When we planned out this trip, we figured that we'd head to the mountains since it was early enough in the season for the weather to be good. When we've gone to Spain in the past, we go in late October/November, so we usually stick farther south. There was still lots of rain in the forecast, but I love rain and moody skies, so we went with it. Somehow, I stumbled upon Picos de Europa online...a national park on the western side of Spain with some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. The day we drove to Potes (our home base for the next couple of days) was the best weather of the trip, which was nice but also kinda sucked that we wouldn't be able to get much hiking in once we arrived. The drive was spectacular though.
We arrived in Potes early in the afternoon and walked though the darling little town and grabbed some lunch before checking into our bed and breakfast for the night.
Our room was to die for with stunning views and a massive bathtub :)
Once we dropped off our bags and had full bellies, we made the most of the beautiful weather and took the Fuente De cable car up to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The road dead-ends in this semi-circle of stone that just takes your breath away. $17 gets you a ticket up 2500 ft to the top of the mountain range in 4 minutes. The storm was beginning to roll in, but the weather was actually lovely and not super windy or cold so we spent a couple of hours up there taking it all in. Prepare for a thousand pictures of the same thing...the light and clouds made it change by the second and I couldn't get enough. I so wish we'd had more time. I think we'll eventually go back at some point.
Afterwards, we warmed up with treats and cappuccinos back in Potes and spent the evening playing tourist...dipping in and out of shops and checking out local museums before a hot bath and a great night's sleep.
The following morning, we awoke to a brilliant double rainbow and a delicious breakfast from our hosts.
Then we hit the road on a massive loop through the Picos de Europa mountains. It was so beautiful. We went over dozens of mountain passes and took a few little hikes while we were at it. It was very wet and muddy. There's a big hike there through some canyons that we'd wanted to do but couldn't because of the rain, so it's still on our bucket list, but I can't wait to get back!
We even found some Sulphur springs!
We wound our way hundreds of miles through the most beautiful misty canyons and got lost taking random roads up into the mountains...it was just amazing. There was literally NO ONE around. We had a tough time finding anywhere that was open for lunch (it's off-season obviously), so when we found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, we stopped. The little old lady working there didn't speak any English and we didn't speak any Spanish, so we told her just to bring us food and it turned out to be just a massive pot of peas. I hate peas. But we ate it and told her that it was delicious and paid and went on our way.
We completed the loop that evening and finished off the day with treats and hot cocoa in town and a soak in the tub. It was was perfect.