Road Trip Part 2: Asturias... y Cantabria!

So in between Lugo and Santiago (on our way home) we packed up all our things and set off on a road trip along the northern coast of Spain. We had little money to spend so we brought a tent and sleeping bags and planned to find a place to camp each night. So we crammed five of us into what was made to be a four-person sedan and we on our way...

Considering we went out late the night before in Lugo and we still had to go for our camping gear, we only made it as far as Ribadeo the first day, which is still in the province of Galicia. We drove until it was dark, making finding a camping spot more difficult. We knew we would get in trouble camping in any location other than along the coast, so we looked for the first beach sign we could see. And we found it: La Playa Pancha. We saw a sign for a light house and thought we'd check it out. Sure enough, there was a little hidden spot in the bushes we found that was perfect to set up camp. But we soon found that camping near the beach in the north was a lot different that on our island. Geez it´s cold there! We all cuddled up wearing just about all the clothing we brought and I still woke up in the morning unable to feel my toes....

The next day we got up relatively early in order to get a head start on the drive. We visited two small towns in Asturias called Navia and Luarca before we stopped in a town called Salas to eat lunch. There was one option and one option only to eat. We ate what everyone else ate. You could tell the place was family owned. There were flies everywhere and the coffee press they had looked like it was made in midievil times, but the food was great. We had a rice dish, some peas mixed with bacon and chorizo, and then a plate of pork chops with patatoes. We had no idea that there was more food coming, and apparently it´s custom in the north to always clear your plate, so we continued eating like champions. Then, after sidra (hard cider) and dessert we rolled our way back into the car and continued our journey :)

We went to Oviedo and Gijón next. Oviedo is much bigger than the other little pueblos we had seen. We walked through the park, visited the cathedral, and shopped around a bit. It was a really pretty city. It was a pity that we couldn't spend more time there. Gijón was next. Got there at night, saw the town square, had some cidra, and headed out in search for our next place to sleep. We went to a couple of places and found that they were too windy and cold, so we kept searching for about an hour. Finally we found something that would have to suffice. But WOW, it was much colder than the first one. We even parked the car so that we could put our tent between it and a small building there, but it still didn't keep out much of the cold.

After three days without showering, we stopped off the next day for a coffee in a small town called Villaviciosa, and we all took turns washing up a bit in the bathroom... haha. The town was really cute though :)

Then we went to Cangas de Onís, which probably has the most recognized spots in all of Asturias. We took lots of pictures next to the famous Asturian cross that was hung from the crossing bridge there. It was set over a gorgeous river with an incredible view of the mountains that surrounded it.

On our way to the next destination went to the most beautiful beach called the playa de las catedrales. There were the coolest rock formations there. It reminded me of some of the beaches in Oregon/Washington.

The next day we made it to a town that sat in a little bay called Ribadesella. We walked along the water and checked out the towns cute little shops and bakeries. We also had some of the best pote asturiana! We asked the locals where the best kind of hole-in-the-wall kind of place was to eat some good asturian food, and we were surely not disappointed. We got this big bowl of asturian "stew" with chorizo, blood sausage, potatoes, greens, and lots of other vegetables. Delicious.

After that huge meal, we set off for the Picos de Europa, a range of mountains in Northern Spain. We were lucky we had a car, because you had to drive miles and miles into these mountains in order to find the famous hidden lakes as well as the most precious monastery and a "holy" cave called Covadonga. First, we went to the church. It pops out of nowhere in the mountains I swear... so gorgeous! I have no idea how they built it in that location so long ago. Then we headed for the cave... where there is a statue of Mary that people from all over the world come to pray to....

The lakes were really pretty. Took lots of pictures. And there were cows all over the place.... I got attacked my one! hahahaha.... didn´t quite get me though.

The last place we made it to in Asturias was a town called San Vincente de la Barquera. We visited the castle, and there was a beautiful view of the bay from the top. Seems like it would have been a great place to dock a boat if I had one.

Even though we needed to make it back to Santiago because one of the girls had to catch a flight, we thought we´d go just a little further west to make it to at least one place in Cantabria. Llanes was the spot. It actually is a well-known town in Spain for having multiple movies filmed there. I got to see the house where they filmed "El Orfanato", a great thriller by the same directior as "Pan´s Labyrinth." We walkled along the paseo above the coast, had some lunch, and then decided we should start the long trek home.

If you ever get a chance to check out any part of Northern Spain, I would truly recommend it! I loved every part of the trip :)