A year ago, when we were still free to roam around and travel, with no clue of what the world was going to become, we went on a getaway for a week, right after Easter. We went to Picos de Europa, north of Spain, regions of Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y Léon, with my parents, we were going to spend only a few days in Portugal so we wanted to maximize the quality time. And of course, we wanted to enjoy the new RV, Mobileta it’s her name.
This great trip lasted for a full week, we did everything we wanted calmly and we spent 5 days in the park exploring the peaks. We have found it enough to see everything without efforts, but if you’re going, looking for some adventures you might want to check out the hiking trails that looked pretty amazing, and 5 days won’t be enough. :)
This was our route, since we stopped the first time, officially, already at the Natural Park. We stopped at Mirador de Piedrasluengas, so we had a great start, we could see so many mountains and the peaks, it was amazing to absorb all that raw Nature. Note: we were coming from Iceland, so … seeing so many trees together was very weird.
After this great start, we drove till this very cute village in between the valleys called Potes, population less than 1500 and crossed by Quiviesa River. We took a stroll around the village center, the river, the church and we found it very beautiful and cozy. We spent maybe 2 hours and we found it enough, but it may be interesting to spend the night here and explore some more.
After visiting Potes, we followed our way, but right at the exit we saw a sign, a monastery was close by so we decided to go take a look, Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liébana. We went up and up and there it was, a gothic Franciscan monastery. Free entry, so we went inside, after the first door you enter a nice cloister with a beautiful garden and a small fountain at the middle.
We had absolutely no information about this place, so we were surprised, by visiting the chapel, and coincidently a friar was showing its biggest relic, the biggest piece of Jesus’ Cross. The Lignum Crucis. It is worth the visit, it’s quick and you can also enjoy the view from up there.
Going back down, we saw a little chapel with an amazing landscape surrounding it and, of course, we had to stop and we have enjoyed our time there having a snack. It’s called Ermita San Miguel and it’s a great place to stop for a while.
From here we drove to Fuente Dé, there is a cable car here that allows you to have incredible views from the top, but unfortunately due to high wind speed that day it was closed. As Fuente Dé is located at a dead-end it was not possible to come back later, so we will have to come back, maybe another day. :)
P.s. - Thank you for understanding my english skills, or lack of it! :D
