
Earlier this year my friend and I stepped off the train to find ourselves in Oviedo, the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. With blue skies and warm winds, the city embraced us with open arms, inviting us to explore the rich culture and history permeating throughout the city.
As we walked around the old town paved with cobblestones, we quickly noticed how many statues there were around the streets, almost as though they all walked out of some famous museum and were taking a stroll. Oviedo is famous for its public art and elegant statues of different styles and subjects roamed the narrow roads, each one becoming a delightful surprise for any traveller passing by. Passing these statues, we arrived at Campo de San Francisco, a park nestled within the bustling town. Inside, one of its biggest attractions is a statue itself: Estatua de Mafalda, where 6-year-old girl Mafalda, an Argentinian cartoon character, sits on a bench. Many stopped to admire the statue, even queueing at the side to sit on the bench next to her and take a picture.
A public statue

Afterwards, it was a short walk to the Cathedral of San Salvador, a pilgrimage cathedral. The gilded walls were beautifully sculpted with religious figures and a hushed atmosphere of awe and respect surrounded the building, as visitors wandered around admiring the architecture. In the upper floors also lies a small museum of religious objects and art. I was most struck by the Cámara Santa de Oviedo (Holy chamber of Oviedo), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In it contained sacred religious relics like the Sudarium of Oviedo, a bloodstained cloth claimed to be the cloth wrapped around the head of Jesus Christ after he died. Overall, it's a journey that anyone interested in religion, architecture or history must absolutely take to witness the rich past of this cathedral and this city.
A beautiful wall of the cathedral

By this time it was around 2 pm, and as someone who occasionally eats lunch as early as 10.30 am, I was starving. And so we roamed the streets, looking for anywhere that was open, yet we were surprised by a wealth of options. Spanish people normally have lunch later in the day than most so many restaurants were actually still open and serving their lunch menu, a surprise to someone living in the UK like me who normally sees places stop serving lunch at around 2 pm or so. We decided to sit in an outdoor restaurant and enjoy our food leisurely as we watched the passers-by go about their daily lives. The food was delicious - I chose to try out tortos, tradiitonal corn fritters originating from Asturias made with corn flour, wheat flour, salt, water and olive oil. The tortos were fried to perfection, crispy on the outside yet chewy on the inside, and the meat on top was salty and savoury with the strips of onion on top cutting through its rich flavour nicely.
Tortos with meat and onion



After our hearty lunch, it was a quick walk to the Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias (Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias). We were first greeted by a striking display of archaeological remains right by the front door, where lay indications of a past city: a fountain dating back to Roman times and the marks of posts of wooden dwellings of the early Middle Ages. But within the buildings held many more treasures- many works from both local artists from Asturias and foreign artists from Italy, the Netherlands and more stood proudly on display.
Slowly, my friend and I walked through the museum, stopping to appreciate the many different collections and admire the different style of buildings they were housed in.
This museum, being the largest public art collection in Asturias, actually spans three buildings: the 18th-century Velarde Palace, which is connected to a 1940 building, and the 17th-century Casa de Oviedo-Portal. One of my favourite paintings there was 'San Antolin de Bedon, Asturias' by Dario de Regoyos, a painting of a church of the same name.
'San Antolin de Bedon, Asturias' by Dario de Regoyos

Finally, we ended our day at a bustling restaurant where we tried cachopo, a traditional Asturian dish of breaded and fried veal steaks stuffed with cheese and ham, and little cheese and ham croquettes as our starter. Both were absolutely delicious with my favourite being the cheese croquettes, which were crunchy with warm cheeze oozing from within, perfectly paired with a sweet apple jam on the side.
Midway through the meal, a few musicians entered and began playing music, with the patrons clapping and singing along. We enjoyed the lively atmosphere as we sipped some cider, which Asturias is the main producer of.
Altogether, it was a truly fun day, where we were able to try some tasty local specialties and learn more about the rich history and culture of Oviedo and Asturias.

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