Our Summer not in Montpellier, IV

 

Looking up the valley of the Rio Duje, near Sotres

This is the fourth of several blogs about our summer travels.

You can find the first one here, and the second here. The third one is here. 

Ahhhh, the worst of the heat is gone! Now we have sunny warm days, and pleasant nights. A very fine time in Montpellier! But we are yet to finish our travels in Spain...

Los Guías, a café in Las Arenas honoring mountain guides.

                 Arenas de Cabrales

We reluctantly left the tiny hamlet of Quintanilla-Montecabezas and the generosity of our hosts there and drove further west to the Picos de Europa mountains. Our next stop was Las Arenas, a small town with one main street, but quite lively in the summer thanks to all the visitors to the Picos.

While small, Arenas is the only biggish town in this very mountainous area, and so is a center for mountain activates. Stores sell hiking and mountaineering gear, storefronts offer guide services and equipment rentals; a glance along any street is sure to find someone with a walking stick and a backpack.

It’s an attractive town, but the real value is outside, a few kilometers into the mountains. We were not interested in making an expedition; our goal was simply to learn about the area. And while the mountains are fabulous, the area also is celebrated for its beaches.

Hiking trail near the town of Sotres.

Sotres, seen from the trail.

A peak in Sierra Mor, the Sotres Recreation Area

Another view of the mountain village of Sotres.

Mountains: 

    We drove through the mountains each day, as it was the only way to get out out of town! The roads were good, if often narrow (and terrifying). Some days we drove further up into the mountains; others we drove to the coast to explore the towns and beaches there. It became quickly apparent that one thing about mountain roads is that there was no place to stop! The roads were narrow and shoulders non-existent, and what parking places there were were either fully occupied, or… marginal. (Europeans seem to be willing to park in places that we don't even recognize as places!)

There was one intriguing village that was on no road; access required either several hours of hiking or a 10-minute funicular ride. We opted for the ride, but it was clear that parking in the lot at—or anywhere near—the funicular terminal was not going to happen! (We just don’t get up that early for these popular places.) So, we took a bus to the funicular.

The funicular car, emerging from it's long (very long!) straight tunnel.

Paula on the bridge into Bulnes.

Well worth it! Unlike the funicular in Bilbao (or the one on the Isle of Capri), this one ran through a very straight, very steep tunnel all the way. Once out, under the open sky again, the village of Bulnes was a short hike away. And we were glad to be walking, after the mild claustrophobia of that funicular!

First thing we saw after that long dark tunnel was this church.

A scenic village? Oh, you bet!

We spent about an hour in Bulnes, hiking to the scenic overlook and having coffee. The place was hardly crowded, but most visitors were clearly more ambitious hikers than we are. We saw boots and walking staffs aplenty.

Some of the hiking boots we saw that day.

On our way to the café.

Enjoying a meal in the open air in Bulnes.

Beaches: 

    We saw some pretty wonderful beaches on our explorations, but never got in the water. The weather was cool and mostly cloudy (yeah! That’s why we came!), and we were more interested in hiking around and exploring the area than lying in the sand.

The beach at Llanes.

A distant view of Los Cubos de la Memoria by Agustín Ibarrola
"Cubes of Memory": an artist painted the huge concrete cubes used on the breakwater in Llanes.

Punta de Jarri, just north and west of Llanes.

Besides, most (all?) of these beaches are not easy to get to! Notable in this category is the Playa de Torimbia. We turned off the main route and followed a stunningly narrow road lined with houses (“Are we sure this is one way?” we kept asking ourselves, terrified we’d meet a car coming down), which gave way to an open but stunningly steep road. We ran out of pavement near the top, where drivers were jockeying for a parking spot. We got lucky and just drove into one. We didn’t stay long; we took a photo of the beach far below, checked the altitude (95 meters), and realized relaxing on the beach meant a 300 foot vertical drop… and climb. (Which many people were willing to do! ...but, er, not us.)

Playa de Torimbia   
See the path at the far end of the beach? That's the access point,  670 m horizontal (2200 ft) and 95 m vertical (312ft) from the parking lot!

And taken from the same spot, different direction, the Playa de Toranda.
We had NO idea how to get there!

We were particularly interested in visiting the cathedral in Covadonga. While the cathedral (built at the end of the 19^thCentury) is impressive, it is the location in the steep rocky mountains that make it fantastic. The approach is a long, slow climb up a winding road. We saw cars parked well before the top, but on a hunch we kept going, and did manage to find a spot right near the cathedral.

Basilica de Santa Maria la Real de Covadonga

This area is famous for the Battle of Covadonga in 722 CE, arguably the beginning of the Spanish Reconquista, the centuries-long long process of driving the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula. The cathedral, a replacement for a modest chapel that burned a few hundred years earlier, honors Pelayo, who defeated the Moors at the Battle of Covadonga and ruled the region from 718 CE to his death in 737.

Near the cathedral is this statue of Pelayo, first king of Asturias (and, therefore, Spain)

Another view of the Basilica de Santa Maria la Real de Covadonga.

Pelayo’s rule marked the creation of the kingdom of Asturias, which was to become the northernmost region of Spain. Pelayo is therefore considered the first king of Spain (which explains why that major street near where we stayed in Seville is named after him!).

The famous Roman Bridge of Cangas de Onis (actually built at the end of the13th C).

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View from the bridge: Cangas de Onis, first capital of the Kingdom of Asturias
and initial burial place of Pelayo.

After a week in the Picos de Europa mountains, we ended our trip with a few days in the city of Oviedo, today capital of the Principality of Asturias.

But that visit will have to wait for yet one more blog!

View from the overlook in Bulnes; the Pico de Europa mountains.