High spot

This is the Sacred Heart of Jesus monument and is on top of the 634m Paisano Hill to the west of Oviedo.

However, it wasn't actually the main reason we got up early, pulled on our walking boots and flexed our muscles for a strenuous climb.

Very near this monument are the remains of trenches from the Spanish Civil War. One of the biggest battles of the conflict was fought out in Oviedo and I wanted to photograph the trenches for my forthcoming project.

The trenches are the subject of ongoing archaeological research. However, brambles , ferns etc grow very quickly in these parts, so although I found the trenches it was difficult to produce meaningful photography.

I did stumble across wartime sandbags, which I photographed close up, and I could just about make out the zig-zagging of the trenches through the landscape.

The view from the summit was spectacular and I may change the photo to reflect this (as I can't provide extra pics through Blip's iPhone app).

After descending the hill we had a lovely meal and discovered we had walked just under ten miles - the seventh day out of the last eight we have walked at least that distance (last Friday we managed 19 miles!!) I feel pretty good for all the exercise.