The Picos de Europa and Potes - July & October 2014

I have not felt more at home than I have felt while driving through the Picos De Europa.  We have done the drive twice and I would do it again and again.  These rolling hillsides and pastures lead into monstrous mountains some rising to over 8500 feet high.  This range is only a 25 km drive from the Cantabrian Coast.  The Picos is about 273 square miles of national park and it is breathtaking.  It takes quite a few hours to drive through this awesome landscape and it is worth every moment.

The first time we drove through we were not expecting to see what we did.  We had driven up to Santander in the middle of summer to go to the beach and as it turned out so did everyone else so we took off and ended up in Comillas (I have another post about that).  From here when we were heading home we decided to take a different route home and go through the mountains because it would be more scenic.  Wow we were right!  Now to be fair I have never seen mountains as beautiful as The Rockies, but this is up there on the list of amazing mountain views for sure!

We stopped in a small town called Potes as we were driving through for a bite to eat and were actually happily surprised to find a place that sold actual veggie burgers!! (yes it is that exciting it deserves two exclamation points)  The town itself was a charming mountain town full of cobblestone streets, old gorgeous buildings and many places to eat and drink.  Very touristy, as most amazing mountain towns are, and we wished we had time to stay and be one of those tourists! 

Potes

We didn't see much wildlife except a billy goat and some eagles and hawks but the scenery did not disappoint and it truly made us feel closer to home.  We used to spend so much of our time in the mountain forests so finding this park filled our hearts with joy and yes a little homesickness.  We hope to bring Ross parents here when they come to visit but of course there are too many places we want to take them so it will be tough to make a decision.

Whoever tells you that Northern Spain is the most beautiful part of Spain is not lying.  It is so gorgeous and not at all what I would expect to find here.  I think a lot of people think of Spain and think of palm trees and beaches, and they are not wrong, but there is so much more of this country that people do not get to see when they are vacationing on the Mediterranean.  If you get the chance to explore this country I cannot stress enough how amazing the North is so get there if you can.