Gijon June 18

 I had a plan for this rest day:  A walk around the periphery of all the beaches or something along those lines, but it was raining.  I don´t know if there were any cliffs involved, but since the start was several miles from the Parador, and like I said, it was raining, I decided to nix that plan and instead knock off some miles from tomorrow's walk.  The guide books describes the stage from Gijon to Aviles as the ugliest of all. The miles I did were simply industrial-urban, the biggest challenge being navigating those horrific roundabouts.  But I am catching on!

Here is where I start tomorrow!

How would that be as an ad for this Camino!

On the way back, I went to the aquarium because that is about all there was to do except for walking around the ins and outs of the urbanized shoreline.  There is a botanic garden but it was way way distant, and there are many churches should one have a penchant.  

At the aquarium I learned many interesting facts about sharks, I will pass on but a few:

Some female sharks lay eggs, but most give birth to live young. The male inserts sperm into the female with an organ called a clasper.  (Now you know.) The female typically gives birth after 11–12 months of pregnancy, but some, such as the frilled sharks, are pregnant for more than three years. (They are quite rare so how does anyone know?) In some sharks, a placenta develops during pregnancy.  

Sharks´teeth are constantly replaced.  A single shark my shed 30,000 teeth during its lifetime.  And they don´t even need this:

Another feature of sharks is that their brains have an extra large area devoted to scent, helping them smell a drop of blood diluted more than a million times.

And now for some pretty pictures:

I think this was my favorite.  The coloration reminded me of Ellie´s prom dress!

This is her rival, who, you must admit, is quite pretty, too:

Here is the date of one of them.  He does not look too enthusiastic:

Starfish:

The challenge here is finding the fish:

The rain let up, and after spending some time on logistics for the coming days, I decided to walk through the park of Isabel la Catolica (a heroine to some, to others, not so much). 

All the girls were in there:

Except for the ones in the trees:

And then on to the beach. The day did not invite much action:

But one guy did not mind:

His book must have been a real yawner!