Last week in Asturias, visit to the "Bufones de Pría", my first booking for "Casa del Cueto", second wave of coronavirus, Suzy in Menorca, Eladio's birthday, exploring more beaches, home again and a birthday lunch for Elliot and his grandfather,

 Sunday  27th September, 2020

On the cliffs overlooking the sea by the Playa de Poo, an unfortunate name for a superb beach in the area. 

Good morning all.

Well, we are home now and it has been a great week. I should clarify. It has been a great week for us but the dark cloud of coronavirus is getting darker. We are now at nearly a million deaths worldwide. Madrid is the epicentre of the pandemic and that is not something I am proud of. We have areas with over 1000 cases per 100.000 inhabitants. Where we live the figures are much lower but they are still high. The local and national government are at loggerheads at what to do about Madrid vs a vs the restrictions. We cannot rule out all the province going into lockdown again and that thought is pretty frightening. But what is the alternative?

Coronavirus was not on my mind last Sunday when  were still in El Cueto. Asturias is one of the few areas to be nearly free of it so we felt safe there. Last Sunday the day was ours for the taking. Despite the forecast there was not a drop of rain that day. We were very lucky with the weather throughout our stay. That morning the bread van arrived and brought our order: a loaf of wholemeal bread, a tuna pie and what they call here "bollos preñaus" (literally pregnant buns - a small bread roll with chorizo inside). Here is Eladio taking the order from Francisco the baker who does the deliveries in the area. How civilised I thought and how quaint. 

Eladio picking up our order from the bakery

It was a sunny day and we decided to walk down the steep hill to have a coffee at the bar in Meré, "La Tilar". The views on the road down were of lush and green meadows and mountains. The scenery is very attractive with the peaks of the Picos de Europa in the distance.

On our walk down the hill to Meré

At the entrance to the village we came across a horse shoe stall which seemed to be in full use or at least Eladio thought so. It is quite a sophisticated contraption and not something you see often. This is it. Of course it's in use as there are lots of horses and cows in the area.

The horseshoe stall at the entrance to Meré, if that is what it is called. 

We found the bar closed and were told it didn't open until midday so we walked back and had a cup of coffee at home on one of our sunny terraces. We read outside until it was time for lunch - delicious leftovers of the fabada (bean stew) that we had brought back in a doggy bag from our meal, days before at Los Montañeros in Carreña.  They made us both feel sleepy and we had our siesta. I was reading afterwards on the terrace in the sun and we decided to venture out again. We both wanted to see a very popular local attraction: "Los bufones de Pría". 

Los Bufones de Pría are a natural phenomenon, whereby the pressure from the waves of water from the sea penetrates cavities in the rocks on the cliffs. Wikipedia calls them blowholes in English and they are apparently a crack in coastal rocks where air and spray is expelled when the waves break the shore. Well, I never. When the sea is rough this can cause a geyser like phenomena with great big bursts of water coming out. I suppose this is why they are also called marine geysers. When the sea is calm, there is not much water but a very loud hissing and crashing of wave like sound; thus the word "bufo" which means to hiss. The cavities are everywhere and people were crowding around and listening. It was weird and spectacular at the same time. I have never seen anything like it. Here is a video of Eladio listening to one of the blowholes. 

Eladio watching and listening to one of the blowholes. It was fascinating

Other people thought so too as they wondered the rocks over the cliffs in search of more blowholes. They were all over the place. The thing is they are not visible until you get up close and that can be dangerous. There have been deaths here over the years and I think they should be fenced off.

People searching for the blow holes

Dramatic too were the cliffs. They always are in this area. Here is Eladio on the cliffs by the Bufones de Pría, a place we can highly recommend. We must go back when the sea is rough to see the geysers in all their glory.

Eladio on the cliffs by Bufones de Pría

On the walk down to the village nearby we passed a very special beach called Guadamía. It is really a beach at the end of a fjord; another geological formation. People were swimming and when it is warmer I want to go back. 

Guadamía beach

 We are spoiled for places to visit in this area.

We were home by 8 pm and the sun was still shining. It was time for dinner and for once we were hungry after all our walking. We tried the tuna pie and "bollos preñaus" which were delicious. All was well until later that night. After watching another episode of Borgen I kept hearing a machine like noise outside which was annoying. Eventually I fell asleep but woke up to a louder sound. I soon realised the sound was coming from within me and I got worried. There was a constant buzz in my ears and a feeling that I needed them to pop and they wouldn't. I woke up on Monday morning and could still hear the buzz. I began searching the web and was worried I had tinnitus - something some people have to live with; a constant noise from within. We quickly found a local private clinic in Llanes and that was the second task of the day. 

Before going to the clinic we had to wait for an architect to come and examine the attic which we would like, at some point, to turn into a bedroom come suite for ourselves. It's a bit of a dream but  would add enormous value to the house and it would be our own private space here.

After the architect left, we drove to El Castillo Clinic in Llanes. A GP there examined my ears and told me I did not have tinnitus and that the noise I was hearing was coming from air pressure and that it would go away shortly. If it didn't he told me to see a specialist. I came out feeling relieved and as the day went on the noise went. It did come back occasionally but seems to have cleared up now. I feel very sorry for people who live with a constant buzz or ringing in their ears and very pleased I hadn't got it. As I was experiencing the buzzing I asked myself whether I would be able to live with the buzz and clearly the answer is no as it's most annoying.

At the same time of day Suzy was at another clinic, at the vet with Norah. She is better but not over the hill and has many problems including a tumour, ulcers and possibly cancer. Poor thing she is 12 and I can only hope we can give her some quality of life for as long as possible. Suzy took her home with lots of medicines and a long list of complicated instructions on how to administer them. She had to tell Lucy how to do so as our older daughter was going on a short holiday, leaving for the lovely island of Menorca that evening for a few days. 

From Llanes we drove back to our nearest town, Posada de Llanes, which almost feels like ours now. It was while we were shopping there after a cup of coffee in the square that I got my first enquiry for a booking on Airbnb for the new house, La Casa del Cuetu, in Asturias. I was amazed to see it was from an Englishman in London especially because of Covid.  Andrew and his partner wanted to come and stay for 28 days and live at the house while working from home. They were concerned about wifi and I soon assured them it works fine and it does. An hour or so later they confirmed. Whoopee I had my first booking for Casa del Cuetu! I couldn't believe it. How come, I wonder, did they choose our house if there are so many in the area, including 11 just in this village? I put that down to my superhost status and the fact that Airbnb has placed my listing, as it is a new one, towards the top of the list. We were both delighted. 

After lunch I had a skype call with Amanda which I took outside. I was so happy to tell her about my first booking. She was not surprised it was from an English couple coming to work from home as it appears many people are escaping in a similar way, to get away from Covid and because many can work from home from wherever they want in the world. They are probably not worried about self isolating when they return to London as no doubt they will be working from home whilst isolating.

At 6.15 or so we set off on foot to go and see the previous owners of the house, Mari (Paz) and José, who live nearby in Debodes. There they have a set of country houses in a huge area of land which they have converted into holiday homes. The place, called "Caserio de San Pedro" is spectacular, as are the houses. 

Just two of the three houses.

We were received very warmly. This Asturian couple in their 60's and 70's have worked hard to build up this business after abandoning their farm some 20 years ago. The work they do there  is quite remarkable. Now though as they are nearing retirement they want to sell the complex and live in El Cuetu. I think they thought we might be interested but of course we aren't. We cannot buy any more houses hahahaha, unless of course we sold our main house in Madrid which is not in our plans.

They showed us around. Apart from the houses, there are typical Asturian graneries (hórreos) and even an old cider making facility called a "llagar". Here Eladio took some photos. Mari and José no longer make cider but maintain the facilities just as they were probably over 100 years ago.

In the "llagar" with José and Mari

Later we would enjoy some cider on one of the lovely sitting areas our hosts have all around the different houses.  José, being Asturian, certainly knows how to pour it. In Asturias this is called "escanciar" whereby you pour cider from high up to maintain its sparkle. 

José pouring cider for us

We left just before it go dark as we had to walk  back along mountain roads. We enjoyed the walk back and marveled again and again how it hadn't rained either that day. We were so lucky with the weather. Once home I set about making a delicious dinner which we had with Albariño wine.  The day ended with another episode of Borgen. 

Tuesday came. I was up later than usual and at 8 am caught Olivia on the TV twice. Both times she was talking about Coronavirus figures which are not only on the rise everywhere, but especially so in Madrid. It felt so good to be far away. Finally the authorities are agreeing that we are going through a second wave. We are seeing this happen all over Europe but Spain, so far, is the hardest hit. 

Oli reporting on the figures from the second wave of coronavirus on Tuesday

The figures went up daily this week and that evening there were rumours the whole of the Madrid province could go into lock down. That hasn't happened but the rumour continues. France too is reporting similar numbers of new cases as is the UK. In the UK there are now new restrictions everywhere but they are all a bit chaotic. 

As I said, Asturias is the area in Spain with the lowest figures and they are not alarming at all. We would have loved to spend more time here but had to go back. We couldn't leave my father for too long  and besides we had the English guests coming today. 

I spent a lot of Tuesday morning working. I drew up a three page information sheet about the house and things to do in the area to send to my first guests. For each of our houses listed on Airbnb I have what I call an information pack. I think Andrew much appreciated that. He also appreciated that I found  him a bike rental outfit in nearby Posada. I spoke to the owner and could hardly believe how cheap it is to hire a bike, from 14 euros a day down to just 5 if you rent for 10 days. 

In the middle of working on the document I got an enquiry from a young French student who wanted to stay at our house in Madrid long term. She wanted to  book half of October, the whole of November and 20 days in December. Later the plans were shattered by Covid as the local UEM told her that there will only be online courses for the moment. It is a difficult time to be a student. While we were away our house was full of guests. One of them was a professional tattooist hahahahaha. The other was a lady from the UK, Shaz, who had come to accommodate her daughter at the Uni. 

While I was writing the information sheet, Eladio was upstairs in the attic inspecting the beams. He had it in his mind there may be woodworm and bingo he found it in two of the main beams. He was so upset and I was upset he was upset. We got ready in a hurry to drive to Posada to see Jesús, the architect who had come to see the attic  to draw up plans to turn it into a bedroom suite for us. He agreed to come the next day. My husband then rang the owners to tell them and  to ask them to come and see the woodworm for themselves. José, the husband arrived after lunch and it was a tense moment. To begin with he only offered to buy a new beam but not to repair the damage. I wrote to his more reasonable wife Mari and she assured me they would take full responsibility. Thus a carpenter who has worked for them before would come on Thursday to see what could be done. No work on the attic though can take place until our English guests leave at the end of October. Meanwhile though the solution to eradicate any woodworm seems to be to spray diesel oil all over the wood which the carpenter will do. The good thing though was that both experts coincided that the woodworm were dead. We had got on so well with the previous owners up till then and the last thing I wanted was any friction with them. I think when Mari decided to take responsibility for all the repairs she was thinking the same thing. We  were very relieved.

With all this happening we didn't go for our walk that day and I had planned to go on a 10km walk nearby which had been recommended: "El Caminu encantado" (the enchanted pathway). In any case we couldn't have gone as it was during José's visit that he, Eladio and a friend of his - a neighbour - took everything from the attic that the previous owners had stored there and needed removing. That took a while and was a very dirty job.

While the men worked, I read on the little terrace. That's when I met new  neighbours, a couple who live in Palencia (some 300km away). They were working on their kitchen garden which, by the way, is right next to the wall of the terrace. Eladio and I would love to buy it from them one day. They very kindly gave me some fresh spearmint with roots and Eladio planted it in one of the spare pots. They later came and gave us a bottle of their own home made cider. Loli, our other neighbour, the lady who will be looking after the house, also gave me something from her kitchen garden; 2 huge ripe red peppers. We felt spoiled. 

Before dinner I rang both girls. Suzy was having a lovely time in Menorca. I have never been but know it is a beautiful island. Suzy and her friend hired a motorbike to get around and enjoyed the beaches, singing and playing the ukelele and making healthy meals at their holiday apartment. She didn't send me any photos but I took a screenshot from her Instagram of her doing yoga on the beach. I was so happy  that she was happy.  That's all a mother wants for her "kids".

Suzy in Menorca

It looked like they had the beach to themselves. They probably did as very few people are travelling these days thanks to Coronavirus. 

Eladio and I made our own delicious dinner that night: fried eggs and chips hahha. We were in our bedroom by 8.45 which is a little early. Or course that meant I would be up terribly early on Wednesday which I was. It was 6.30 when I got up and it took me a while to realise it was Eladio's birthday. Happy birthday dear husband. I felt a bit bad as I had nothing prepared. I would have had we been at home but of course we would celebrate by going out to lunch. The family celebration would be on Saturday. 

The day began watching Olivia on TV reporting on the new facts and figures of coronavirus. She is a veritable expert on the subject now. The architect and a carpenter came to inspect the woodworm and confirmed it. They also said it was dead but that the beams - two of them - were in the state they were in also because of some humidity. Thankfully the roof had been changed a year ago so there is no more humidity. First things first. They assured us the house is not going to fall down because of the state of these two beams and secondly they told us the solution is to reinforce the beams with new ones and that the job should be pretty easy. They also told us this could wait until after our guests leave in October.  We needed this information to contrast with the carpenter coming on Thursday, the one the previous owners were bringing.

Eladio cheered up after that. I kept reminding him it was his birthday and we had to celebrate. We did of course. We went to Llanes, the capital town of this province (Concejo de Llanes) which is a beautiful little coastal town. Numerous films and TV series have been filmed here and I can understand why. Eladio dropped me off to go to sign a paper our local financial advisor needs for all the paperwork involved in putting the utilities in our name and more importantly getting me a licence to rent the house for tourist purposes. 

A few shots of Llanes a pretty little town

Later we had a coffee in the main square. It's the one in the photo below. We then walked into a gourmet store - there are loads of them here - to get Eladio a token birthday present. I bought him some smelly blue Cabrales cheese which he loves and I hate, of course. From the gourmet store we went in search of a shop that sells material as I wanted to cover the awful leather settee in the living room here. Paquita and Olga didn't have anything suitable but then we spied a decor type shop and there bought some lovely throws. Unfortunately when we got home we found they were too small for the settee so we took them back the next day when our search would continue for something else to cover the ghastly settee.  Our last task of the day was to find a shop that sold kitchen ware as we had to get a kettle, some new drinking glasses, frying pans and a few other items we needed. We found all this at a great ironmonger shop. We took it all to our car and from there walked to the restaurant for Eladio's birthday lunch. We chose Sablón where we went the day we signed the deeds which is right by the town beach of the same name. It was sunny but not very warm and even so people were bathing.

El Sablón beach. To the right the hotel and restaurant where we had lunch on Eladio's birthday. 

I had to have a photo of the birthday boy by the beach and this is it. I can hardly believe he is now 76 years old. We first met when he was 35!

Eladio's birthday photo - by the Sablón beach in Llanes on Wednesday

The menu of the day lunch we had was delicious and included the local bean stew (fabada) and paella. 

Birthday lunch at Sablón. Paella and fabada

We ate less than half what was on our plates as the portions were so big and brought the rest home in a doggy bag for our lunch the next day. Before heading home we went in search of an ice cream for me as I didn't like the choice of desserts at Sablón. I was in luck when we found an ice cream parlour that had my two favourite flavours; coconut and pistachio.

We drove home to rest and spent the afternoon quietly. We had a sort of photo shoot in the street later admiring the granery (hórreo) and horse cart next to it. My friend Sandra asked me whether they were in our garden. I wish they were and I wish we had a garden but they are near enough. Here are some of the silly photos we took while we were fooling around.

Eladio by the granery in our street

Me fooling around with the cart

Of all the photos we took my favourite is the one of me looking  out of our house through the stable door. It is the original front door of the house and has been a witness to the last hundred or so years in this village, including  the Spanish Civil war. I do love stabledoors don't you?

Clearly happy to be at our new house in Asturias. Here looking out of the lovely old stable door.

Dinner was leftovers including the last of the tuna pie and the smelly cabrales cheese for Eladio. Later we watched the news which was getting more and more depressing - Covid and then an interesting documentary on the Spanish civil war. Actually it wasn't that interesting as at about 11 pm I fell asleep and we went upstairs to bed.

Thursday would be our last day here. It was a full and productive day and the sun shone most of the time. We had the most amazing weather in Asturias contrary to the predictions that it would rain all the time. Early in the morning we went to a local furniture and home decor shop in nearby Posada that Mari, the previous owner recommended. There we were in luck as we found just what we were looking for to cover the sofas. We made a trip home to see if they fit and they did. From Posada we went to Llanes to return the throws and then with time on our hands we decided to discover more local beaches, in particular one with an unfortunate name but supposedly beautiful, "Playa de Poo" - pronounced "poh" as in "oh".  We had this most beautiful beach practically to ourselves and could park right by it. There were bathers and again we regretted not having our costumes with us. This beach is special as many are in the area. It is a bit like a fjord and thus is well protected. The surroundings are the mountains of course, cliffs and lots of lush green. It was pure paradise and we would be back. I think, so far, this is the most beautiful beach we have seen.

Playa de Poo

There were two pretty looking hotels right by it and both served coffee so we were spoiled for choice. Here is Eladio enjoying his coffee overlooking this marvelous beach.

Coffee time at Playa de Poo

We later walked along the beach which was much bigger than the eye could see but we had trouble turning back as the tide was coming in. Later we walked up a path to the cliffs above. Oh how I love the cliffs and coast in Asturias. It's so wild, dramatic, green and a sight for sore eyes. It makes me happy. The photo I have chosen as this week's feature photo is of me on the cliffs above this beautiful beach with the unfortunate name hahahahaha.

Eladio on the cliffs above the Playa de Poo on Thursday morning

When we had had our fill of Playa de Poo we drove further down the road to explore more beaches. We were in search of Playa de Borizu but found two others before including Playa de Palombina in the village of Celorio. We could have gone on a wonderful coastal walk from Palombina but it was a bit late. No doubt we shall do it another time.

Playa de Palombina

This was  a much larger beach and although you can't tell from the photo there were plenty of people sunning themselves on it. Again, I wished I had brought my costume.

We are totally spoiled for beaches in this area (Concejo de Llanes). I read somewhere that Llanes has the greatest number of beaches of any municipality in Asturias. With its 56km of coastline there could well be over 40 beaches. Thus, we have many more to explore.

By then it was about 13h and time to go home and make lunch. We were also keen to put the covers on the leather three piece suite we so hated. While I prepared our lunch which was mostly leftovers from "doggy bags", Eladio covered the sofa and arm chairs. The lounge looked a whole lot better after that. Here by the way is the before photo and the after photo for you to compare. 

The lounge before

The after photo

It looks so much nicer now and definitely more inviting. You might think we painted it but we didn't. Thankfully the previous owners painted it in a more palatable colour than in the before photo. Imagine an orange lounge? I have to change the picture of the horse which looks a bit cheesy but I have nothing to change it with for the moment. I am actually getting used to it. I should also mention it was painted by Mari, the previous owner, like many in the house. So it does have its value.

After lunch Mari's husband, José, came with a builder to inspect the woodworm in the beams in the attic. That took a while but both Eladio and I were pleased to know it would be taken care of by the previous owners. Hopefully the work will take place at the end of October after our guests have left.

On the subject of guests, I had a couple arriving with their dog at our apartment in Santa Pola. Communication with the guest was not good so I had no idea when they were arriving, information I had to relay to Lucy our neighbour there. Lucy told me the horrible old lifts were being changed and that there was a lot of noise and dust. Thus I had to warn my guests who didn't seem to mind. Lucy told me they were much more worried about Covid. They had left Madrid that morning and the lady insisted that if they had to turn back because of a sudden lockdown whe would have to cancel. Thankfully that didn't happen. 

Once José and the builder had gone, Eladio and I took our bathing costumes and a couple of towels and returned to the Poo beach as the sun was out. We got there but couldn't bathe as the tide was out and the water miles away. It was the same at the Palombina beach. So we went a bit further and found the Borizu beach which was very beautiful. We saw signs it had been used for filming as many of the beaches in this area have. It wasn't so much the tide that worried us here, it was the wind. A wind had suddenly appeared and the sea looked rough. We hadn't watched the weather forecast. Apparently that night a huge storm called Odette was to hit the whole of the north of Spain. Thus we had to turn on our heels and drive home. It was raining when we got out of the car and later that night the storm began in earnest. It rained through the night and we could hear the wind from inside the house. The rain had come to stay but we were grateful we had had good weather during our time in Asturias. 

Friday came, the day of our departure. It took us a while to get ready to go. It would have taken longer if we had had to clean the house but thankfully we now have our neighbour, Loli, to do the job. I call that money well spent. We left just before 11 am in pouring rain. We had a 500 kilometre journey ahead of us which would take us between 5 and 6 hours depending on the stops. When we did stop for our picnic lunch at some god forsaken petrol station, the sun was out but it was windy and cold (18c). It was warmer back home (20c) but it was obvious Autumn had arrived in our absence, so no dinner for us outside that night. It was great to see my father again as it was to see the dogs. Pippa, especially, had missed me during our absence. I had missed her too. I was happy to see Norah looking better but she is still not well and I have an appointment with the vet on Tuesday. Poor lamb.

During the trip we had bad news from our apartment in Santa Pola. The guests there had opened the windows of the kitchen galley where the gas heater is and the wind had blown out the gas flame and the heater wasn't working. Lucy, our neighbour and the person who looks after the apartment did her very best to get the gas people to come but they didn't arrive until 8 pm that night. There were many calls to make and messaging with Leire the guest who was not happy. She also told us the washing machine didn't work. It turned out it did but that she hadn't switched on the tap. She has turned out to be a needy guest and I was worried she would leave a nasty review. I did my best all day to placate her. Finally all was well that night but the issue had worried me all day. The gas man said never to open the galley windows again, so that's another line to add to the list of instructions on the information sheet I send to guests. 

There was no sign of our guests at home. I did not see either of them but would finally see my UK guest yesterday when she left. She wrote to me on and off and complained the the house was dark when she came home in the evenings and would be please leave the lights on. That did not make Eladio happy. One night she wrote to tell me there was a lizard in her bathroom and would Lucy, our home help, go up to her room to help her get rid of it. She was so worried you would have thought it was  a crocodile. We live in the countryside so lizards are just part of the garden and do sometimes make their way into the house. She probably lives in a town and is not used to lizards. Thankfully Lucy who thought the whole episode was ridiculous came to the rescue. I only saw here yesterday morning when she left. She was charming actually and it was interesting to know that although she lives in the UK she is originally from Iran. Despite the lights and lizard issues, I do hope she comes again. She, like many other parents, had come to settle her daughter into Uni here. I am wondering if she may have to go home if Madrid goes into lockdown. 

After unpacking, even though both Eladio and I were very tired after our journey, we had to go out and do the shopping as the cupboards were practically bare after 10 days away. We went to the chemist for pills for my father, to Mercadona for the main shopping and to Carrefour for stuff I can't get at the latter as well as fresh fish to make fish and chips for the birthday lunch yesterday. While Eladio and Lucy were unloading everything I got on with making the birthday cake; my trusted cream and jam filled Victoria sponge cake. Suzy was on her way home from Menorca but wouldn't get back till midnight, thus it was just us for dinner that night. We weren't hungry but had some of the pie I had ordered from the baker who delivers bread to El Cueto. It wasn't that good so I won't be getting it again. We watched the news while having dinner and learned that more areas of Madrid had been put into semi lockdown thanks to the second wave of coronavirus.  Now over 45 areas are in semi lockdown  which affects 3 or 4 million people. 

We were in bed by 9.45 or so and I was happy to be so as our bed in my opinion is the most comfortable in the world. We watched some more of Borgen until Eladio fell asleep. I couldn't fall asleep so read for a while until my eyes began to close.

I was awake on Saturday at 06.30  with lots to do. I had to finish making the cake but had forgotten to get the icing sugar. After a small birthday breakfast with my father, Eladio and Suzy, Eladio went to Mercadona to get me some. Soon the cake was ready. I fill it with whipped cream and bilberry jam and cover it with fresh bilberries and raspberries. This was the result. 

The birthday cake I made yesterday

Oli, Elliot and Miguel arrived just before lunch. We were delighted to see them but especially delighted to see Elliot who, in our absence, had turned 1. He is now nearly walking and stands up by himself. He was a little overwhelmed but was soon in Eladio's arms. We brought out the tricycle we had got  him for his birthday and he seemed to like it a lot.

Elliot on his new tricycle

There were more presents and cards for Elliot. My dear friend Jacky had sent a lovely one with his name on it. There was ours of course but also a magnificent one from Joanne, my Airbnbn friend who lives in Lancashire. She had gone all out and made a card using photos from my blog of his first year. I think Oli is going to frame it.

Joanne's card to Elliot

Joanne had also sent a lovely fluffy toy: Spot the dog with a book too which I read to him in the afternoon and he loved. My friends are so kind. Olivia was overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness. 

Everyone enjoyed the fish and chips. Finally it was the cake moment and we all sang Happy birthday to both the birthday boys. Elliot didn't really know what was happening. He wasn't interested in the cake either but I think he liked the candles.

The birthday boys

We spent the afternoon chilling out on the kitchen patio and enjoying Elliot. The girls' friend, Elenita and her dog, Nana, were with us.  When everyone left it felt very quiet. I spent the time reading outside with a jumper on. Eladio was threatening to cover the swimming pool which is generally the nail on the coffin of summer so I told him to wait a while. We were not hungry at dinner after all the birthday food so just had a token something before going up to watch the news and more of Borgen which we have nearly finished.

Today is Sunday. My guests in Santa Pola and my guest here who I only met once are leaving. My new guests will be arriving at El Cueto and I really hope they like it and don't have any issues. Next week we have no guests booked for this house although that can change. 

 I am now at the end of the tales of this week, I shall sign off, publish this post and print a copy for my dear father. 

Cheers friends and readers, until next Sunday,

Masha

To Asturias to settle into our new house, signing the deeds, Elliot turns 1 year old, exploring the area, Madrid in semi lock down and other stories.

El Cueto de Meré, Asturias, Sunday 20th September, 2020

Signing the deeds, an important moment in our life

Good morning all from Asturias, from our new house in El Cueto Meré where we moved in on Tuesday 15th September, a day to be remembered.

Last Sunday saw us at home with much warmer temperatures. We had lots of guests from both Airbnb and Swimmy. We only saw the French couple for a moment in the morning but they are delightful. I was astonished to learn the wife (a nurse) was from Madagascar. So we had a guest from Africa and one from Polynesia hahahahhaa. On the subject of Airbnb guests, I was delighted to receive a glowing review from Marlène, my guest from the weekend before. I have to share it with you, in French, of course which amazingly I could understand every word of. This is what she wrote:

Marlène's review

This is a rough translation of what she wrote: “You can go to Masha with confidence. My daughter and I were very pleasantly received. Whatever your language, you will have no communication problem because Masha speaks so many !! In addition, her house is ideally located for anyone like me to settle their child in Spain, in order to study at EMU. Address and hostess recommended !!!! ”

Thank you Masha for your welcome. Emma and I are delighted to have spent a few days with you, we felt very comfortable. Your family is charming, just like you. Thank you again and see you soon I hope;)”

She also gave me an overall 5 stars and then 5 stars for each of the 6 categories (accuracy, check-in, cleanliness, location and value). I don't always score well for location - well we are out in the sticks, but I did this time. 

5 stars for all categories

It's review like this, and I have had many, that make it all worth while. I go out of my way to make my guests feel happy and comfortable but I also very often enjoy their company. So Marlène's review on Sunday was well received. It's like a pat on the back from a boss. I have no boss so to say in my new "job", it's the guests who are my bosses and all positive feedback from them only spurs me on to continue my good work. 

The group of girls coming to use the pool arrived at about midday, behaved perfectly and left at around 8pm. The only problem we had was with water as that morning Eladio found a big leak in the irrigation system (this happens often) and switched off the water in the garden which meant the outdoor loo had no water so the guests had to use the one on the ground floor. Later they left me a 5 star review as did the group of boys who came last Saturday. That had me pleased as punch too. I hardly saw our guests that day. It was as if we had the house to ourselves. Guests who only come to sleep and don't use the house are the best kind. 

I spent most of the day hooked on Exodus - oh what a book and what a tale, about the beginnings of the state of Israel. It fascinated me. 

There really is not much else to say about last Sunday, a very quiet day despite the guests. It ended with dinner with Eladio and Suzy on the kitchen terrace. We had duck, melon and avocado salad while Suzy ate her vegetarian dinner. We watched more of Borgen which we are hooked on. We started Season 2 and were not happy that the dubbing for the audio was with Latin American Spanish rather than Castillian Spanish. We had got used to the characters' dubbed voices and found the change rather off putting. Even so, the script is so good we carried on. If Borgen is a Danish type West Wing series, I do wish there could be a UK or Spanish version. I would never ever want to be the Prime Minister of any country after seeing this political series. Everything gets thrown at the PM Birgitte Nyborg and any episode that affects the country is used by the opposition and against her. She never has a moment of peace and when she does she is embroiled in personal problems as her work invades her personal life too.  The role of the press in the series is equally enthralling as the life of the woman PM and anything that can be turned into a scandal against the government is used by them. Sounds familiar? In most countries, yes, but it surprises me that this series aims to be a reflection on politics in Denmark, a country I look up to as a model of democracy, women's rights, standard of living, etc. Well, no country is perfect I suppose. 

Monday came, 14th September and just one day before we left for Asturias. I spent most of the day planning our trip and stay in my head. Monday was rather a lazy day spent in anticipation. It started with me watching Olivia live on TV reporting on the cost of working from home and using augmented reality. How clever I thought. This was just before the Minister of Work was to be interviewed live and one of the topics would be the new law regulating work at home. 

I have been working from home for years. What does that cost me? Well, actually not much. After an initial investment in home office furniture, it's just internet and printing really. That day saw me work on and off on various minor issues for my main customer. I was able to do so mostly on my mobile phone. 

That morning saw me too exchanging emails with the London publisher of my father's book. It has been one year since I signed the contract and the book is not yet out which frustrates me. Of course they blame Covid but I blame them for having missed my most important email to them (sent twice) where I had sent them the original manuscript and a word document with changes I wanted to make. They apparently never saw the word document. Well, they have now and we are, according to them, "now on the same page". I find that a bit sloppy but have to keep on good terms with them as I have no other option.

What would my world be without books I always wonder? What would my father's world be without them? I come from a book family although my taste is nowhere near as high brow as my father's. This week I finished Exodus by Leon Uris. I was inspired to read it after seeing the 1960 film starring Paul Newman on Filmin a while ago. What a book it is. Of course it is pro Jewish and pro Israel but even so it opened my eyes to all the events around the making of the State of Israel in the late 40's. My mother always used to tell us how clever the Jews had been by turning an arid and barren part of Palestine into an oasis of land where fruit grows as if it were Spain or South Africa. They turned a medieval and barren land into the country it is today, prosperous of course, although never ever gaining peace. Leon Uris does a very good job in explaining why and there are an awful lot of politics behind it, a festering history that started thousands and thousands of years ago. We went to The Holy Land 10 years ago; an amazing experience. Having been there made me understand Exodos better. It also made me want to go again. Oh, there are so many places I want to return to. Don't you?

So, yes, with my chores out of the way, I spent most of the day avidly reading Exodus. It is a page turner and is also a love story which in itself is of a very different kind to those I normally read about. I felt rather guilty "wasting my time" but on the other hand, it was a great break after the stress of the last week, "exam week". Thankfully that is over now.

Apart from reading I also saw the news and it was dire. Raging fires in the US with deaths and thousands losing their houses was one of the main topics. It seems impossible that such a powerful country cannot control the fires. Much further away on the Greek island of Lesbos, approximately 12.000 refugees who had seen their camps in Moria burned also by fire, were struggling to pick up their abysmal lives again. No one wants them, like no one wanted the Jews in Israel. It's the same story always. In the UK a bill was passed to go ahead with a no deal Brexit. But there was some good news too. It seems "life" has been found on Venus. I wondered as I watched the news whether perhaps Elliot or his offspring would ever see or witness life in "space". I sort of doubt it but astrologists and other scientists spend their lives on studies like this. So who knows? 

We saw the first day of rain on Monday as the temperatures dropped slightly. It rained a bit at dinner and we had to push the table nearer the kitchen and squeezed around the dry part to finish our meal. It would be the last dinner there for a while. 

Another episode of Borgen entertained us that night. I found it difficult to sleep. When I was a child I was always excited before a trip. My mother used to call the sensation "reisefieber", a German term meaning "travel fever". It's a term that describes well the butterflies in your stomach before a trip or something exciting happening.  Before leaving the house she would always make us sit for a minute in the porch and pray. I don't pray anymore before a trip but I still get travel fever. 

I somehow got through the night and finally it was Tuesday morning 15th September, the day we would move into our new house, our fourth house, believe it or not. After packing food and clothes, we said all our goodbyes, to my father, to Suzy, to Lucy and to the French couple. I did not, however see my guest from New Caledonia, Louis, who I presumed was asleep. At about 10.45 we left, leaving all the responsibility of running our great big house behind and you know what? We felt free as a bird and as happy as Larry. We were about to embark on a new adventure and a new chapter in our life. We spoke about how we had got to this point, from our humble beginnings when we first met in the summer of 1980 with hardly a penny between us. Of course my parents helped us get on the property ladder for which I am forever grateful but it has been sheer hard work that took us to the top plus maybe a little bit of luck. We also commented that my three severance pays from Motorola, Nokia and latterly Yoigo, certainly contributed to our now owning 4 houses. Of course there is only one, our main home outside Madrid, that is really valuable; the others are much more modest. This fourth house which we have bought as an investment, for our pleasure and to maximise  through renting, will hopefully pay itself back eventually. 

It's just over 500 km away so we had a long drive ahead of us. The Satnav took us via Valladolid, Palencia and then towards Santander and onto Asturias from Torrelavega. We stopped in some small village on the way for our picnic lunch which we set out on the banks of a river as we could not find anywhere to stop on the motorway. Here is Eladio about to enjoy our picnic - way to go these days because of Covid.

Eladio at our picnic table on the way to Asturias

Meanwhile in Madrid, Oli had finished work for the day and was with Elliot and Miguel. I love to see photos and videos of him. He is on the point of walking as you can see in this video , albeit with the help of his adored tractor. Oh how he loves his tractor.

Elliot on his new tractor with his friends on Tuesday

We were soon in lush Asturias with the wonderful backdrop of the mountains and were surprised to arrive to sun and warm weather as the forecast had been for rain. It wasn't raining when we finally arrived in our new village; "El Cuetu" next to Meré. To think we had bought the house after just seeing it for 5 or 10 minutes. Were we mad? We were so happy to be finally there and about to take possession of it. I took lots of photos. Here are just some of them.

The house as seen from the terrace

One of the windows close up.  I do love the windows

Soon the previous owners, Mari and José, arrived to hand us over the keys and show us the house again and tell us how everything works. They are a couple in their 60' and 70's, like us,  and who used to have a herd of cows until 20 years ago when they began renting this house and then went on to rent two more. This house, they told me, belonged to Jose's mother and was built more than 100 years ago. Mari told me the kitchen was bombed during the Spanish civil war and that one of her mother-in-law's siblings who had moved to Cuba, sent the money needed to restore it. So this house has a lot of history. It certainly has character and I love most of it although I will have to change some of the rather cheesy decor. Eladio thinks everything is fine including the ghastly old brown leather settee but hopefully we won't argue about the changes. 

Mari had cleaned the house beautifully. Everything was immaculate. There was a beautiful bunch of hydrangeas too in the entrance to the hall. She had also baked us a sponge cake and left us three jars of her home made jam as well as eggs laid by their hens. With this amazing welcome pack there was a letter for us. A letter for us? How could that be as no one knows this address? Ah, but it was a card from my friend Joanne in the UK who is very good at detective work. She is  amazing when it comes to things like birthdays. Since I met her and we became friends - 2 years or so ago when she came because of Airbnb - she always sends something for important occasions in our life. She has even sent a present for Elliot's first birthday! I was so touched.

Our welcome pack including Joanne's card

Before leaving, Mari  introduced us to a neighbour, "Loli"who has agreed to look after the house in our absence. We certainly need someone here as we live so far away.

Soon the previous owners left and we agreed to meet the next day in Llanes at 1.30 to go together to the notary to sign the deeds. Then finally it was time to move in. Here is Eladio with two supermarket bags at the entrance, hahaha.

Moving in

As soon as all the food was put away, the most urgent task for me was setting up the wifi. I had got a router from Movistar that will provide it although it is neither fiber or ADSL: It is like a radio and has a sim card inside to connect to the 4G network here and in the same way we use our phones as hotspots, it is the hotspot. It didn't take me long and I was amazed to see it working with full coverage not long afterwards. Internet for me here is as important as water or electricity. We cannot live without it today.

My next task was to choose which of the 4 bedrooms would be ours. They are all of similar size so I didn't go on size but rather on bed comfort and I chose the blue room. The others are red, yellow and green. They are small but lovely and all have two windows. I only wish the double beds were not all 135cm but bigger.

By then it was time for dinner and it felt strange to be preparing dinner in this new kitchen. We felt like guests staying at a holiday cottage and kept having to pinch ourselves to realise it was ours. That will take a while I think. And here is Eladio sitting down at the kitchen table and raising a glass of wine to cheer the occasion. 

Dinner on our first night

We had lots to celebrate and should be grateful for that. That evening I got a message from my dear friend Kathy to tell me her father has cancer again and if he agrees will have to have his voice box removed. Just how awful is that? Brian, bless the man, told Kathy that he has followed Elliot (on instagram) since the day he was born "because of his beautiful eyes". I was both touched yet sad for him. Poor Kathy has a lot on her plate at the moment. Her dear husband Philip, our good friend, was to be operated on his shoulder the next day and was terrified. Because of damned Covid she couldn't be with him. She told me it had been a horrible year for them. I am so sorry. 

We later got ready for bed, got in and watched an episode of Borgen on my iPad. We switched it off at around 11 pm but I found it difficult to sleep. I think I was just too excited. I was awake at 4.30, then 5.30 and lay in bed waiting for it to be 6 am, the earliest I think I should rise. 

We had a leisurely breakfast which included the delicious sponge cake from the welcome pack. That day would be a day to remember, the day we signed the deeds to the house. We didn't have to be in Llanes until 1.30 when we would meet the owners and walk to the notary. Thus after breakfast we made our way to Posada de Llanes, the nearest town to here, to do some basic shopping at the local supermarket, Alimerka, and also to stock up on things like "bog roll", etc for the house. Before leaving I wanted a photo of me outside the house. After all I had dressed up a bit for the signing of the deeds at the Notary.

Outside our house the day we went to sign the deeds

On our way to Posada we stopped at  little village, very near here, Puente Nuevo where we were told there is a general store and cafe. We went in to take a look and I liked what I saw; a very typical village store which I am sure will be useful on occasions. "In Posada we did the shopping and also visited an ironmonger for various things the house needed. Then before leaving for Llanes, we had a coffee there, sitting pleasantly in the sun. That's when we found out that things were not good in Madrid after many more people were found to be infected with Covid. The local government there had declared that the areas most affected would most probably go into lockdown. I wanted to know where these areas are, so looked them up. I knew where we live would not be on the list thankfully. It seems the working class district of Vallecas seems to be the worst hit. I was worried and I am worried that other measures, like freedom of movement outside the province may come into force too, thus wrecking my Airbnb business. 

I cheered up when we arrived in the very pretty town of Llanes, the capital of the province. Here we parked by the town's beach, "El Sablón" which is quite famous. People were enjoying the sun and swimming. I wished I could too but we had to go to the notary. There was time for a photo though and here I am on the steps to the beach.

By the El Sablón beach in Llanes on Wednesday

It was while walking back to the car park to meet Mari and José (the owners) that we spied what looked like a great restaurant to celebrate afterwards, "Sablons" right by the beach with great views which is actually part of a hotel.  We wanted to invite Mari and José but unfortunately that didn't happen as Mari felt very unwell that day and spent the afternoon at A&E. She had stomach issues and was put on a strict diet.

The restaurant where we celebrated after signing the deeds on Wednesday

By 13.40 or so we were at the Notary. The notary is a woman called Angela and I later learned we had a common friend. This world is indeed small. It was all quite efficient and we didn't have to wait long until the deeds were ready to sign. I wanted a photo of the occasion and Mari took a few for this blog. In the feature photo I am signing and in the photo below Eladio is signing while I look on smiling. 

Eladio signing

It was a funny feeling when the act was over. Now the house was ours but have we done the right thing putting all our eggs in one basket with nothing now left? I think we have  because even if the going gets tough, the house market, at least for houses outside towns - thanks to Covid - has picked up enormously. In any case it was an important moment for us. Straight afterwards we went to see Pilar, the lady at the accountancy that does all Mari and José's paperwork. She will be doing it for us too for all things related to the house. Especially important is transferring the tourist licence to our name to be able to rent the house. 

When that was over we said goodbye to Mari and José and walked to the restaurant for a  lovely meal. We actually had a "menu del día" for just 15 euros which was excellent. I think the views were worth more. We will be back no doubt.

We got into our car to drive "home" but stopped on the way to explore one of the many beaches not so far from our house. There are quite a few to choose form which are about a 10 minute drive. The one that most rang a bell was "Playa de Barro". We had been told that films and series had chosen its location for filming. I could see why when I saw it; it's stunning. I was interested to hear too that part of one of our overall favourite Spanish series, "La Señora" was filmed there. I love the Playa de Barro and know it's somewhere we shall go a lot.

Playa de Barro 

We were home by about 5ish and I spent the whole afternoon - well 2 hours of it at least, sitting on our terrace and reading Exodus which I finished that afternoon. We were not hungry for dinner but ended up having a glass of wine with pistachios and a bit of tortilla and fruit. I went outside afterwards to enjoy the evening area and looked into our kitchen from the street. There was Eladio washing up. It was a funny feeling. This is our house, yes, but I still feel like a guest. 

Eladio inside the kitchen  - photo taken from the street. 

We were in bed quite early and watched a bit of Borgen until ours eyes began to shut.

I didn't sleep too badly and was up at 7 the next morning, 17th September. That day was Elliot's first birthday but we would not be with him which was a great pity. That day, because it was his birthday, he did not go to the nursery which he still doesn't like poor boy. Instead he would celebrate his 1 year on this earth with his other grandparents and with his cousins. However, I later saw that at some point this week the nursery had put a special birthday crown on him for his 1st birthday. He is wearing it but doesn't look particularly happy.

Elliot at the nursery wearing his 1st birthday crown

He probably far enjoyed the "party" with his parents. Here he is on his 1st birthday with Oli and Miguel. I did wish we could have been there that day.

Elliot on his first birthday

We shall have to wait until 26th September. Suzy created this beautiful picture for her sister and beloved nephew.

Happy birthday Elliot

I can hardly believe a year has passed since his arrival and oh how he has changed all our lives. We love the darling boy so much. He is our future and we all wish him the very best. My father always says he wishes him a "very productive life". Hear hear to that.

Thursday was a day of errands that had to be done about the house; mainly passing on utility accounts to put them in our name. In the morning we waited for the "gas man" and in the afternoon we went to the insurance office. We waited all morning for the gas man and meanwhile missed the bread van. I asked our neighbour, Loli, to ask him to stop outside our house from then on. He apparently sells great bread, croissants and pies which we have to try. While we waited Eladio watered all the flowers, mostly the geraniums. They are on all the balconies and need tending to. I, meanwhile, took my first walk through the small village getting to know it. We are at the end of the road and surrounded by mountains so I suspect there must be some good walks. 

Exploring the village

I came across a mirador from where you can see Meré below. El Cueto, although a separate village, really belongs to the bigger Meré. This is the view.

View of Meré from El Cuetu

The village of El Cueto seems quite smart to me with some lovely houses although there are a lot of ruins too. Asturias has become so popular, people buy ruins and barns and old farm properties and do them up so I suspect some of the old buildings in front of our house will be next on the list. There is a property across the street at the back of the house which we might be interested in but not for now. Later I heard from Loli that there are 11 holiday cottages just in El Cueto. Oh my God I thought that is stiff competition. On the bright side she told us that our house is the most popular. However, I cannot list it anywhere yet, apart from Airbnb, until I have the coveted tourist licence and its corresponding number.

We had our first lunch at Casa del Cueto that morning. I didn't do anything fancy, just some gourmet burgers with mushrooms and tomatoes after which we had a short siesta. At 5 pm we had to be at the insurance broker's office in a village not so far from here called "Nueva". I later learned it had been voted prettiest village in Asturias in the 50's and it was pretty. Even prettier were the nearby beaches we would see afterwards. With the insurance sorted from 1st October, we drove to the beach called "Playa Cuevas del Mar" which we found delightful as we do all the beaches we have seen in Asturias. It was a balmy afternoon and I wished we had bought our swimming costumes. Next time I would put them in the boot of the car. I never thought we would need them as rain had been forecast for the whole week of our arrival but the forecast was wrong and we had glorious weather when we arrived until rain came yesterday. Here I am on the pretty beach feeling a bit too warm in a long sleeved t-shirt, one of the oldest I have but also one of my favourite. I have countless photos in that trusted Zara blue and white striped t-shirt hahahaha.

Playa Cuevas del Mar on Thursday afternoon

We spied a path at the end of the beach where a sign showed us it led to another beach, Playa de San Antonio. We followed it with our damned masks on which kept steaming up my glasses which I had to take off to enjoy the view and what a view it was. I never tire of Asturian beaches, coves and cliffs, they are so dramatic.

Eladio on the coastal path from Cuevas del Mar beach to San Antonio beach

To access the San Antonio beach which was hardly sign posted, we had to walk past a farm with pigs, horses and cows, animals I can never resist. The cows were lovely and clean with their young and even the huge bull seemed quite placid. What a lovely place for them to live I thought. What a dream location for a farm I also thought.

Cows and their young on the farm we had to pass to access the San Antonio beach

At the end of the path we were rewarded with the beautiful view of the San Antonio beach where people were swimming. It looked like a small cove but was in fact two coves and bigger than the Cuevas del Mar beach. Eladio took a photo of me at the entrance to the steps leading down. 

At the entrance to the San Antonio beach

I walked down the steps eagerly wanting to see this jewel of a beach surrounded by cliffs and shaped in two coves which were separated by a rock. I sat on a rock contemplating the sea and of course taking numerous photos. I wasn't the only one doing that as you will see if you watch this video.

We enjoyed our walk and visits to these two beaches which was really a part of our exploring the area. We must get to know it as we shall be coming a lot and of course to be able to pass on information to any future guests. 

On the way home we stopped to get some ice cream (and chocolate) at Alimerka in Posada de Llanes and were soon home. I had a nice chat with Suzy who was having a good day (hurray). She was out to dinner at her friend's house Elenita. She had news for us this week. Instead of returning to Bali which in any case she can't do until at least next January, she has decided to go and live, for the moment at least, in ..... Guess where? Costa Rica is the answer. We support her 100% as we do not want her to return to Bali where we know she is in danger. 

We had our own dinner shortly afterwards. We missed the news but knew it would be about the rising number of cases in Madrid. We kept crossing our fingers the city and county would not be put in lock down. We mostly fear the end of freedom of movement outside the province. We both fell asleep watching another episode of Borgen and I was awake at 6 am on Friday morning. 

Friday was a day of exploring the area; the mountains in the Picos de Europa and more local beaches. First, though we went to Posada de Llanes, our nearest "town" where the local Friday market was on. It was quite small and I didn't buy anything. My husband, though, couldn't resist getting some local chorizo. I am not a great fan.

Eladio at the market in Posada on Friday morning

Whilst in Posada we went into to see an architect studio that does plans for reforming houses. We are keen to transform the huge empty attic in this house and turn it into an en suite bedroom and study. An architect from the firm will be coming tomorrow to take a look. There are quite a few changes we want to make, Apart from the attic we would like to build a door from the pantry to a small terrace outside, knock down the wall between the pantry and the kitchen and make one giant kitchen, knock down the wall between the small lounge and garage and turn it into a much larger lounge. We even want to add bathrooms to two of the bedrooms upstairs. These are all future plans which finances will not permit us to do for the moment. But we can dream can't we?

From Posada we drove back towards our village and this time carried on up the mountains towards The Picos de Europa - a wonderful mountain range in this area which is a very popular tourist destination. The house we have bought is in a very strategic location, near both the beaches and the Picos. It was our first time up that road and it was beautiful. We stopped to take a photo of the famous Naranjo de Bulnes mountain popular with rock climbers. It is around 2.600m high and stands out on the horizon like a big tooth or that's how Eladio pointed it out to me from the viewing point we stopped at on the way up to the Picos.

View of the Naranjo de Bulnes mountain

There is actually a cable car you can ride to get to the summit of the Naranjo de Bulnes that is on our bucket list of things to do round here and there are many. As you can see it was a sunny day.  We have been very lucky with the weather.  The weather in Asturias is often very unpredictable. You can wake up to fog and rain and an hour or so later the sun may come up. The sun was definitely out for us that day and we were grateful.

We reached the town of Arenas de Cabrales about 15km from our house and one of the main gateways to the Picos. I thought it was nearly as pretty as Potes. Here we ambled the streets enjoying the picturesque village and even took photos on a bicycle statue that seems to be one of the main local attractions. Of course I had to get on it. The backdrop was to die for - the road leading to the famous "Ruta del Cares".

Enjoying life in Arenas de Cabrales

Arenas de Cabrales is famous for its very smelly cheese. As you know I absolutely hate cheese so of course I wasn't tempted. I thought Eladio would buy some as he does like cheese but he didn't. From Cabrales we drove further up the mountain. Eladio was keen for me to see the famous Gorge of the Cares river. People go there in their droves there to walk along the famous and long and arduous but beautiful Cares Route but we are not mountaineers and of course did not have the right equipment. The road ends at the gorge or entrance to the route which in itself is a sight for sore eyes.

The river Cares gorge up in the Picos de Europa

It was lunch time by the time we reached the end of the road so after taking a few photos we drove down the mountain road again and this time made our way to the small village of Carreña. I had spied a popular restaurant there, Los Montañeros, on internet and we were not disappointed. Their "fabada" (local bean stew with chorizo and blood sausage) was one of the best I have ever tasted. We had a most magnificent "menú del día" for just 14 euros each. We drowned the food down with local cider - typical too of the area - and I later bought a box of 6 bottles for just 11 euros at the enticing looking local store.

Los Montañeros bar and restaurant where we had lunch on the terrace by the river on Friday and where we shall be going back.

We both marveled at the food, the place and the warm weather. It was raining in most of the rest of Spain and here we were eating in our shirt sleeves and basking in 25 or 26c. We couldn't believe it. We came home with a doggy bag as the portions were so big. I was about to have a siesta when I got an alarming message from Suzy. 

Norah was ill with a temperature of 41c which is terribly dangerous. She spent most of the afternoon at the local vet. Poor Norah has a tumour on one of her teats, a cyst in her ovaries and some grey area on her thorax, ulcers and also gastroenteritis and  she most probably has cancer. Her white blood cells were very low. But none of this explained her high temperature. Thus she was admitted into the hospital for more tests. That night the vet rang to say they had sent a sample of her blood for a test and wouldn't have the results for 5 days but were giving her antibiotics. They suspect the fever is a by product of her ongoing illness - leishmania which comes from a mosquito of the same name. She is an old dog, nearly 12  and is in a very sorry state. I felt so bad for not being there with her but followed her progress all afternoon and evening. She stayed one night and Suzy picked her up with all her medicines on Saturday evening. There were two hefty bills to be paid by me which I did to do online from here. 

Feeling bad about Norah, we went out again, this time to explore more local beaches and even to take a bathe. That was in sharp contrast to the downpour of rain in Madrid and many other places in Spain. My new Airbnb guests had arrived that afternoon and I may or may not coincide with them next week. 

We set off to visit our nearest beach, Playa de San Antolín, about a 10 or 15 minute drive from here. We were a bit disappointed that is next to the motorway and wasn't nearly as nice as Playa de Barro or Playa de Cuevas del Mar. But the sun was shining and we got our beach chairs out from the car and changed into our swimming costumes. There was a lot of seaweed but I still went in as I was determined to make the best of the weather. Here I am in the water.

Swimming in the water at the San Antolín beach on Friday evening

We weren't too keen on this beach and had spied signs of more beaches not so far away. We were interested in seeing one in particular, the "Gulpiyuri beach". The sign post said it was 1km away but it was much further. I walked in my bathing costume, mask on my face, and wished I had been wearing clothes. We got to this curious beach and finally understood its attraction. It is really an inland beach. Wikipedia describes this phenomenon with this description "Playa de Gulpiyuri is a flooded sinkhole with an inland beach ........ it is fully tidal due to a series of tunnels carved by the salt water of the Cantabrian sea which allows water from the Bay of Biscay to create small waves". Apparently the word "gulpiyuri" means "water circle". The water looked a bit murky but I was determined to go in and swim even though it was freezing. Eladio eventually followed suit as you can see from the photo below.

The curious and unique Playa de Gulpiyuri

From the beach we could see people walking on cliffs further up the hill so decided to join them. We were happy we did as we discovered the most amazing cliffs and views. What a unique place the cliffs of Gulpihyuri are I have to say. The backdrop was magnificent too, the mountains of the Picos de 

Europa. This was a fabulous destination to discover. 

Up on the rocky cliffs near the Gulpiyuri beach

While we were gallivanting and exploring new beaches, in Madrid there was bad news. Madrid has the highest number of cases in Europe and they are on the rise. The death toll is slowly rising too so it's obvious we are going through a second wave. The authorities announced that afternoon that 37 areas of the city and province were to go back into semi lock down. These areas are almost all working class where the population density is higher and this affects over 800.000 people. The lock down is not as strict as the national lock down we all had to suffer and people will still be going to work and to school. I wonder if that is enough to quash the virus. I think it is not. I was sorry for those affected but also glad that where we live is not on the list. I think that is probably because of the low population density there. Most people live in large houses separated from their neighbours. Asturias, by the way, is the area in Spain with the fewest cases and has been since the start of the pandemic. Maybe that's why so many people, like us, bought houses here this summer. 

I was sad to hear this but also happy to be away in Asturias. We came back home to take a shower and then had a semi light dinner accompanied by a glass or two of cider. The day ended with more of Borgen on my iPad in bed. My giant iPad is the best present I ever got during my time as Communications Director of Yoigo.

Saturday came and it rained for the first time.  When there was a lull we drove to Posada to get some money from a cash point. We had run out and lots of establishments in this area don't take cards. We had a coffee there too and then out of nowhere the skies opened and discharged so much water in the form of a rain storm that we had to stay for nearly 40 minutes for it to die down. It was, apparently, a tropical rainstorm. Wow, I hadn't seen so much rain in an age. When it finally receded we ran to our car and drove home, mostly to change our clothes as we were a bit wet. We had booked a table for lunch at the local bar, Bar La Tilar, which had great reviews. It was good I have to say but the portions were enormous and again we brought back doggy bags. Our fridge is full of them. I don't know when we will get through all the food there is in the fridge but we shall have to finish it before going out for a meal again.

The girls at home were also out to lunch that day and Miguel sent me a photo of them with Elliot and Elenita, their great friend. Here they are together with my grandson. 

Elliot with the girls yesterday

We had a great siesta after the food and cider and I was awake at 5.15.  I couldn't believe the rain had gone and the sun was shining. I went outside to the small terrace where I had placed two chairs. This is the little terrace I want to have a door to the pantry. Of course we have the other much bigger terrace but if you sit there you are in full view of everyone whereas on the small terrace there is a lot more privacy.

The little terrace

It was sitting here that I had a skype call with Kathy and Phil. I was keen to have news of his operation and was happy to see him home and in good shape. We had a good old natter for at least an hour. The sun was out and we wanted to make the most of it and go for a walk. It was to be our first walk in the village. We took a route towards a beautiful valley leading to the small village of Debodes and passing a pretty stream. There was much corn being grown and I could see the cobs clearly. There were cows in the distance and I thought this looks a bit like a mini Switzerland. It's paradise.

The fields on our walk yesterday

Parts of the walk were steep but we loved the views. We also loved the village of Debodes which has some beautiful houses. Many of them were on sale and I thought what a pity we hadn't come across them when we were searching for a house. 

In the nearby village of Debodes yesterday

It's a bit like having bought new shoes and then looking at shop windows and seeing others you like better. I can't help looking at the houses but we are very happy with ours. It's what we could afford too, as we had our limits. This is it yesterday in the rain, still looking pretty.

Our house in the rain

We came back to watch the news  and were depressed to hear of more and more cases in Europe, not only in Spain but in France, Germany, Portugal and the UK. It is very obvious we are now experiencing a second wave. Today's figures world wide, as I record every week, have gone up too as they always do. The number of cases now is near to 31 million and the death toll, at 961.461, nearing a million. Meanwhile the race is on for a vaccine and countries are going back into a sort of lock down with more and more restrictions. For the moment we can still move around the country and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that won't change. 

So my friends, today is Sunday and time to publish the stories of the week, a milestone for us when we moved into our new house and signed the deeds.  We still feel like guests but are loving it.

I wish you all a good Sunday and cheers until next week,

Masha