Hey, it's been a minute, I just have had no time the past 5 days now oops! Wednesday (7/3) was the first free day we really had since we had orientation on Monday, then the walking tour of the old quarter on Tuesday. Carly and I decided to walk around downtown more and look at the shops after taking a long but needed nap. It was nice to finally have a day to relax a little and attempt to get rid of remaining jet lag before the events on Thursday and Friday that the program had scheduled for us. We went to a cafe called "Casal 14", and I finally got "chocolate con churros" It was so good. You would think that it would be super sweet but it's the perfect amount because the churros weren't sweet themselves. It was also the first time I had really eaten something from an actual restaurant-type place because my host mom makes us 3 meals a day which I am grateful for.
On Thursday, we went and toured the Cathedral of Oviedo. They gave each of us a guided audio tour, so we could each go at our own pace. The cathedral was so beautiful and so old (obviously lol). I had never actually been inside a cathedral before. It was HUGE and so so beautiful. In the holy chamber there were crosses that were given to the kingdom of Oviedo in the 1500's on display, gold plated and with the most intricate designs. I don't think I will ever understand how such intricate, perfect items were made soooo long ago and have been preserved so well. I also just don't understand how a human is capable of making any of that because I'm 100% incapable of doing any form of art well hahah. My favorite part of the cathedral was the cloister (first picture). It was such a clear, warm day and the light coming through with the breeze was so peaceful. The cathedral is definitely a must, it will not disappoint.
After we were finished with the cathedral tour, we went to cute ice cream shop called "Diego Verdu" in the old quarter which the program paid for. Since we were already downtown a group of us wandered around and explored until Carly and I had to go home for dinner around 9:15pm. I was so tired by the end of the day that I just passed out super early.
On Friday, after class we went to an "Espicha" with everyone in the program from all the different schools at a Cider house 15 minutes outside of Oviedo in a small town called Colloto. It started at 7pm and went on until 10pm. An espicha is basically a traditional Asturian gathering with cider, charcuterie, classic Asturian dishes and dessert! There were also musicians with Asturian bagpipes and performers dancing to the music. It reminded me of what I would imagine Scotland traditional gatherings are like, minus the kilts lol which is interesting. It was a really cool experience except for the fact that it was 3 hours long, and I don't love gourmet cheese and cured meat all that much so I was ready to go after like an hour, but the dessert was amazing so I'm glad they made us stay. I was also extremely tired from the entire week, so I just wanted to go and sleep, BUT of course that didn't happen, because everyone wanted to go out. We didn't think it would be that bad because we were thinking that we would just have to wait like an hour or so until around 11:30pm, like at home, but little did we know, people in Spain don't really go out until 3am...yes I said 3am. They're crazy. So after a few hours of just sitting and waiting/falling asleep we tapped outttt and just went home lol. We couldn't do it. It was funny too because on our walk home we would just see old couples just drinking coffee at a Cafe sitting outside at 2am like it was 2pm.
Saturday came along, and it was the first day I could actually sleep in T GOD, so best believe I took advantage of it. Carly and I ended up going to Starbucks to study, and walked around town again with some friends which was funnn. She had friends that came and visited that night too so we went to dinner with them and then went out for my birthday with a group of people. We timed it better this time so we didn't have dinner until around 11:30pm. We went to "El De Diez de la Gorda" and I got some pretty bomb beef tacos. We didn't come back home until around 5 am, so you already know I spent probably have the day Sunday just sleeping and watching Netflix which was honestly all I wanted to really do on my birthday I'll say it. Ángeles also bought champagne and made Paella for my birthday which was so cute and really good too! She was so excited about it. Later in the day, Carly and I finally decided to not be lame so we met some friends in San Francisco Park which is right near our homestay and just hung out in the park which was honestly a novelty for me. I was just imagining doing that back home, and I just would never think to do that, but it's such a thing here which is cool.
After that we met up with more people and got dessert to celebrate my birthday! It was a really amazing birthday, and probably my favorite one yet. My 20th birthday spent in Spain? Like how much better can that get? It was overall amazing despite the fact that I ended up staying up til 3am attempting to write a whole ass story in Spanish that was due today (Monday). As you can imagine, I'm exhausted now because I'm dumb and should've done it earlier but it is allll good, because I finished it in time regardless :) But now I'm about ready to do nothing the entire rest of the day because I can hehe.
Photo Details!
1. The cloister in the Cathedral of Oviedo
2. The Chocolate con Churros from Casal 14 Cafe
3. Basilica of St. John Real; it's right near Casal 14 Cafe!
4. Me acting like I was getting work done, also acting like I wasn't posted up in a Starbucks
5. The Paella Ángeles made on my birthday :)
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