Wed 18 Jun- Pazo de Oca, Oviedo and our Hotel La Borona

Wed 18 Jun- after the buffet breakfast, it was a nice day, so we decided to try to visit Pazo de Oca, which we skipped previously due to rain. The GPS was clueless, no Oca, but we followed the Tourist Office map, and eventually found it after asking a few people for directions. The trip was well worth it. The garden was quite nice and extensive, including very old established plantings, a vineyard, and orchard, and a lake with waterfalls and islands shaped like boats. Apparently it is especially famous for its many camellia bushes, which had finished blooming earlier. The hydrangeas were doing great, and many other plants were blooming, and it was a beautiful warm day. We had the place almost to ourselves, and it was a nice break from driving.
Then on toward Oviedo and our Hotel La Borona. The GPS, set for the fastest route, took us through beautiful countryside, with farms, vineyards, pastures and orchards, forests, rivers, rolling hills and beautiful vistas on narrow country roads. Looking at the map, it was not the route I'd have taken, and was pretty round-about. We stopped at a restaurant along the way and had the 'special of the day': bowl of vegetable soup, mixed green salad, grilled swordfish, and beef roast (like pot roast), potatoes, a bottle of wine, all for about E15. We continued toward Oviedo along the foothills of the Pyrenees, a beautiful drive with lovely views of the countryside.
As usual, the last two kilometers were the hardest, finding the hotel was a challenge. We drove by twice, but didn't recognize it. Fortunately several friendly natives pointed it out to us (yes, we could see it from where we asked for directions), and finally arrived abut 9 pm.
It's a business hotel, in a commercial/industrial area - many car dealers are across the highway, but it's new and modern, the room is quite nice with large window. The wireless internet was slow and intermittent; we had to use the LAN cable downstairs in the lobby. Fortunately, we brought one just in case, and the hotel had several loaners.