Arriving in Bilbao, we're picking up a bright red hire-car and heading 200 miles
westwards along the coast towards Ribadesella, and the tiny hamlet of
Toriello ("Toriellu" for the locals)
where we have a little self-catering flat with a balcony, a twin for mother and a double for us.
Great countryside to Tuesday's first destination
Cangas de Onis (until 774, capital of the Kingdom of Asturias).
Above the gushing Sella runs a "Roman" bridge (which is in fact medieval!)
And some great architecture
Nearby is Covadonga. In 722, Iberian Christians defeated an army of Arabs and Berbers invading from North Africa under the Unayyad banner; with this often considered to be the start of the 770-year effort to expel Muslim rulers governing the peninsula during the Reconquista, a basilica was built on the hill - Santa Maria la Real de Covadonga
We're now getting into Picos de Europa territory
In the mountains above the town are two Covadonga lakes, Enol and Ercina. The road leading to them is often featured in the Vuelta a Espana road race but today it's more of a cattle-run as we head east to Arenas de
Cabrales and then Bulnes, a
steep climb up with more amazing views.
And to the coast at Llames de Posada
Back home, our balcony affords a good view of local farmers taking their cows for a daily afternoon constitutional
Wednesday, the weather is set fine for a full loop around the Picos de Europe.
| First stop, Panes | |||||
and further up the hill (and over the border into next-door province of Cantabria) to pretty Potes, whose parish church was first mentioned in a 847 document
via Hermida Gorge.
The Fuente
Dé cablecar rises 753m into the mountains and is a cracking backdrop for lunch
although there's a better view on the road towards Riaño (over a further board into León)
Into Riaño, where a reservoir came into operation was built in 1987 for irrigation purposes, after a controversial forced evacuation of the old town which now rests at the bottom of the waters. A bit of a shock then to see the waters level so low that bridges travel across dirty land and
some formerly-flooded roads are exposed again.
The early weather doesn't look encouraging on Thursday morning so it's a lateish start as we reach the Guadamia recreation/cliff area for 11sies with a view.
By the time we get into Ribadesella though, better yet - the sun is trying as we drive around
to the finely-kept seafront
and wide sweeping beach
Time for a restful aperitif
and a saunter to admire the Ribadesella architecture
Last day so time to head slowly back along the coast towards Bilbao, along the pilgrims' route of the Camino de Santiago (de Compostella); the scallop shell, often found on the shores in Galicia, has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago
One of our last stops is Llanes
a traditional fishing port, with an active harbour and many notable monuments and traditions; one plaque commemorates the 65 Llanes sailors who sailed on three ships fitted outin 1588 for the Spanish Armada. Parts of the surviving town walls date to 1206.
But not this part of the wall...
...los cubos de la memoria; created by Basque artist, Augustín Ibarrola, they're large reinforced cubes brought in the 1930s as a breakwater to protect the harbour from fierce winter storms. As well as a bulwark, they're major works of public art, featuring elements of the history of the town, the region and artist himself. The Cubes of Memory represent the seafaring tradition and hunting of whales, and refer to nature (with a riot of flowers and fruit - apples and citrus fruits were the main agricultural and export products in the 19th century).
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