Not expecting to see anything wonderful we took the short drive to Cangas de Narcea on a sunny Friday morning. We almost convinced ourselves that this would be true as we drove twice round the first little built up area, but then continued to the real town.
A free parking space in front of a bar beckoned, but we soon worked out that the spaces painted in blue were the chargeable spaces and those painted in white were free. We found about the last free space in town a couple of streets downhill behind the bar, not because we did not want to pay but because we could not find or work out the meter.
A pedestrianised street runs along the top of the town and is full of normal shops where locals buy things. In fact there is a distinct, and welcome, lack of shops selling tourist tat. We had the cheapest coffee ever in a small square at the end of this street and then descended a network of narrow and cobbled streets to the river. We joked about not attempting to cross the river on a bridge that seemed to have collapsed as it crossed the river, only to discover that there were two rivers and the old bridge did a smart 90 degree left hand turn to cross the first one. Later, our guide at the hotel told us that every old bridge was called a Roman bridge, even if it was mediaeval or later.
The far side of the river seemed to be the ancient, partially abandoned side of town and we worked our way across several more bridges and two rivers, finishing with the high level and wobbly pedestrian bridge that brought us back to the town centre.
Back at the hotel an English speaking guide showed us round the church attached to the back of the monastery, the only part that survived a fire in the 19th century. Two monks remain in the living quarters attached to the church.