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“The Road Goes Ever On and On…Down to the Door Where It Began”. So wrote J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of “The Lord Of the Rings”. My family lives in Middle-Earth; around here it’s called Asturias. Surrounded by green mountains and rolling hills, the landscape bears strong resemblance to the descriptions found in Tolkien’s works. Located on the north coast of Spain, Asturias is known for being fresh, temperate and green. Very green. Spaniards call it “Paraiso Natural”, a ‘Natural Paradise’. Wandering around the countryside here, I half expect to see elves, trolls, and halflings- and I must say some folk around here do indeed resemble hobbits, or characters out of a children’s story. Very quaint and picturesque. |
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As I go walking around this land, the thought of roads and ways ‘going ever on’ becomes reality. Every village is connected to the surrounding fields and woods by a network of linking cowpaths, which ultimately reach the next set of paths, and so on. Tolkien was right, all roads are one, like a river with many branches. That’s what I love most about the walking (or running or biking or horseback or however you choose); every time is different, because after 4 years of exploring here I still find new ways, paths I have yet to tread, or new connections with the old ones. This is real magic.
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The environment here is similar to that of lower Britain, to Atlantic France. But much softer in climate, warmer and sunnier (at times). The coastal north of Spain is separated from the rest of the peninsula by a chain of mountains. This blocks out the southern heat, and forms a southern border to the great Maritime Arc of North-West Europe. This is about as far south one can go and still be in Northern Europe, geographically. Culturally is another story, because many different people have come through this land at one time or another. The Celtic influence is strong; bagpipes and wooden shoes are commonplace. So are castanyets (Arabic finger cymbals), Gypsy sounds from Andalucia (South Spain), and olive oil from the Mediterranean. Asturias is certainly part of Spain, only it lies up north, beyond a barrier of high mountains (the tallest peak is the third-highest in Europe) that have historically blocked out much of the rest of the country. The mountains are hard to get over, but these days tunnels drilled through work well, what with the freeway and all…a high speed train line is due at some point in the future, so for now we must content ourselves with standard Eurorail. There is an international airport as well. By car it’s 4 hours to Madrid, and about 3 hours to the border with France. Asturias is an average 50 miles (90 km) wide, and a debatable 150 miles long (depending how you mark it). NEXT
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