A super busy long weekend. Five cities in 4 days, no big deal. Oviedo, Covadonga, Cangas de Onís, Gijón, and Salamanca. So we left Friday for Oviedo and I was beyond excited, it felt like I was finally getting back to my home base in Spain. I was jumping out of my seat by the time I saw familiar buildings. Sam, Sarah and I went straight to my host mom Merce’s apartment: the one I lived in when I was in Oviedo. She was waiting at the door with a huge hug for me, her “vida”. It was so weird to be back in her apartment, nothing had changed at all, except in the hallway on table was a framed picture of me and her. Loving. She insisted we go grocery shopping with her (Alimerka of course) and that she make us some lunch. After lunch, she would have had us stay all day but it was a miracle that it wasn’t raining and we were trying to get out a little before it started. Sam and Sarah say it’s obvious where I learned my Spanish…haha with the 76-year-old Spanish woman vocab, speed, and inflections. Great.
We headed to our hotel and entered in a fiasco. The woman at the desk informed us that even though it says on the website you can have an extra bed for a 3 person room, it is not actually allowed. We couldn’t cancel our reservation either because you have to do that 24 hours before. SO. She asked us for two of us who would be staying there to give her our passports. Sam and I gave her ours, just thinking we would drag Sarah up later when we came back and no one would know the difference. Wrong. We went back around 10pm just to change our clothes etc and the woman wouldn’t even let Sarah come up to the room with us. Profiling! Literally. She had to wait in the “lobby” which consisted of two chairs and a round table. At that point we figured there was no way we would be able to all stay in the room and it was too late to book a hostel etc. Therefore I made the most awkward call ever to my momma Merce and was like “I know I told you weeks ago I didn’t need to but can I please stay with you tonight, they won’t let us all stay in our room?” She was furious that we didn’t know this sooner but said “Well of course, I have no other choice, what are you going to do, sleep in the street?” I felt like a little kid who had to call their parents after they had messed up. Oh well, we went downstairs to tell the woman at the desk that Sarah and Sam would be the ones staying and I wouldn’t. Note: convo has been translated into English for your benefit.
Concierge: “You can’t change that. You’re the one that checked in earlier today and you can’t change your mind now.”
Me: “I don’t know what difference it makes to you, if Sarah had given you her passport earlier instead of me then you wouldn’t have cared, neither of us has stayed here yet…I don’t see the difference.”
Concierge: “She would have had to check in earlier in the day, I can’t change it now”
Me: “What do you mean you can’t change it? Did you just write it on a piece of paper back there or did you put it online somewhere you can’t fix it?”
Concierge: “It’s already in the computer”
Me: “This is ridiculous. I’m not leaving until this gets rearranged.”
Concierge: “What gets rearranged?” (smirking…)
Me: “The room! I want to switch who is staying here.”
Concierge: “I don’t think you understand”
Me: “Yes, I do understand.”
Concerge: “No you don’t.”
Me: Do you have a boss?”
Concierge: “No”
Me: “There is no one else I can talk to? You can’t call anyone? You’re the only one here…”
Concierge: “Yes I’m the only one”
That’s when we just left. And called her rude things in English right in front of her. At this point, I didn’t want to confuse Merce further so I was going to stay there for sure. But, Sarah wasn’t allowed to stay at the hotel. She had to call her friend David and ask to stay there. So it turned out that Friday night, the three of us paid for a hotel but I stayed at Merce’s, Sarah stayed at David’s and Sam stayed at the hotel. Just wait til I get online to leave reviews for the place. Multiple reviews.
Yea. That’s when we decided we needed to go out for sidra. And this is where my night got good. We went to La Pumarada, which was my favorite place on Calle Gascona. I saw my favorite waiter and asked if he remembered me. Before I knew it he was bringing me a 43 with coca cola (my favorite) and said “You’re the one who hates sidra.” I was in love with Oviedo all over again. It’s one of those places that once it’s been your home it’s always your home. Even just walking through the University campus I saw some kids from Canisius College. Weird.
Oviedo was as loving as ever. It felt so weird to not have Jaime, Greg, Megan, Liz, Eric, Lauren, Sarah, Becca, and the rest of the 2009 UniOvi crew there with me! You guys are a huge reason why Oviedo was so fabulous. Let’s all go back.
We took two day trips on Saturday. One to this Roman Bridge in Cangas de Onis and the other to Covadonga which was unreal. The fog was thick and sort of low in the sky so it hung on the mountains and on the church towers. There was a wedding going on as well. It felt like we were tucked away in the most hidden and gorgeous spot in the world. Like we had been wandering through the Picos de Europa and had stumbled upon this unbelievable little alcove.
Gijon- my love. The coastal town I visited nearly every other Friday last time I lived in Spain. We had to go back, and share it with Sam. The views from the hills were awesome as always and the rain held off- impressively. However, the most eventful part of this trip was the bus station beforehand. Sarah, Sam and I had all gone into the bathroom right before the bus was going to leave. I came out and saw Sarah who was already heading towards the bus. I walked back to see if Sam was still in the bathroom and didn’t see her so I ran to the bus. The driver had to reopen the door for me to let me on and we pulled away. I was walking down the aisle and saw Sarah sitting alone. “Uhhh where’s Sam?” That’s when my phone rang with Sam’s little voice on the other end “Can you come back in the bathroom, I’m literally trapped in the stall?” Uhhh…. “Sam, I hate to tell you but we’re already on the bus…climb under? Yell for help?” Not only did we leave her in the Oviedo bus station, we left her trapped in the bathroom stall. I haven’t laughed that hard in a looooong time.
Monday was off to Salamanca which has a super well preserved city center with huge cathedrals, churches, and university buildings. We found the frog hidden in the carvings on the university wall. We hunted for an hour for a place with ice cream. We got to climb the church tower and have an awesome view. We found some “caves” that were more like empty old towers that took us up to a little private view where we obviously interrupted a little Spanish couple’s love sess. So we took our time and hung around just long enough to be really obnoxious before heading out.
We almost lost Sam a number of times. To be honest, I’m not sure how she made it back from the trip alive. We’ve decided (as per her own request) to let her live inside a little chocolate bombón, where she will be much safer.
Bored yet? <3 Hasta luego…
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