MEETING THE NEIGHBORS IN LLANES | The Roving Vlogger Day 10 (2017-10-09)

Our first full day in Llanes! We walked 10 minutes into the center of town for a typical Spanish breakfast, coffee/tea and a slice of toasted baguette with jam and butter. There are a couple supermarkets in town, including dia and masymas, so we stocked up for the next few days.

Most of the day we just spent wandering around getting acquainted with the town. Llanes is a traditional fishing village dating back to the 13th century. Today, it’s a popular tourist destination for people from other parts of Spain, though there is virtually no international presence and nobody speaks English.

We took a walk along the cliffs and were stunned by how beautiful it is. On one side of the grassy promenade, dramatic rock formations jut out of the ocean. On the other side, a valley of green pastures and scattered terracotta roofs slopes down to rise back up to the Picos de Europa mountains. The principality of Llanes is home to 32 beautiful sandy beaches, of which 2 are literally right downtown.

My parents take in the view from the grassy promenade.

Spying fish in the ocean below.

Playa del Sablon in the middle of town.

For lunch, we grabbed a lunch at a hamburguerseria in the main plaza. It wasn’t the most local cuisine, but Nash and I appreciated it because they offered a veggie patty with fries, which we shared for 6,50€.

Then we strolled around figuring out the small network of streets. I idly snapped a couple of pictures.

Typical houses in town. I love the bright paint!

A cute window display.

A surprise view of the fortress.

Oh, and we also got to meet some of the neighbors. Or at least the ones of the animal variety, since we learned that people tend to be private here, though not unfriendly. When we greeted one woman with “buenas” she looked at us like we were crazy before returning the greeting. We soon learned to avert the eyes when passing someone instead of smiling like a fool, a difficult American cultural habit to break. But if it’s a baby or small child, then EVERYONE smiles like a fool and winks and waves. I can get on board with that.

Across the street, there’s a herd of ten donkeys. I don’t know what purpose they serve, other than looking cute and making a LOT of noise. Every time they start braying I can't help but laugh. They used to pull carts and carry loads, but now their population is declining across Spain.

Further down, by the cemetery, there’s a mare draft horse and her colt. The young horse is super friendly and loves a scratch behind the ear. Then there are the many fields full of cows. The brown Asturian Valley cows are my favorite, though by the donkeys there’s a dairy farm with black-and-white Holsteins. My mom complains about the smell when the wind blows a certain way, and the flies like to pour into our screenless windows, but I find the location of our apartment is a great balance between town and country.

Some of the less pretty dairy cows. I don't mean to insult them, but... just wait til you see more of the Asturian cows.

In fact, it seems weird that an apartment building encroaches on an area that farmers have seemingly occupied for centuries. Some of them live in shacks along a dirt road and we watch with curiosity as they lay out seaweed to dry and pitchfork grasses to feed the animals. I am ever the rubbernecking tourist, too afraid to interrupt their daily business with my curiosity.

This old man walks down the lane saying hello to the cows every night. (Pardon the blurry photo.)

Sunset view from our apartment window.

My Expenditures

Lodging: $14.21
Transportation: $0
Food: $11.90
Entertainment: $0
Total: $26.11

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Hello!!! I really, really miss my buddies here on Steemit.

My family has now returned to the United States and Nash and I are in Morocco. With my parents gone, I am free to spend a lot more time on the computer but unfortunately it's all spent working on a tech startup. I've kept up with making videos, but haven't had a chance to upload them. Between programming, editing, practicing languages, keeping my boyfriend happy, and of course exploring Morocco my time is stretched REALLY thin.

I expect my habits on here will remain erratic for at least another week or two, but I plan on sharing them all with the world. And catching up on some of the highlights I've missed. Eventually.
- Katie, @therovingreader

_{!steemitworldmap 43.421505 lat -4.758102 long Take a walk along the cliffside promenade of Llanes, a charming fishing village in Asturias. D3SCR}

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