Oviedo

Two full days here, one more than necessary, but now, well fueled with pastries and too much ice cream, I am ready for the Primitivo.


Apparently the good people of Oviedo think a lot. Some of the thinkers did not photograph well, but this lady, may be wondering how to cook all those fish for dinner:





This fisher fellow may be wondering the same thing:




Or maybe they are thinking about something else entirely!

Delighted by the street statuary (more to come), I moved on the the Museo de Belles Artes. The do know how to do museums in Spain. My favorite painting was of Adam and Eve. Do you love that she is wearing high heals and that he has a whole sack of apples behind his back, or could the tree be more laden?





Unintended selfie through the eyes of a photograph:





Back to the street. We love you, Bessie, we do!




The highlight of my stay in Oviedo was attending Shabbat services. At 6:00 p.m., Friday night,  I waited at an umarked,  small building waiting for someone belonging to the kahal to show up, and, indeed, someone did. Upstairs were eight members of the congregation and soon three other visitantes arrived: Frank, a lawyer from North Carolina, and two young women, Eden and Tamar from Israel, all of whom were walking the Camino. Between the Hebrew and the Spanish and the Spanish transliteration, it was quite a race to follow along, but what a joyous, beautifully sung service. The melodies were essentially Ashkenazic, which surprised me, and one woman gave, in Spanish of course, a most intelligent, and thoughtful d'var Torah. What a thrill to be part of this tiny group. Then, after about a two hour service, seemingly from out of nowhere, emerged a lavish kiddush. Actually, we lucked out because it was leftovers from Rosh Hashanah. As Frank noted, this was one time no one had to ask if the tortilla (essentially an egg and potato dish, cousin to quiche) had any ham in it!

The other visitors started the Camino Primitivo today, Saturday, but my starting day is tomorrow. So I went to services again in the morning. Only a half dozen souls, but fortunately they disregard the minyan requirement, so all went on as usual.  I was sorry to say good bye to my "lantzmen."

Just as I was leaving,  the bagpipers (gaitia players) and drummers were beginning outside in the square!




After a while, they took the show on the road:





Many shops selling all manner of delicious things to eat. The sausage did smell good:




Speaking of food, I was hunting and gathering today and, inter alia, was seeking out some walnuts. At the local Corte Ingles (a HUGE department store), I did find two possibilities. One batch was imported from Chile, the other claimed origin in Moldvia! I swear! Could these possibly be pre-World War I vintage? Probably not, but I opted for the Chilean nuts, which turned out to be spectacularly good!

In the park was a large pond:





No one guessed John Adams, but you won't have trouble recognizing Woody!!





Oh, NO! 🔥💥😖💦⚡️I can't believe I forgot my clothes!!



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