43:27.77N 005:03.572W Ribadesella Part 2
43:27.77N 005:03.572W Ribadesella Part 2
29th June, 2009.
Ribadesella is an attractive fishing town with an enticing beach by the harbour entrance. There is such a lot to offer here. We decided we would follow the two walks advertised by the Information Centre. So we set off after breakfast through the town up past the large mansion, the tower dating back hundreds of years to reach the path up to the church on the cliffs overlooking the harbour. In the “old town” there are houses dating back to the 16th and 17th century where the wealthy merchant families built their homes often from the proceeds of the tobacco business.
Many beautiful properties occupy the area looking down to the harbour, across to the beach area and straight ahead to the mountains. They all had table and chairs at every advantage point on their property to be able to enjoy the scenery of this lovely town and surrounding area.
The Gufa Church on the headland overlooks the entrance to the harbour. It was closed when we were there but on one wall we could see were about 10 miniature ships displayed. Many of the locals visit this church regularly during the week.
On coming down the steps at the end of the head land we proceeded along the Mythological Walk. There are about 12 wall designs of life through the ages with an audio system. It mentions the boat house on the quay where each day the small fishing boats bring their catch before it is sent to market as Pilgrims visited the small church on the quay before their traveling.
At this point we were back at Ariel for lunch and a small rest as the day was very warm and sunny.
We sent off again a couple hours later to the town bridge which connects the two halves of the town together. This is the beach area where most of the hotels are situated allowing their guests to walk straight onto the beach. Along this stretch are very large houses which were built around the 1920’s time by wealthy businessmen. Nearly every house had a plate outside telling you how much it cost to build and who were the lucky families to enjoy this beautiful area and scenery.
At the end of the promenade is the Dinosaur walk. We were so surprised to see stainless steel steps down to the rocks. After Mark and Jim did a little surveying of the area they found the dinosaur footprints on the cliff face. Apparently, this area is famous for the discovery which we enjoyed seeing.
The walking tour takes you to the back of the hotels along the river area. At three points there are wooden structures with seats for everyone to sit and enjoy the ducks, swans and bird life.
Ribadessella is a very friendly seaside town and we were very impressed with the way the small town is presented to visitors. Unfortunately, Monday and Tuesday each week the caves are closed where the drawings are on the cave walls from thousands of years ago so we missed this feature.
We ventured to the Tapas restaurant for dinner and tried their cider which is local to the area and then moved onto the bar with the wild boar heads on the wall.
Today we are off to Gijon although there is a sea fog developing.