In addition to speaking Spanish, many people in the Principality of Asturias also speak Asturian, a historic language native to the region. Asturian isn't an official language in Spain, but it's still spoken. You can even see street signs in both Spanish and Asturian throughout Asturias.
Just like in the rest of Spain, the currency used here is the Euro (1 U.S. Dollar = 0.93 Euros). One of my favorite things about the Euro is that it has 1 and 2 Euro coins, so it's possible (and normal) to pay for small purchases in coins. I can't remember the last time I used a coin to pay for something in the U.S.!
A bottle of water here is about 1 Euro, a coffee is 1 or 2 Euros, and a pastry is about 2 Euros. You can get a good, sit-down meal in Oviedo for 10-12 Euros.
The best meal that I had this week was a paradilla de verduras (grilled vegetable plate) with produce local to Oviedo. It had a bunch of things that I wouldn't normally think to put together including mushrooms, apples, asparagus and a few different types of peppers. Because the produce was so fresh, it didn't need much seasoning--just salt and olive oil.
