Of course, I took it easy, too, in Oviedo. The evening I arrived, I was hungry. Despite the rain and cool air, I borrowed an umbrella from the concierge at the Husa Santo Domingo Plaza Hotel (excellent, modern and great staff) and set out walking. Steps, and hills on the way to the Casco Historico – what they call the historic parts of Spanish cities. Oviedo is not a huge touristy city like others in the southern areas. The rain drops kept me company for the 6 minutes it took me to get to the Boulevar de La Sidra.
The food at these restaurants is actually pretty good. Along with the mandatory “bocadillos con patatas” – small, medium or large delicious baguette bread stuffed with Spanish jamon, cheese, Spanish tortilla, or other goodies – they also serve excellent 100% pork meat hamburgers and of course sea food such as squid, octopus, and other very fresh delicacies. I felt in the mood for vegetables and this is what I got. That is thinly sliced zucchini surrounding onions, tomatoes, small asparagus, surrounded by pine nuts. It was as delicious as it looks.
For the drink, I found out the local specialty is Sidra – Spanish for Apple Cider. This Sidra is fermented, 5.9% alcohol. Delicious and refreshing. I just today heard on the Spanish TVE newscast that Madrid government – the Partido Popular – is trying to make it illegal to serve Sidra to minors under 18 years of age. The local Asturias Principalite (state) government officials are upset about this “meddling” in the Asturias traditional cultural heritage. Currently, anybody can buy and drink Sidra. You can’t drink Sidra if it isn’t served by the waiter properly.
Nobody can tell me how the practice started. You do need a steady hand, though!
After immersing myself into the Agraz name research at the Oviedo Cathedral archives, I took a tour of the museum. The Oviedo Cathedral is a Gothic church in the truest sense of Gothic. Nothing “Neo-gothic” or Neo anything about this beautiful church, which was first started in the Ninth century by King Alfonso II when he decided to rule his Kingdom of Asturias from Oviedo and moved his court here.
