dusk

A huge dinosaur skeleton dominates the center area of each lobe (although they are replicas). In the Cretaceous lobe, quite amazingly, two dinosaurs are shown in what the brochure delicately calls “a courtship ritual,” in other words, tyrannosaurus rex sex! I don’t think that is something that you would see in the United States.