17th February, 2010, the students of Tourist Information visited the village of Candás.

The trip started at the terminus train station of Gijón, 10 am. The 18 students and the teacher took the train line to Candás. Lola, the tour guide for the day, greeted them and gave a brief  commentary about the village.

In the first place, the students visited “Casa Bombita”, a bakery located in the heart of Candás. Casa Bombita is a family run business where “Bombita” and her husband work hard to preserve a tradition: les marañueles.

Les marañueles are a type of biscuit from Candás, Luanco and Avilés. They are made of four basic ingredients: flour, cooked butter, sugar and eggs. Lemon or anise liqueur flavor is optional. Les marañueles are cooked in an oven and are presented in different sizes and shapes: small flowers, large spirals, in eight… that you can dip in coffee or chocolate milk. Their smell and taste is unique!.

Next, the students visited “El Centro de escultura Museo Antón”, a fine arts museum full of paintings and sculptures made by Antonio Rodriguez (Candás, 1911-1937), also known as “Antón”.

This museum is located near the port and consists in 3 floors. The third floor holds offices, a private library and a small conference room. The second floor is devoted to sculptures. “Mi güela”, “Antroxu”, “La Señora Isabel” are the most famous. The first floor shows paintings and watercolors.

Later, the students visited the canning industry museum. The exhibition shows the process and machinery involved, explaining characteristics, techniques and it also tells the visitor about the canning industry stages in Candás, now sadly deprecated.

The trip finished with a special meal at “El Portalón” restaurant.

One of the things I love about Spanish is how much fun everyone has with similes. When I was studying at the Escuela Oficial de Idiómas (the Official School of Languages) many years ago I picked up some classic comparisons such as: ser más largo que un día sin pan – to be longer than a day without bread, ser más alegre que unas castanuelas – to be happier than a set of castanets (!), the seemingly inexplicable ser más chulo que un ocho – to be smarter / flashier / cooler than the number eight (8 was apparently the number of a tram in Madrid on which the spiffy kids rode to go to the San Isidro fair), and the marvellous ser más corto que las mangas de un chaleco – to be shorter than the sleeves of a waistcoat, ie, ‘as thick as two short planks’.

Out there, however, in the street, in songs, on the web and in the press you can read / hear a million and one más + adjective + que expressions that seem to have been made up on the spot and that run the whole gamut from corny, absurd, witty and ironic, to cringe-makingly crude and absolutely hilarious. Here are a few choice insults for starters.

– Eres más pesado que una vaca en brazos. You’re ‘heavier’ than a cow in arms, in other words, a very large pain in the neck.

– Eres más inútil que un cenicero en una moto. You’re about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

– Eres más vago que la chaqueta de un guardia civil. You’re lazier than the jacket of a Guardia Civil. Nuff said.

– Eres más largo que la infancia de Heidi. You’re longer than Heidi’s childhood.

– Tienes más pelígro que una piraña en un bidet. You’re more dangerous than a piranha fish in a bidet.

– Tienes menos detalles que el salpicadero de un Seat Panda. You’ve got fewer ‘details’ than the dashboard of a Seat Panda / You’re an inconsiderate s.o.b. This is a play on words as detalles are details but tener detalles means ‘to be thoughtful, considerate’.

– Eres más basto que un Petisui de morcilla. You’re more unrefined / uncouth than a black pudding-flavoured Petit Suiss (Petit Suiss is a popular make of fromage frais).

– Andas más perdido que un pulpo en un garaje. You’re more ‘lost’ / out of your depth than an octopus in a garage.

– Eres más feo que el parto de Mick Jagger. Poor old Mick. You’re uglier than the birth of Mick
Jagger.

Feel like adding any more? There are hundreds ….