Spain Extravaganza – Days 10 & 11, Oviedo:

Another disclosure: We went to Oviedo solely because it was featured in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, possibly one the greatest movies produced. Andres and I have crushes on both Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (and are thrilled they’re procreating). Our Hotel de la Reconquista (visited in the flick) is sensational, an 18^th century parador with antique wood furnishings, ornate tapestries, massive oil paintings depicting Spanish royalty, carved wood sculptures of cherubs, and wrought-iron lamps hanging throughout the rambling property. We keep discovering new courtyards and secret stairways and barely want to leave to explore. But leave we do, and head to San Francisco Park, replete with rose bushes and fountains; but the highlight is the elderly men exercising on the outdoor gym equipment. I envision them meeting here daily, twisting and swinging on the archaic equipment. After a quick game of table tennis, we’re off to Old Town with quaint cobblestone streets, beautiful cathedrals and…more wine. The scourge of dating a sommelier.

We read of these 9^th Century Pre-Romanesque churches just outside the city and after our usual routine (start with directions from the hotel, get lost, Garmin it, get lost again, ask someone on the street, find ourselves lost, ask another person with decidedly better English, locate street signs with cryptic icons, lost, retrace our steps, re-locate the signs, find monument) we find the churches. Set up on a slope, the view is idyllic, bathed in the afternoon golden light. Andres and I plop ourselves down in front of Santa Maria del Naranco and feast on a picnic of chorizo, jamon iberico, manchego, blue cheese, a baguette, plums and a full-bodied tempranillo. This is as close as one can get to travel perfection.