Trip with F's on a BP. Firsts, family, Food and Fun.

drron · Friday at 11:39 PM

Back at the shuttle stop Mrsdrron got herself a new part time job.

Well the fellow did need a nature break. The stop was outside an entertainment centre. It had a very unusual sculpture outside.

And a Bilbao tram goes past.

A few views from the bus on the way back to the ship.

drron · Friday at 11:43 PM

M ore from the bus.

drron · 2025-10-18T00:30:27+1100

The ship left Bilbao at 1830. looked a bit miserable.

So we went to Indochine for dinner starting with a usual coughtail sampler.

Mrsdrron had her usual water paper roll and I the chicken skewer.

Mrsdrron had the char sui beef for mains.

I fitted in a tom yum soup which really was yummy. The menu said they had a spicy lamb Rogan Josh. As I had never had a dish that really lived up to the word spicy it came out like this.

It was perfect. The best Indian curry I have had. Soured some what by seeing these monstrosities.

But then we both had our favourite dessert the kaffir lime and ginger creme brulee.

drron · 2025-10-18T11:31:39+1100

We are now on the final 3 days of the cruise .Only 2 Spanish ports before arriving in Lisbon. Gijon and Coruna. I wasn't expecting anything wonderful. but it turned out these ports had the best included excursions by a long way.
Arrival in Gijon was underwhelming.

Lots of lovely coal.

Our exursion was called Snapshot Gijon which didn't engender any excitement. The bus trip started and the street were nearly empty. it was Sunday.

Through the CBD and we came to the first highlight which was an old fort with a view over Gijon.

drron · 2025-10-18T13:05:43+1100

The siege o Gijon was one of the first battles of the Civil War.

Siege of Gijón

The Siege of Gijón, one of the first actions in the Spanish Civil War, saw the anarchist militia crushing a small Nationalist garrison in Gijón, between July 19 and August 16, 1936. The militia - nominally fighting in defense of the Republic - laid siege to the Simancas barracks in the city of...

military-history.fandom.com

It had a terrible efect on Spain. both sides were ruthless at times with the Nationalists being worse.

The Blood-Stained Legacy of Northern Spain's Civil War | David Ebsworth

www.davidebsworth.com

now though the site of the first battle is peaceful with very little evidence of the fort.

There is evidence of the path from the Fort to one of th btteries which is now a great viwpoint.

Nect we are off to the University. The land is basically agricultural.

Storage of produce is above ground.

Those trees are apple. Gijon calls itself the capital of Cider.

drron · 2025-10-18T14:21:11+1100

The University is only a very small part of this building. It houses a magnificent church,a 1500 theatre and several other organisations. It is the biggest building in Spain. An intriguing history. Conceifved during the Second Republic by Franco politics Still intervenes. A proposal to seek World heritage listing was defeated by politics.
First the History.

History

www.laboralciudaddelacultura.com

Then the politics. I used google translate.

'Ilustra el franquismo', dice la izquierda para rechazar que la Laboral sea patrimonio mundial

El Principado no ve 'viable' hacer la petición y el PP acusa al PSOE de 'sectarismo' l Movilización social en favor de la idea de los antiguos alumnos

www.lne.es

And now the visuals. There were frequent showers during our visit. A plus because it reducfd the numbers wandering around the open spaces considerably.