Playa de Poniente

Poniente is the Mediterranean name for the westerly wind.

These look like strewn toys of a child giant but I think they are actually leftover models from parades stored outside an old warehouse.

I took a small diversion to walk on the wall of a breakwater that you see here.

Then I returned to the dockside promenade.

Here I paused to take in a photographic and documentary film exhibition in Sala de Exposiciones Antigua Rula, an art centre. Looking it up, the exhibition Fareras: La Luz Que Nos Guia (Female Lighthouse Keepers: The Light That Guides Us) seems to have originated in Barcelona and was touring Gijón. It's about a minority in a dying profession. By the time women were accepted for lighthouse duty, lighthouses were being converted to remote control.

The curator of the exhibition, Cristina Rodriguez Paz, has given an interview (in Catalan). Something one of the keepers said in the documentary has stuck with me: I felt so grounded in my lighthouse. It was about a feeling of connection to the earth, with a vast history beyond our human lives.

Across the street is the Habana pub.

Further along the promenade is the artwork Árbol de la Sidra (page in Spanish), Cider Tree. It was originally a temporary exhibit intended to promote recycling, and the Asturian connection with cider making, but has become a maintained exhibit.

The marina.

This is the statue of Rex Pelagius. Pelagius is the Latin form of Pelayo, thus King Pelayo, whom we have introduced before in the trip to Picos de Europa.

The statue is on a traffic island in front of Plazuela del Marqués.

I just liked the look of this building, but it turned out to be Antigua Sociedad de Fomento de Gijón on checking, which becomes a lively dance hub when night falls.

A much more artistic rendition of the name of the city than the usual.

Even better-looking close up and vibrant red for a cloudy day.

Another attractive building. It happens to house a small Carrefour Express supermarket.

Finally, the beach named in the title.

At one end is a gymnastics club, looking rather industrial. It's not as good a beach as San Lorenzo but it's handy for the people who live in this part of town.

And these locals, taken with telephoto.

I walked as far as Museo Ferrocarril and then turned back. I found lunch near Plaza Italia, and then returned to my lodgings to rest for the evening paseo.