Gijón is a low-key, post-industrial city on the northern coast, neglected and overshadowed by its more famous southern rivals, with a wet & windy coastline and a relegation-threatened football team. All I need is a Greggs and I'll feel right at home.
The name of the place presents something of a dilemma. It'd sound a bit pretentious to try and pronounce it like the locals do - vaguely like 'Heehon' but with varying amounts of phlegm in each 'h'. (In the local Asturian dialect it's spelled 'Xixon'). On the other hand, I'm reluctant to say it in flat English, ie rhyming with 'pigeon'. I think I'll compromise and call it 'Gee-hon'.
So, what's happening in Gee-hon? Not a lot, if truth be told. It's one of those places that I'm visiting only because it was there on the map as I happened to be passing. There are no particular tourist attractions of note. The one thing that sets Gijón apart from other Spanish cities, from my own personal perspective, is that it has a very promising little craft beer scene. Just along from my hotel, for example, is a bar with three obscure Brewdog bevvies on tap. This is pleasing and should be encouraged. It made up for a disappointing kebab.
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| Puerto Deportivo, Gijón. |
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El Molinón
The profoundly ugly home of Sporting Gijón football club. |
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| St Peter's Church, on the opposite (east) side of the promontory from the Puerto Deportivo |
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| Gijón. Can't remember where exactly. |
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| Ditto |
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| Looking north-east up the coast from El Rinconín |
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Edd vs Food #58
Tortilla. This is how I begin pretty much every day here in Spain.
We Brits use 'tortilla' in the Mexican sense, ie a thin wrap made from corn or flour.
But in Spain it's an omelette, bulked out with potatoes. |
