Welcome to the third and last part of this amazing road trip. These last days were definitely my favorite! Don't take me wrong, I loved the complete journey nonetheless, but I am a sucker for mountains and rivers and nothing brings me closer to nature than to climb a mountain all the way up and see the clouds below my feet. Well, being close to volcanoes does it better, but ain't volcanoes in this story so.
OK so from where we left off in the previous post, we then traveled all the way to Cangas de Onís, Asturias, where we spent a couple of nights. Don't be mislead by the crystalline blue water underneath the Roman bridge, because even though the weather was very inviting and some people were taking baths, it still made my bones hurt from how cold it was.
The next day we went visiting Covadonga and it's historic monuments. Let me give you a bit of an insight into its history very quickly, since it is a place of such importance for Asturias. In 722, Pelayo (who was a leader of the Visigothic nobles) won a battle against the Moors, stopping them to further advance in this area of Asturias. The story changes a lot depending on the source, but Christians believed that Virgin Mary was crucial for their victory and so the Holy Cave became a place of worship frequently visited by crowds of pilgrims. It is also said that Pelayo used to live in that same cave, picturesquely set on a hillside, where now the chapel and his tomb lay. Not of less importance is the Neo-Romanesque basilica Santa Maria la Real built 1886 and 1901 in what it's said to be the exact spot where king Pelayo scored his historic victory. As you can figure out by now, Pelayo became a national hero. I am not religious at all, but just the thought of being in a place with such history, especially dated so far back in time, gives me the chills.
This is all situated in the Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa, so of course, we couldn't miss the opportunity of exploring a bit more of its surroundings. We took the car and drove all away to the top passing by Lago de Enol and Lago de Ercina. We stopped by at a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere, drank some homemade cider (that was in a full bottle of wine that lasted for the rest of our trip) and took a hike among a bunch of cows. We could only hear the cowbells and the cows pulling the grass from the earth. Amazing! Most of our way up to the mountain we couldn't see a thing in front of our noses due to the mist, but as soon as we found ourselves on top of the clouds, it was honestly the most amazing feeling. There is such an inexplicable peace and quiet when you are so up above.
Before leaving we had to take a tour on the Fuente Dé cable car, 900 meters ascent from Fuente Dé. It is amazing and totally worth the money! In just about 5 minutes you climb 753 meters along a 1450 meter long cable to the heart of Picos de Europa. The air up there feels a bit heavier since you are so far up above, but the view is just so impressive. After taking some walks and touching everywhere we could, we decided to go back home. The next day we left to Vigo, where we spent a day and night before getting on our train to Porto - Portugal.
And that my friends, was how we spent our first of many road trips to Spain.
Click here to see the first part of our trip!
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