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Our trip started as planned on Thursday, September 12th, when we boarded our evening flight to London. After changing planes in London, we arrived in Madrid on Friday afternoon to be met by Eduardo Serrano, the husband of Marta Cerame. After an obligatory stop at the "Museo de Jamon", one of the finest museums in all of Spain, we visited Marta at her office and then made our way to casa Serrano in Torrelodones, a suburb of Madrid, where we spent our first weekend in Spain since last year.

Eduardo, Marta and Luis

"La Marta"

Don Eduardo

"el Tigre chiquito"

"Checo" and friend

The weekend was filled with many hours of sightseeing...including a visit to El Escorial and the "Silla de Phillipe II", the Chair of Phillip the Second in the mountains overlooking the area. It was from this vantage point that the King could watch the construction of the monastery.

"La Silla"

Touristas

Mas touristas

No trip to Spain would be complete without a Bullfight. We opted to forego the "tourist" fights at Las Ventas in Madrid and made our way to Valladolid to sit with the local folk and watch the real thing.

"el Guapoloni" - The Finest Matador in All of Spain

"Ole!"

"Ole!"...again

Sunday found us wandering around Madrid, looking for the home of Luis Eduardo and Africa and yet another Cerame Feast...and a "Gathering of the Clan". The usual suspects were assembled as we dined on fantastic Paella and enjoyed the company of the Spanish contingent of the Cerame Family.

Our Host and Hostess - Luis Eduardo and Africa

Africa and Eduardo

Virginia and Jose Maria

Marta and Virginia

Pablo and Marta

Mary and Agiss

PAELLA! Yummy!

Eduardo and his "special someone"

Javier

Cesar and Veronica

Virginia, Virginia, Alfonso and Alfonso

Veronica

After a long and glorious weekend in Madrid, we met up with Alvaro, Margarita, Almudena and Hermann and boarded our luxurious van for the trip to Asturias, with our first stop...Pola de Allande. The trip north was exciting as we passed through the rolling hills surrounding Madrid, the Plains where the rain in Spain is supposed to remain and then on to the mountains of Asturias.

Our well planned trip was executed flawlessly thanks to a tight schedule prepared by "el Jefe", Don Pepin. The phone lines were buzzing as we made our way north to the land of the Cerames. Don Pepin checked with us each step along the way to insure that all was going well.

"el Jefe"

Town Hall - Pola de Allande

"Taste this...you'll like it!"

"We have to get rid of these flies somehow!"

"Favada for dinner...again!"

Alvaro, Virginia, Margarita and Almudena - Pola

Telesforo's house - Pola de Allande

Keeper of the Fund

Our attorney

The Church - Pola de Allande

Uptown Pola de Allande

Tirando la sidra - Pola

He'll do

Boni "el Chiquito's" House - Pola

The Count's House overlooking Pola

At the cemetery - Pola

From our hotel room - Pola

Our all-too-short stay in Pola de Allande was highlighted by visits to Cereceda and the ancestral home of the Family and a stop in the tiny Village of Cerame, high in the mountains overlooking Cangas de Narcea, where we saw the birthplace of countless numbers of Cerame ancestors as well as the tiny family chapel. Sadly, the property is not well maintained but we did get to see the 17th century statues of Saint Francis which were removed from the chapel and are being cared for by the present owners of the house.

Casa Cerame - Cereceda

Cerame's return to Cereceda

Casa Cerame

Dona Escolastica's oven - Cereceda

The Cerame neighborhood

Cerame dining room - Cereceda

View from the terrace - Casa Cerame, Cereceda

Local habitation - Pola

"Would you like to dance?"

"You dance very well my dear!"

"We can't leave until we hear from el Jefe!"

The church in Celon

Cerames...who else?

Baker baking breakfast bread - Pola

The Hamlet of Cerame

A house in the Hamlet

"Main Street" - Cerame

Pear Thief of the Hamlet

Casa Cerame - Cerame

Tranquil village street

Cerames in Cerame

St. Francis statue from the Chapel of Casa Cerame - Cerame

Departing Pola, we made our way over the mountains to Oviedo where we ended our Asturian Adventure. Meeting up with Marta and Almudena's sister Mercedes, their brother Gonzalo and their mother Dona Mercedes from San Sebastian, our stay in Oviedo was highlighted by the Feast of Saint Matthew, and the birthday of Virginia Cerame Alasio! Fantastic dinners, leisurely walks through the old section of Oviedo and the company of warm family made our stay in the Asturian capital a most memorable finale to our visit to the Land of the Cerames.