Asturias

We took a wonderful trip to the north coast of Spain this last weekend.  All of Spain that I have seen has been dry, rocky and brown.  Not so on the north coast.  I have found my new favorite place, the region of Asturias.  It was an area of outstanding beauty, and reminded me of Switzerland.  It was so green and lush.  There were great mountains, little valleys, darling villages, and towns, lakes and rivers.  There were several places I loved, but Covadonga has to be my favorite.  I'm posting pictures of the whole region.

Cangas de Onis.
It is a darling town that I would have liked to have spent more time in.  This is a tiny little chapel.

This bridge crossed a rather dry river.  Spain has been very dry this year, I'm told,
but it is also late in the season, and the rain hasn't started yet.

Cute well.

Now this is interesting.  This little house on stilts is one of many, everywhere you look.  Every home seems to have one.  Here Greg is talking to some locals to see what's up with the stilts.  We were told that everyone stores their vegetables, fruits etc. in these little buildings, and the stilts with the stones on top keep the mice and rats away.  Sounds good to me.

Greg finds friends where ever he goes.

This is the draw to Cangas.  It is a Roman bridge crossing the river.  I'm not sure how much is original and how much is like the axe that crossed the plains.

I like these guys.  I'm not sure what the story is on them.

The Roman bridge.  You can see how dry the river is.

There is a cross hanging from the center of the bridge.

This is Kim Leatham standing on the bridge.  All these
uneven stones are really hard to walk on.

All this region is colorful and well kept.

This is an iron ring on the bridge where people put their locks to symbolize their committed love.  There is a bridge over the Seine River in Paris that is famous for that tradition.

The river that runs under the bridge.

These pictures are taken from on top of the bridge.

Greg with Dan Leatham.  The Leathams arrived at the same time we did.  They are great people.  This was our first trip together.  We were supposed to take this trip back in September with them, but Greg had a heart attack instead.  So we finally got to do it.

Dan and Kim Leatham from Pleasant Grove, UT.

Downtown Cangas de Onis.

A cool church in Cangas.

Now we come to Covadonga.

This is a chapel in Covedonga that was built in the mouth of a cave in 722 AD.  
 There are 100 steps up to it.

Covadonga was the site of the beginning battle of the reconquest from the Moors.  
This chapel was built to honor the place where Don Pelayo and other soldiers 
sought refuge.  His tomb is in the cave.

Now if this was spring, you would see a fantastic waterfall running underneath the church into this pond below.  You can see two tiny figures to the bottom left of the picture. There is a little spring that legend says, those who drink from this spring will have success in love and marriage.  People were drinking, and others filling bottles.  Greg and I have already found success in love and marriage, so we didn't make the trip to the spring.

I love this place so much!

This is a shot inside the cave, and you can see the basilica in the back ground to the left.

Once we were inside the cave we discovered there 
was a much easier entrance with no stairs.
These are candles that people have lit.

The Basilica.

To the left of the basilica there is a building that houses the boys 
who sing in the choir for the basilica.  They are Spain's answer to the
Vienna Boys Choir.

This is the fantastic old hotel we stayed in.  Our rooms
were the three windows you see on the third floor. We got two beautiful bedrooms, two gorgeous bathrooms, and a very nice living room for 50 euros per couple.  Its hard to get a Motel 6 for that! An incredible buffet breakfast was included.

This is Don Pelayo.  I think he looks like Helaman.  He has a headband,
breast plate and sword, with a dramatic cape over his shoulders.

This is the Great Bell of Covadonga.
It weighs 11,000 pounds.

The door of the basilica.

This is the Sanctuary that houses the nuns from the basilica and boys school.

You can see the convent on the right with the Chapel in the center, and Kim below.

This is one of the views from our room.


This is another view.

And this is another view, the boys choir school.

This was our night view.

Then we took a drive into the Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe.)
They are really magnificent, and my pictures do not do them justice.

Sheep grazing.

Cows were roaming free, and climb like mountain goats.

The cows wear bells, and we found these two by following the sound.
Their bells sound like wind chimes.

This is a beautiful lake in the Picos de Europa.

With the sun in my face, I could not get a good picture of this gorgeous spot.

We then headed to the beach.  

This beautiful old home on the boardwalk has been turned into a hotel.  I would love to stay here.

All along the beachfront were beautiful homes.  Kind of like a Spanish mini Newport RI.

The tide was really low, and left a very interesting beach

 covered in colorful stones.

We had a good time picking up pretty stones on the beach.  

Kim and Dan have their hands full.

This cute guy loves any photo op.

Tunnels are everywhere in all of Asturias.  I liked the cows grazing on top of this one.

Our last stop in Asturias was a cute fishing village named Cudillero.

Fishing nets. While fishing is the industry here, at one
time this town had the reputation of being a pirate cove.

Greg gets a rest while I head out to capture the character of this cute town.

The town is built vertical against the hills.  Everyone I saw was in pretty good shape.

Although this area is supposed to have many lighthouses, this is the only I spotted.

This is inside a cute church in Cudillero.

Note the vegetation on the roofs.

I cannot wait to get back to Asturias!