Oviedo

Long - distance travel in northern Spain is a drag. With the FEVE - the narrow gauge northern railway insisting that every train stop in every town, village, hamlet and house, it become an unifiable option, and the bus becomes the only means of transport. I'm not a fan of buses, least of all long journeys on buses, so I wasn't looking forward to the 3 hours each way to Oviedo.

That said, it wasn't that bad once we were going, though frustrating every time we came off the motorway to stop at the next town. Soon enough though we were arriving in Oviedo,

Principally I was here to visit my mate Fay who's doing half her ERASMUS year in Cáceres, and was taking a trip to Oviedo with some of her ERASMUS crew. So I didn't really know what to expect from Oviedo, expect that it was meant to be 'quite nice'.

It was, in fact, beautiful - full of hidden lanes, people, and most noticeable - old. In Santander, thanks to 2 huge fires and Franco getting his hands on the rebuilding of it, there are loads of horrible flats and ugly buildings. Growing up in Bath and going to uni in Edinburgh makes you quite particular about architectural, so it was nice to be back in my comfort zone.

Surreal to sit in a square and drink wine with Fay, who in my mind should be knitting in Yorkshire or studying in Edinburgh, but not in Spain!

Went shopping to make the most of the Primark and H&M that we don't have in Santander, before a coffee and the bus back.

Going to meet up with Dani and a few of his friends from home for some drinks later.