After a dodgy night’s sleep, we packed up the van ready for our next adventure. The rain in the night had brought the mozzies out and our new neighbours in the campsite, four 20 something ladies, had been up chatting loudly until 1 pm. This is very much against campsite etiquette, especially given the number of families with young children around and old people like us. 🤣🤣
We headed off for our pre-booked tour to the Cueva de Soplao. The route was very confusing, however, as the main approach road was closed and there were no diversion signs. We got directed from pillar to post for a while, by waze (google) before finally working it out from a message on the website. The journey was longer than intended but the scenery was fantastic.
When we finally got there, there were several school groups and it looked to be well set-up with a shop, café, viewing point and plenty of information! We got a rickety train for the first part of the visit, which took us through a mining tunnel into the cave complex. The cave itself was fantastic and had loads of different features. It was not just impressive stalactites and stalagmites, but also helctites (eccentric stalactites – meaning the formations grow outwards in an apparent gravity-defying way) and draperies, which are sheets of calcite formed from trickles rather than drips, so taking on the form of a sheet or drape of material. We weren’t allowed to take any photos whilst in the caves, so there are a few from the internet below, one of which shows the aptly named ‘Cueva de las fantasmas’ – Cave of the ghosts.The tour was 50 minutes long and very good.
I planned out two walking routes around the city, one for today and one for tomorrow. The focus of today’s was the old town and the tapas bars. We walked the 2 1/2 miles into the town, which included a massive road tunnel, which was 675m long. That was a new experience and not one I would wish to repeat. 😃
We headed for the Paseo de Pereda and had a drink. The Parque de Pereda was along the seafront and we loved the typical traditional buzz of the Spaniards and tourists out on the evening walk, with children playing and noisy chatter! Next we came to the Plaza porticada, which was a stunning square fronted by a statue of Pedro Velarde. We passed the cathedral nearby and then came to the Mercado del Este, where we stopped for our first snack at La Casa Indiano. After that we went to the Plaza de Cañadío, which has been recommended as the place for tapas and the rise in volume as we rounded the corner to the square was dramatic! There were literally hundreds of people socialising in that square. we had our second tapa of the night. Dave had the typical snack of the region, rabas, fried squid in batter!
I was keen to see the statues of Los Raqueros, so we wandered over to those before getting a taxi back to the campsite. This collection of statues, meaning “the wreckers“, represents the children who in the past would make a living by scavenging – they would dive to collect items from the seabed or coins that had been thrown from the ships. This activity seemed to cease when universal education became available. The characters are referred to in the 19th century novels of José María Pereda. The statues are by the local sculptor José Cobo, who has done several other major sculptures in the city.
Word of the day:
- Carretera cortada = road closed
- Espeleólogo = caver!