It’s easy to fall in love with Asturias. Every step along its varied terrain, with continuous contrasts from mountains to valleys, going up the mountain peaks or enjoying the view over the coast, leaves us speechless.

This little guide includes some of the best panoramic views in the wide variety of landscapes in Asturias. Get your binoculars and prepare your camera to not miss a single detail of what you’ll be able to see.

Divine views at Santa María del Naranco.

By the mountainside of Santa María del Naranco there is a church named the same with an intense past that goes as far as the Middle Ages. The combination of a Pre-Roman church and the landscape of Asturias create a unique combination.

Oviedo and its Pre-Roman spots are nearby and at quick glance you can see the mythical Monsacro, knows for the old relics and the history of the monarchy in Asturias, or the stunning mountain range in Aramo.

The flow takes us by the Sella River.

Here is where one of the most famous sport events in the world takes place: the International Descent of the river Sella. But the rest of the year, Sella gifts us unique panoramic views, already along the national roadway that passes next to the river.

The setting by the river is great, with people practising kayak or walking by the forest. Going to the Sella riverside means spending a great day with your family or friends, surrounded by nature, which invites to have both a relaxed day but also having great fun.

Villaviciosa estuary. A land of dreams.

The natural estuary created by Villaviciosa river gifts us stunning panoramic views. At this beautiful natural spot, with a high ecological value, elements from the sea and the river get together offering a shelter to aquatic birds on migration. The place is perfect to practice many sports, take a swim or a relaxed walk by the riverside.

A path to enjoy all the marine atmosphere, with the flutter of birds, the fish and the sight of boats floating in the sea, and the feeling of delicious smells and flavours from fresh fish cooked and served in restaurants and cider houses in the area.

In Sariego, views over the valley.

From the viewpoint of Perriellos you can enjoy the immense beauty of Sariego valley. If the day is clear, it’s possible even to see the mountain ranges at Sueve or Peñamayor and the greatness of the Cantabian mountain range.

At the recreational area of Perriellos you can have a great day, organizing a picnic after a long walk and with a beautiful landscape all around.

A gift for the senses at Teixadal Lagoons.

At different highs around the Rabo de Asno peak, there are the lagoons of high pastures of Teixedal. These are hidden spots where the bears live that give great surprises for the senses.

At the natural park of Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias we will discover all the lively nature of Asturias, in lagoons between beech and oak forests, with a rich animal and vegetal life.

The most photographed: Enol lake.

Photographers and travellers from all over the world have captured on images the Covadonga lakes. Enol and Ercina lakes, have the greatest view, both on spring or winter – when the snow is on the peaks, reflected in the freezing water – or the thousand different tones on fall. Anytime on the year the lakes are great and ready to be portrayed. From the viewpoint of Reina you’ll get stunning views of the area.

La Regalina, a watchtower overlooking the west coast

The chapel and the granary of Regalina create a lovely setting. For its excellent location, from here you can enjoy the best views of the west coast in Asturias as the look takes you from Cadavedo beach, at your feet, passing by many beaches, cliffs and coves, and to the oceanic ocean.

This is, undoubtedly, a great location to see the sunset.

Panoramic Quirós

With a long mountaineer and climber tradition, Quirós is one of the main mountain spots in Asturias. For the lovers of nature there are many possibilities in the route to discover high mountain meadows and lagoons in Canchongo, around the area Bárzana. This is a route that people at any level can follow and you’ll be surprised by the panoramic views along the way.

The Eo’s estuary at bird’s viewpoint

High places like Castropol or Figueras offer a unique view with all the beauty of the Eo’s estuary, an area catalogued as a Biosphere reserve.

The most adventurous that go into the mountains - at the Louteiro area – receive their reward: seeing panoramic views over the valley, with the town of Vegadeo at the back, and a stretch of the river to its mouth, with a view over the horizon to the Puente de los Santos.

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You will find more proposals to discover Asturias's natural paradise in its tourism web site.

Lapland, in the north of Finland, is not just the birthplace of Santa Claus. It's a magical, fascinating region that offers a whole range of winter activities.

Cardiff is hosting the 2017 UEFA Champions League final on 3 June. Although the city is overshadowed by the likes of Britain’s most popular destinations, namely London, Manchester and Liverpool, Cardiff, an ancient Roman fortification, is currently experiencing a moment of splendour. Indeed, it has a plethora of allurements to warrant you visiting the city, whether or not your team is due to file onto the pitch at the Millennium Stadium. In the following we reveal the most iconic spots in the Welsh capital.

Cardiff Bay
This is one of the city’s nerve centres and the economic driving force behind its development in the early 20th century. However, when the coal trade slipped into decline, the Cardiff docks turned into a derelict, forsaken precinct. In the 1990s, the Cardiff Council decided to revive Cardiff Bay, converting it into an area open to the public. It is now the favourite haunts of many a Cardiffian and is one of the most attractive areas in the city, boasting some of the best leisure and gastronomic amenities.

Llandaff Cathedral
One of the most emblematic examples of religious architecture in Wales. Built in the 13th century, Llandaff Cathedral is a huge, mesmerising Gothic construction, although some corners reveal vestiges of the Norman and later periods, notably the stunning “Christ” modelled by the American sculptor, Jacob Epstein, which hangs in the central nave. For those interested in paranormal phenomena, Llandaff Cathedral has spawned all manner of ghost stories, to the extent that they now run a “Ghost Tour” on which visitors are shown the spots where ghost sightings have taken place. Interestingly, not far from the Cathedral lies Llandaff Cathedral School, where Roald Dahl studied.

Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle is a must-visit spot for all newcomers to the city, just as the Colosseum is in Rome, the Acropolis in Athens and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Built on the site of a former Roman fortification, its origins go back to the 11th century. Although much of the original structure is still intact, in the 19th century the Marquess of Bute commissioned the architect, William Burges, to undertake extensive remodelling works, based on the Victorian and Neogothic precepts in vogue at the time, which turned the castle into one of the most opulent contemporary constructions.

Cardiff City Hall
Flanked by Cardiff Crown Court and the National Museum of Cardiff stands Cardiff City Hall, one of the most stunningly beautiful buildings in the city. Built in the early 20th century, even its exterior features extraordinary architectural beauty in the purity of its white limestone facings. However, don’t let its formidable appearance stop you from going inside. You can double check in reception, but usually you can visit all the rooms you find open. If you’re in luck, you will be treated to such sights as the Marble Hall with its collection of sculptures of illustrious figures from Welsh history, the Assembly Room and the Council Chamber.

National Museum of Cardiff
Next door to the Cardiff City Hall is the National Museum of Cardiff, the most important museum in the city. Like the neighbouring Cardiff Crown Court and Cardiff City Hall, this is a stunning Edwardian building on which construction began in 1912. Building work was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I and could not be completed until 1927. Admission is free (like virtually all British museums) and the interior houses a variety of exhibitions, ranging from different natural science disciplines to art – the highlight is their collection of Impressionist paintings, featuring such geniuses as Van Gogh, Monet and Cézanne.

Wales Millennium Centre
At the entrance to Cardiff Bay you will come across the Wales Millennium Centre, home to the Welsh National Opera. Opened in 1912, this modern building presents elements in slate, metal, wood and glass, all sourced in Wales. Inscribed above the main entrance are two poetic lines, written by Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis. The first, in Welsh, reads “Creating Truth Like Glass From Inspiration's Furnace” and the second, in English, reads “In These Stones Horizons Sing”. Housed in the interior is the Donald Gordon Theatre, with a seating capacity of 1,900, and two adjoining rooms, which host opera recitals and extravaganzas, symphonic orchestras, ballet, theatre and contemporary music throughout the year.

Techniquest
Techniquest is the largest museum of science, technology and knowledge in the United Kingdom. Located on Stuart Street, a stone’s throw from Cardiff Bay, it stands out for its characteristic glass and steel structure. Striking a balance between education and entertainment, Techniquest is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as a theatre which hosts various science-oriented events, a planetarium and a centre of knowledge and technology dedicated to educating visitors in scientific principles through playful experiments.

Y Mochyn Du
After so much sightseeing, you will need to replenish your energy at some stage. And, where better to do so than in a typical Welsh pub? None comes more highly recommended than Y Muchyn Du (Black Pig, in Welsh). It lies some 20 minutes from the city centre, right at the entrance to Sophia Gardens and alongside the city’s main cricket stadium. However, once you get there, you will realise your journey has been worth it – walls plastered in rugby memorabilia, a Welsh-speaking clientele, traditional Welsh cuisine and a good assortment of local beers. In short, one of those venues that breathes authenticity.

The Backdrop for the Final
Football will be king on 3 June, but the National Stadium of Wales, also known as the Millennium Stadium, is one of the great temples of rugby, a sport about which the Welsh are passionate. The pride of Cardiff, the stadium was built in 1999 in time for the Rugby World Cup, and was the venue for the opening ceremony, the first and the last game, when Australia took the honours. With a seating capacity of 74,500, it is one of the world’s largest stadiums with a retractable roof, as well as one of the most striking and architecturally elegant anywhere on earth. Home to the Welsh rugby and football national teams, it is here that the new champion of European football clubs will be crowned.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez

Images by John Greenaway, David Ip, Michel Curi, John Mason, Jon Candy

The Englischer Garten is the biggest park in the city and as the weather was fine we decided to spend the morning there, along with what seemed to be most of the residents of Munich. At the entrance to the park there is a bridge over the River Eisbach on which surfers take advantage of the strong current and resulting waves to practice their sport. It’s great fun watching them, seeing how they organise themselves, waiting for their turn to jump in and do their balancing act.

The park has huge boulevards and other areas full of trees criss-crossed by streams so it’s very relaxing to going for a walk around and crossing the bridges. In the middle of the Englischer Garten you find the Chinese Tower Biergarten. People can take their own food along to the beer gardens but as we didn’t take anything we bought sausages from a stall.

We carry on walking through the park and head for one of the side exits. There we find another small biergarten that caught our attention because they had put a ski lift cabin on their terrace in which you sit to have your coffee. We thought it was a really original idea.

We took Hohenzollernstraße; we wanted to go to a place we’d been recommended by Laurel Robbins on monkeysandmountains.com. This is a restaurant in which they serve potatoes with more fillings that you could possibly imagine.
You can find all types of shops in Hohenzollernstraße: fashion designers, antique shops, shoe shops… The Lili & Milou shop window is full of really original children’s clothes and games.

Unfortunately Kartoffelhaus was closed, more than likely because we had spent too long wandering in the park. We were still not used to German eating hours and the time at which we arrived was probably far better suited to having dinner rather than lunch.

Luckily, we found a place very close by that we really liked, the Schwabinger Wassermann at No. 82 Herzog Street. The idea of being in a street dedicated to the Munich director and producer Werner Herzog also really appealed to us because we’re huge fans of his films. This man drove his entire team mad as a result of his strong character. For the film Fitzcarraldo, he had a 320-ton steamship hauled up a hill rather than resort to special effects.

As we didn’t really know what the German words on the menu meant, we ordered a Thai dish by pointing to what the girl at the next-door table was eating. It looked really tasty and the end result was really hot but incredibly tasty.

The photo shows the dish we were served garnished with red chilli pepper. One thing we will remember the next time we eat something with chilli in it is to make sure we don’t rub our eyes after handling it. The sting in the eye is just the same as on the tongue with the inconvenience that you can’t have a drink to relieve the pain.

Next day, we decided to pay a visit to the centre of the city. The Marienplatz square stands at the heart of Munich with its impressive City Hall, the Peterskirche and the Frauenkirche with their characteristic green cupola adorning the church towers.

The Viktualienmarkt market is very close to the historic centre and its spectacular colours make you stop at each little stall. On one of the side streets are butchers selling all sorts of German sausages and delicious smoked meats. Stalls are distributed all around the maypole in the square offering attractive displays of fruit, vegetables, cheeses and Christmas decorations.

The most popular stall in the entire market was a small log cabin where they served Glühwein Haferl, hot wine with cinnamon and lemon served in little Christmassy china cups. Hand on heart we have to admit that the first sip didn’t go down too well but the taste grows on you as you drink more, apart from the fact that it also warms you up.

We continued on our way to Vits in Rumfordstraße 49, a delicious coffee shop recommended to us by Laurel. They say they serve the best coffee in city here and they aren’t wrong!

Of all the bars in Munich, the recommendation had been not to visit the famous Hofbrauhaus; it’s the one the Germans don’t go to because it’s too touristy. However, as we passed the door – to be honest by chance – we could not resist the temptation of going inside. Sitting at one of the shared tables near the door, we watched groups of tourists going into a small room in which regular clients left their beer glasses, kept under lock and key. When these clients went to the bar, they collect their glass and give it a rinse. It’s easy to tell who the regulars are as they generally come decked out in characteristic Bavarian hats and lederhosen.

In the Odeonsplatzse we found the Tambosi coffee shop, one of the oldest in town. The weather had already turned chilly and on the terrace, where a classical music concert was taking place, people were sitting outside wrapped up in red blankets.

They say that if you touch the noses of the lions on the door of the Münchner Residenz, the former royal palace of the kings of Bavaria, you will have good luck, but only if your touch is light, almost a stroke. If you touch them for too long, you will get the opposite effect. Normally these types of superstitions are usually only observed by tourists, but we can assure you that in this case, the people of Munich themselves are the most rigorous followers of tradition.

Munich was home to the Olympic Games in 1972 and it’s worth paying a visit to its Olympic Village, the Olimpiastadion with its irregular-shaped glass canopy.

Apart from being a sports venue, the Munich Olympic Stadium hosts lots of concerts and many of the artists that have performed there have left their signatures in the cement, just like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You can find signatures from Metallica, REM, Kiss, Genesis, Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, Carlos Santana and Roger Waters just to name but a few of those that we can remember. It’s a walk through the history of music.

By Mónica Hidalgo on seriebcn.net

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