Spring has arrived...(a bit late if you live in Oviedo) We can confirm this after visiting Cabranes today.
A colleague mentioned the "Festival del Arróz con Leche", namely: Rice Pudding Festival in Cabranes today. I got lucky.
This has been going on for 30 years now, with a jury to try circa 70 contestants' produce, a village procession with bagpipes, and ... well, see the pictures, they tell the story.
Afterwards the village was going to have a barbecue, though I preferred to go jogging along the beautiful river trail and see where it led... I did visit the market and walk the alleys, to mingle with local folks and visitors for a great spring day.
You could see lot's of cider being splashed Asturian style "escanciada", listen to long speeches -in Spain the presence of the authorities still follows top-to-botton memes. Anyways .. it was not only great fun and a lovely day, I also discovered a great bar Casa Joselu (B&B too) with charming people and a beautiful trail to go biking or jogging (pic-nic areas included) by the river, which seems to go all the way to Villaviciosa... we'll have to check this out with a bike pretty soon.
The police where charming (yes!) ... the ones in Oviedo should go down there for some training on: how to plan in advance (all diversions of traffic worked beautifully) , treat people nicely (Cabranes ones not only responded to my questions...they smiled!) and be of service. (Yes, I said service).
Cabranes is an amazing place, while it brings back to mind the long gone voices of 80% of the population that had to migrate at the beginning of the XXth Century. (My grandparents on the Spanish side of the family and my dad included, but they left from different areas in Spain). There is a square named: Plaza de los Emigrantes, which is where the Festival center area was, the party was very much spread throughout the whole village. Word is they were able to ship their cherished rice pudding bottled to those living in South America... I'm thinking I'll have to go back to Cabranes... to learn some more :-)
See:
**Edited to comment that the trail is actually a few miles long... there is a plan to connect it with the other trail in Villaviciosa...we can only hope...
