Cue: A town about 12 km from Robriguero. Here lives Francisco's cousin, Iñiego, and his girlfriend, Ainoah. Iñiego had demolished his house a couple of years ago and rebuilt it from bottom up practically all by himself. It's a beautiful two story house with the top floor serving as guest apartments. Cue is on the coast and is home to many tourists during the summer months. The mountain just behind Iñiego's home is a popular golf course. So many houses here, which are quaint and lovely and whose exterior walls are all brightly painted, are apartments for rent or second homes for Spaniards. Across from Iñiego's house, a giant house was being built. It is said that the homeowner is a rich doctor from Miami who plans to only stay there one week a year and leave it empty the rest of the time. If I had a second home, I wouldn't mind having it in Cue either.
Llanes: a town just 10 minutes by car from Cue. Llanes is much bigger than Cue and has a lot more happenings. Unlike Cue, it has a bit more of a central area with lots of bars, restaurants and shops. In this town, you can also find the creepy, haunted looking house that was used in the Spanish movie, El Orfanato, or The Orphanage.
Covadonga: a town whose main feature is a massive church situated on top of a mountain. Seeing the cathedral on our way up the mountain reminded me of the feeling you get seeing Germany's Neuchweinstein castle as you get closer to it. I was in awe. I was so moved by it that the words "I want to get married in this church" shockingly came out of my mouth. Shocking mainly because I don't ever want to get married in a church (sorry mom). Then once I walked in the church I had the complete opposite feeling. Just like most old-school cathedrals, it just gave me the creeps, like there were many dead haunted souls floating about.
This church has been a main player in many popular events such as celebrity weddings. But historically, the church area was a strategic location for a man named, Pelayo, to lead the local residents of Covadonga to fight against the Moors. From the top of this mountain, they were able to defend and protect their pueblo from the invading Moors.
Another main attraction is the cave church in the mountain across from the cathedral. The church is small and probably can only hold 10 people. The view from this church was amazing. Under it was a waterfall that fell into a mini lake where people throw change as they make a wish. Francisco's parents got married in this church and I probably would to if I didn't have my "no church wedding" rule.
Lastly, Covadonga is home to two glacial lakes located in the mountains. It's supposed to be stunning up there but unfortunately, we couldn't go due to road closures. There was too much snow and it was too dangerous for cars going up on steep narrow mountain roads.
Oviedo: ok, this one is not a small town at all. In comparison to Madrid and Barcelona, yes, but in Asturias, Oviedo is probably one of the bigger, more populated ones. Oviedo is famous for Los Premios de los Principes de Asturias, an award that is prestigious like the Nobel but not quite as important. Woody Allen is one of the many recipients of this award and paid tribute to it by briefly featuring it in his movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Oviedo is probably the cleanest Spanish city I've seen. The streets were spotless, and the air was fresh. The people of Oviedo also were very elegant. You can tell there's lots of money in the city because everyone just looked fancy.
And a quick funny story: there are a bunch of peacocks in a park right at the center of Oviedo. Obviously it's an open park so the peacocks are allowed to go in and out of the park as they please. We were walking down a street just a block away from the park when we saw a peacock hanging out outside, looking into a bar, and everyone just walked around it, like it shouldn't be bothered. Ridiculous! Not surprisingly, I made Francisco cross the street with me, away from the nasty bird.
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