These days
I've been enjoying the 10-days-fiesta that takes place every September
in Oviedo, my city (located in Asturias, northern Spain). This holiday
finishes the same day as summer does, so it's a sort of a welcome to
the autumn, with its warm breeze and golden veil of leaves. I love
autumn! They are our local holidays and although we are a little city,
hundreds of people come from everywhere to enjoy these days with us.
The city was really crowded, full of people talking and eating in the
streets and parks, laughing and enjoying the time...
There are
many concerts in different places at night, also traditional music and
dances, fireworks and many other events. Children are the protagonists
in the mornings, as there are many activities for them to enjoy in the
company of their families. For example there is a little train which
tours them around a park in the downtown. Besides, many parents dress
their children with the traditional asturian custom and the kids enjoy
it thinking that it's a carnival day :-).
As a part of this fiesta, on Sept 19 we celebrate "the day of America in Asturias", where people from many countries of America (North, Central and South) and also from Asturias participate in a parade, wearing their traditional costums, playing their music, dancing, showing up aboard original floats...
Here in Asturias we usually celebrate the especial days going for lunch to the meadows and parks to enjoy the day all together. These days we enjoy eating our typical 'bollu preñao', which consists on an especial bread with a hole inside, where a 'chorizo' (sausage made of pork and paprika) is inserted. Also we drink a typical beverage called 'sidra' (an especial kind of apple cider), which is served in a very original way ('escanciar'), as it is shown in the pic below: holding the bottle (always green) very high above the head, pouring then the cider into a big glass with very thin walls, and filling the glass only up to one quarter of it. When you are in a group of friends, you usually share one or two glasses between the whole group, it's a community drink :-)
Well, what else... Ah, yes, I've uploaded a short video that I recorded this holiday during a concert of 'gaita' (bagpipe), a traditional instrument in our region: Link
Now the city is slowly coming back to its daily routine, but leaving a joy flavour in the hearts of its inhabitants.
Kindly submitted by Silvia Martínez Sánchez. You can read more of Silvia's journeys through Spain and life in her web-site and her lens
