Wednesday 8 February 2012

La Sidra Asturiana

If you haven't been there, its worth a visit... Asturias (and Asturians) will give you a very warm welcome. It was the flyingist of visits, I think I was there for a total of 56 hours or so and I've already written about my trip so I shan't bore you any more but only I shall point you at the article itself online should you wish to know how to survive (better than me at least!) Hard Cider International is a new(ish) volunteer venture looking at cider cultures from around the world, something I can relate to. The editor Tess lives in Asturias so has alot more experience of the region that me. La Sidra, the local cider magazine is worth checking out too if you think you'll make a visit. The point of their competition is to raise awareness about their cider culture and encourage travel to Asturias to learn about it first hand. I hope it'll encourage more of you to send something in later this year.

One thing I will add is to echo the thoughts of Tess on cider "isn't just a drink; its a lifestyle for the Asturians"

For the photo geeks amongst you, your skills really get tested when you decide to shoot on location after dark (or in cellars) using available light and no tripod. Its my preferred method of shooting but it certainly presents a whole plethora of drawbacks and conditions. You get used to looking for the right things to leaning hard up against. You shoot wide open at 3200 ISO, bracing yourself against a pillar, holding your breath and firing several frames off in a second, which means sometimes you miss... I does keep you free though and on the move so its good practice if you are a tripod lover (I love the idea of a tripod but I struggle to really get along with it.)

Here are some photos.


















































4 comments:

  1. Photo #3 is a cloth press or what?? Nice pics, if you next go back to Asturias look for a cider by the name of Vallina (pron: Vagiina!!) - actually not dissimilar to Wilkins cider, unlike most Asturian ciders! We had some in this lost village called Pedroveya after walking up a gorge that dwarfs Cheddar:

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Pedroveya,+Quir%C3%B3s,+Asturias,+Spain&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.268076,-5.96786&spn=0.00964,0.017853&sll=43.268238,-5.968537&sspn=0.019156,0.035706&oq=pedroveya,+asturias&hnear=Pedroveya,+Quir%C3%B3s,+Asturias,+Spain&t=h&z=16

    ReplyDelete
  2. Photo of said Vallina sidra:

    https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/irGAtWngSsnEt9oC3sdN7s_Efu4HIFvnquAfQiET9BY?feat=directlink

    ReplyDelete
  3. We are more than happy that you came to Asturies, we had a wonderful time with you.

    Probably in next month's issue of LA SIDRA there will be an article about the time you spent here and the impressions you got.

    By the way, the pictures are amazing, lots of cider presses from Asturies would pay for such good marketing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here you got a brief article about your experience in Asturies; in Asturian (http://www.lasidra.as/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1248%3Abill-bradshaw-nasturies&catid=41%3Aactualida&Itemid=71) and in English (http://www.lasidra.as/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1252:bill-bradshaw-in-asturies&catid=93:the-asturian-cider&Itemid=71)

    ReplyDelete