84. A Road Trip - Northern Spain 6

Despite two days of claustrophobia in a tiny hotel room in Gijon in the Asturias region, we had two excellent meals at the sideria and two good breakfasts at the hotel.

Next stop on our road trip was Llanes, also in Asturias.  This drive was the first section of road where we could catch glimpses of the coast.  In the most part, the excellent coastal road ran a couple of kilometers inland from the rugged coast and even the local roads were protected from the sea by foothills.  While we were enjoying superb autumn weather, I kept reminding myself that this coast is usually wind blown and wet.

Llanes resembles nothing we have ever seen before.  Rugged limestone cliffs. Traditional fishing town. Built with its back to the sea. Outdoor furniture only useable a few weeks a year. Needs a lighthouse. Huge gates on the waterway leading to the marina. A cubby house (corral) for the fishing trawlers.  You get the idea!

At some point in the not too distant past, the wisest men (and women) of Llanes decided to pay an artist a vast sum of money to paint the new cubes of concrete on the breakwater. They have had to live with that decision ever since.

This great statue of the waiting woman is on the opposite side of the breakwater.

Much better than the painted cubes, don't you think?

The cubby house:corral for the fishing trawlers.

The slipway indicating the tide levels.

The wall behind the marina ramps shows the huge tidal changes here.  There are huge gates on this waterway where it faces the ocean.

On the far side of the breakwater headland they have a beach which was very well supported despite a couple of landslides.

But does Llanes have a restaurant where Rick Stein says we should be able to find Merluza a la cidre - white fish in cider?  Sadly no!  

But I did finally get to taste Fabada the chunky stew of white beans, chorizo, pork belly and black pudding.  While the chunky version was very acceptable, Paul's mum, Bianca makes a much more refined example as a bean soup from Austria.  Small world, isn't it?

Breakfast at the hotel consisted of two choices - sugar or wheat or a combination of the two!  I eat very little of either so the only item I could have had (without sugar or wheat) was a thin slice of cheese and a slice of ham. I opted for black coffee (there is often sugar in the milk).

It is my food preferences that are causing the problems I am having with Spanish food.

While I may eat a piece (or two) of bread with an entree or a main meal to sop up sauces or juices, I don't want an entree or a main meal to consist of bread or something on toast. I don't want every dish on the menu to be fried, nor do I want cheese on top of meat or ham with fish.   I don't want cakes, pastries and biscuits for breakfast.  I don't want sweetened yoghurt, sweetened fruit juice or sweetened milk.  

I want a salad to include more than iceberg lettuce and a tomato smothered in mayonnaise.  I want cooked vegetables to consist of more than boiled potato or French fries.  I love eggs, but I don't want them laced with oily potatoes, oily cheese, greasy bacon or something out of a jar.  And I like my protein in a good sized chunk, pan fried or grilled, with vegetables and not on toast.

So now you see the problem.  

In Australia I am spoilt - I have a local restaurant where the food is fresh and the Italian chef can really cook.  I can shop at Victoria Market for meat, fish, eggs and poultry that is as good as anywhere in the world and I am old enough to know how to cook it myself.

And best of all I can grow my own vegetables and enjoy them snappy fresh from the garden, as often as I like.  

In my down moments I wonder why I'm here, doing this.

Next stop - Santander.