We are on our way to our next stop in Cantabria. We are led to believe it has spectacular scenery, fabulous hikes and great food. The last 20k’s of the drive proved to be pretty tough in Pinot. A very slow drive through the Hermida Valley, snaking alongside the river. The sheer granite walls on either side overhang at around 2 metres high and our rig is higher than that, so it meant having to sit well out on the road in case we ripped the side out of Pinot. Very testing and I’m sure we’ll get less tense as time goes by. I say WE, I mean me. The tour guide next to me seemed very relaxed, taking videos and pics and giving a running commentary……..none of which I heard.

Grigio is proving to be a great investment. We are able to get to some beautiful spots which would be impossible otherwise. Unfortunately Amanda doesn’t have a licence to drive….I’m kinda glad really lol. Our other investment from my side trip to UK was the Remoska and Amanda keeps serving up beautiful meals time after time.

Speaking of meals, we had lunch on our first day here in the village of Potes. The beautiful lush scenery is testament to the local produce of cheeses, meat,honey, and Vino and so our expectations are high for some culinary delights. Lunch today was less than poor. First course 5 out of 10, second course was rubbish and Amandas was inedible, and desert was……well let’s not use any bad language. Included in the price was a bottle of the local Cider. It’s an odd brew. It’s flat (no bubbles) and you pour it from a great height into the glass which I suppose is supposed to liven the brew up a little. Sorry but it tasted like cats p*ss. NO more cider. The result was a very bad case of cramps all night for me, and I don’t want to scare the kiddies by going into more detail here.

The area and the locals are fantastic. They are so helpful in every way. The site Amanda found is as good as it gets and I doubt we will be beat it. On arrival we chose a quiet spot with no neighbours. That in itself wasn’t difficult as there were only 3 or 4 others on the entire site. We had a lovely quiet couple of nights until day 3 when Diego NO FRIENDS arrived while we were out climbing some bloody mountain and pitched his HUGE tent on the pitch next to us WHY? Honestly there is at least 80 other vacant pitches to choose from and he’d be in lovely quiet isolation. So we were treated to little baby Diego no friends, Daddy Diego no friends and Mama Maria no friends yabbering until midnight.

First thing next morning we packed up and moved to higher ground, better views and serenity…………love it.

Since our initial first lunch we’ve since had great food and vino, so no need for anymore scary cramp stories.

Amanda has found a cable car ride up a cliff which is only 23k’s from our camp. So out came Grigio and we headed up towards Fuente De. The cable car is capable of fitting 20 people into it and we were so delighted we were accompanied by 18 young teenage girls on a trip of discovery. Between the giggling girls and cramped space along with the ridiculously steep incline to the 6000 ft summit, I was wetting myself and couldn’t wait to escape to solid ground……Amanda was just enjoying the scenery and not at all worried.

Although we’d bought return tickets, the map at the top had signs for a 4 and a half hour descent on shanks pony. So given my trepidation about getting back into the little glass cabin again, I suggested we walk back down. It was a great choice, the scenery was spectacular, the weather clear and crisp and our new hiking shoes were worth every penny. Amanda had packed a picnic and we stopped in perfect surroundings for an hour and just ate, talked and enjoyed the view.

 

The next couple of days involved more gentle walking and picnics. Cracking little villages almost oblivious to the encroaching world of tourism. Time here has slowed for the farmers. A little village Amanda found not too far from our site was Mogrovejo. It’s a collection of 16th and 17th century farms, some of which have been renovated and some haven’t seen a lick of paint in 300 years, but together it has an atmosphere worth bottling. The local residents of this little graveyard have an amazing view.

After a couple of days off for good behaviour, Amanda had found another dander for us to do….and what a find it was. The start was back along the road we came in on, but this time we did it on Grigio, so much more fun for me with plenty of twistie roads to enjoy.

It’s a 3,000ft ascent from Urdon to a village at the top called Tresviso and starts pretty sedately along a river bed then very quickly climbs upwards. It’s really difficult to find the words to describe the scenery here given my limited use of the Queens, so it’s easier just to let the pics of the Picos de Europa tell the story and we hope you can appreciate them.