Gijón to Oviedo

June 29 – Today’s journey is just 30 minutes south by bus to Woody Allen’s favorite Spanish city, Oviedo. This Asturias city is also part of the Camino del Norte (Camino de la Costa) and the Camino Primativo, and will be our last stop before returning to Madrid for our flight home.

We arrived at the bus station at 10:45, and bought tickets for the 10:45 bus. Two minutes later, we were on our way!

Our hotel is in the Old City. The buildings are beautiful.

There are lots of statues on the street:

There is a statue of Woody Allen here, as he declared Oviedo his favorite city when he was here filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which I guess has a nicer ring than Vicky Cristina Oviedo.

We visited the Archeological Museum, housed in an old monestery.

This is St Anne, holding Mary, holding Jesus:

How nice to die with a dog at your feet!

Even nicer with a dog and trusty servant at your feet!

Jim tried a sample of the local cheese – very nice!

We visited the Catedral de San Salvador de Oviedo, one of the most preeminent cathedrals in Spain. They say, “Who goes to Santiago but not to Salvador, visits the servant but not the Lord.”

The main altar tells the life of Jesus in pictorial form, for those in centuries past who could not read.

Riding into Jerusalem:

The assumption of Mary. The scene to the left shows the wedding at Cana. Although the story says there were six jars of water turned into wine, the retablo only shows five because…

One of the jars is here at the cathedral!

The cathedral also houses the companion piece to the Shroud of Turin; the cloth that was wrapped around Jesus’ head when he was laid in the tomb. This is a picture of the cloth, as the actual cloth is stored to prevent deterioration and only brought out three times a year. Analysis of the cloth indicates that Jesus’ blood type was AB. The room is called the Camera Santa, and also houses relics of many saints and the Virgin Mary. Don’t ask how you get relics from someone who was assumed into heaven – it’s a mystery.