Picos with the Padres
Since I had this past week completely off of work, my parents came to visit me and we completed the most epic hiking tour of the Picos de Europa. This national park is the second most visited in Spain (a fun fact I recently learned from my mom) but because it is the off season for tourism right now, we did not deal with any crowds. In fact, except for one day, we really didn't see many other people at all. It was a magical week and I wish that the photos could convey how beautiful the landscape is in this part of Spain, but they just don't do it justice.
I will be breaking this post up based upon the different small villages and towns we visited during our trip instead of giving a rundown of day-to-day events. But first, I have a quick recap for the week prior to my parents arrival.
The main highlights from said week were going to watch a soccer game in Santander, having a lovely dinner with Elena and my parents, and singing a Backstreet Boys song at karaoke...but I will not be showing any evidence of that last one.
On Wednesday, Elena, me and a bunch of other auxes walked to the soccer stadium in Santander to cheer on our city's team! Santander Racing is in the second league and we have a really good record this year. The game we watched ended as another win for Racing since we were able to go up by 2 against Cordoba CF!! It was a really energetic and exciting atmosphere inside the stadium and hopefully we will be returning to see some more games in the future.
Although it rained/drizzled for almost the entire time my parents were in Santander, we still had a great time in the city and got to eat some really delicious food. We celebrated their arrival with a dinner at La Tasca with Elena! The combination of pizzas and salads was perfect on a dreary night and it was so great to have my parents finally meet Elena. Nothing like good food and a bit of wine after a long trip!
The other outstanding meal we had in Santander was at the Moroccan restaurant Jaden, Elena and I went to. It was just as amazing as the first time I ate there and the appetizer sampler (shown in the picture) was the perfect thing to get a taste of some of their best dishes.
Before heading off on our week long hiking excursion, I got to be a Santander tour guide and take my parents all around the beautiful coastline we haver here. The weather was not ideal either Saturday or Sunday, but we still got to see quite a bit and to explore some smaller Cantabrian towns by car. On Sunday we stopped for lunch and a small walk in the town of Castro Urdiales and I think we were all blown away by the quaint charm of this spot. I definitely want to return when the weather is more favorable!
Okay, now onto the really good stuff...the Picos!
Potes
For the first two nights of our adventure, we stayed in the precious pueblo of Potes which is one of the most visited towns in the park. It is the embodiment of a classic mountain town and I am so glad we had some spare hours to spend exploring it!
On our drive from Santander to Potes we stopped along the side of the road to do an afternoon hike through the mountains and gorgeous farmlands surrounding some seriously tiny villages. It was the perfect "warm-up" (it ended up being 7 miles...) hike and a great introduction to what was in store for us in the coming days.
Some note worthy points from this hike were the giant chestnut groves we wandered through and my dad somehow wedging himself inside a massive dead chestnut tree...constant shenanigans. We also saw many lovely herds of cows, sheep and goats and met a very friendly canine friend!
Fuente Dé
Our first full day in the park, we drove to the town of Fuente Dé and took the cable car up to the top of an overlook to begin our hike for the day. We loaded up with two massive sandwiches (the Spanish do not mess around with their bocadillos) and headed off on what would be our longest continuous hike of the trip, around 8 miles. Thankfully, for the majority of the walk, the path was slightly sloped downhill and wide enough that we were able to take in all of the amazing views.
The scenery was truly otherworldly for the beginning of the hike since we were surrounded by gray rock and peaks in every direction. It felt to me like a sci-fi movie set and I was relieved when we started seeing more grass and grazers around us. We passed many groups of horses and more cows (lots of cows this trip) who were all very content to share their beautiful home with us humans.
Since we began at such a high elevation, the trees around us where in full fall colors which is something that I have missed greatly about living in New England. I think we visited this spot at the perfect time to get a true sense of it's natural beauty and I am so grateful that the weather allowed us to enjoy it fully.
There was a slight traffic jam on the final stretch of our walk caused by some cows who were also using the path. They had spooked some fellow hikers so my dad took it upon himself to be the cow whisperer and get them out of the way.
Sotres/Bulnes
On our third day of adventuring, my parents and I drove up some very narrow winding roads up to Sotres, the highest town in the Picos de Europa park. We did a quick circular loop around the outskirts of the village and did not pass a single other hiker the entire time. It was so tranquil to walk along the farm lanes with views of mountain ranges and valleys as far as we could see.
Although we had a bit of trouble getting lunch (a lot of places were closed since it is the off season), Sotres treated us very well over all. And, we wound up at a local cheese factory with a charcuterie board for lunch! All's well that ends well.
Since we still had most of the afternoon to enjoy, we drove back down the mountain and parked in the "town" of Poncebos. I have that word in quotes because there are only two things in Poncebos: a hostal and a funicular to the town of Bulnes.
We decided to hike up the narrow mountain canyon to Bulnes and take the second to last funicular back down to our car. Bulnes was almost equally as tiny as Poncebos and my mom made the comment that it felt like a fairy village which I completely concur with!
Poncebos/Caín
On Halloween (!!) my parents and I packed up our overnight bags and headed out on the most popular hiking route in the park called La Ruta del Cares. This 7 ish mile trail follows the river Cares from Poncebos to Caín along a steep and narrow mountain ravine.
During both the out (to Caín) and the return to Poncebos, I had the strangest feeling of being seasick in the mountains. I think that the lack of horizon line combined with different planes of the landscape moving at different speeds really messed with my head and made me feel sick! It was so strange but thankfully passed once I was able to see the river below us and get a sense for where in the world I was.
We had a lovely menú del día lunch in Caín upon our arrival where we got to try some very typical Asturian dishes including fabada asturiana (a stew containing white beans and a variety of meats), sopa de ajo (garlic soup) and garbanzos con bacalo (chickpeas in broth with salted cod).
After lunch we did some more hiking from Caín in an attempt to find some ruins (it was a failed attempt but still a very cool walk). We did however learn a lot about the water powered mill in the town and how the villagers used to be assigned a day that they could use it to mill their grains! Post hike we had a very chilly and quiet Halloween night before waking up early the next day to hike back out Poncebos and drive to our final Picos destination!
Lagos de Covadonga
On another absolute stunning day in northern Spain, my parents and I rounded out our national park roadtrip with a visit to the Lagos de Covadonga, one of the most well known natural features in the country.
After having a delicious picnic lunch at the car, we rode the bus up through the natural area to the lakes. They prohibit personal vehicles on these roads since they are so narrow and a lot of people come to visit the lakes. However, we did see some cyclists taking advantage of the nearly clear roads (minus a few coach busses...) and it looked like some serious fun!
We only had a few hours to explore the Lagos de Covadonga but on a quest to find a place to refill our water bottles, we stumbled upon a very interactive and informative visitors center which ended up being a real highlight. The rest of the time we spent wandering over the green hills and reminiscing how similar the landscape was to the Lakes District in England.
After a lovely dinner and rest in the much livelier town of Cangas de Onís, we wrapped up my parents time in España the next day with a sanctuary stroll and an afternoon in the seaside city of Comillas.
All in all, we walked almost 49 miles in 6 days and got to see a wide variety of landscapes throughout this wonderful natural area in Spain. I don't think I can choose a favorite town or hike since they were all so unique and each had their charms! However, I am certain that this will be far from my last trip to the Picos...I feel as if I've just scratched the surface on a place I would love to spend a lot more time!
Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad!! We always have the best adventures <3 Hasta la próxima.
These pictures are amazing! I had no idea the Picos even existed!