Life Lesson #3: When in Rome...

Our first cups of sídra, Oviedo.

Our first full morning in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, dawned cool and uncharacteristically sunny. My professor led us all through Oviedo’s historic center, and announced that we would end our tour at a famous street, la Calle Gascona. As we turned left off of the main street Víctor Chávarri, the sweet smell of apples tingled my nostrils. La Calle Gascona, a short and steeply slanting road paved with black brick, was lined with sidrerías: restaurants specializing in Asturian hard apple cider.

Smiling, my professor told us that he would treat us to our first cup of sidra. By my watch, it was 12:30, far earlier than I’d ever taken a drink in my life. But, as I looked at the streetside tables already packed with locals, I remembered the attitude I’d adopted towards traveling: when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

            Once we arrived at the sidrería, our waitress brought out a tray the size of two dinner plates, loaded with bright green bottles of sidra that glinted in the sunlight. I watched, astounded, as the waitress demonstrated the proper pouring and drinking technique. She held one of the bottles high over her head and sent a stream of amber liquid tumbling into a glass, not spilling a single drop. Immediately after pouring her glass, she downed it in one gulp, as if doing a shot. I felt my stomach churn with nerves: I’d never had a shot of anything before.

At my host grandparents' house

            The waitress handed me a glass. Contemplating the drink, I mentally repeated the saying: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I took a deep breath, threw my head back, and drank the whole thing in one deep gulp. The sidra fizzed playfully as it went down, tickling my throat. It was a little bitter, but the taste of apples was far stronger than any other. I found it absolutely delicious, and after everyone had tried it, I was one of the first people to ask for a second glass. I had several more encounters with sidra, including my host grandfather telling me that I drank it like an asturiana, and even learned how to pour it properly before the trip ended.

            For most of my life, I never quite understood the advantage of blending into your environment. But sampling sidra in Asturias helped me see the reasoning behind the “When in Rome” saying. Experiencing sidra as it is meant to be experienced brought an edge of novelty to drinking it. Even more: drinking sidra properly, as the locals drink it, was a little slice of the region’s heritage, a snapshot of a culture. Sidra proved that “doing as the Romans do” can give a unique view into what it is like to be a member of the community you are visiting.