La Tahona de Besnes Llanes

Twas a rough old night as we free camped (including a wonderful fish barbecue) on Oyambre beach, and it soon became apparent that our surf boards were non too happy perched a-top the van roof; this to the extent that they attempted to become detached at around 5am ...

... grotto. Nothing like a statute of the BVM with water coming out of the mountain to draw us Catholics out from every nook and cranny. The herd of goats that usually blocks Paul's entry into churches was nowhere to be found here.....so maybe it's a good sign. Don't send a Catholic jihad after me, now, just making light of a fun time!

About "the Christians getting nasty" part. This is apparently ...

Left Hector's at 10 am. I was very tired. We hit the road right after getting bread and fruit for breakfast. We ate breakfast and I decided to get some shut-eye after downloading all of the pictures from the day before. Conrad said he would wake me if he saw anything cool. I thought I was just about falling asleep when he woke me up for a "scenic detour". Wow, was all I could ...

... the mountains following the river Cares. Although it is only possible to see the river occasional due to it being too far below the path it is possible to hear it. The walk is about 24 kilometers there and back. Approx 16 miles. We have never been on such a spectacular walk. The path clings to the cliff face hundreds of meters above the gorge and burrows through solid rock. It is very difficult to describe adequately.

Tomorrow 2 10 09 we move on.

We awoke to the sounds the ocean across the street. A stroll revealled the Picos de Europe directly behind us. We toured the lovely old city, took some naps, played in another discovered playground, and set off again around ...

We meet Julia and Geoffrey at Asturias Airport but have a little more difficulty finding our Hertz rental car. It was worth searching as it turns out to be a brand new BMW. We climb in gingerly as its just begun to rain because it seems a crime to put our feet on the brand new cream carpet.

The rain or at least, cloud, stays with us for the whole week which means few chances at even seeing the mountains let along walking in them. A few ...

... When we got to the camp we set up our new pop-up tent (5 seconds) and put the mattress in.  Kevin got in to try it out and we realized it was too short for him because of the angle.  So it turns out we'll be sleeping diagonally.  The top of the mountains still have snow here but it's warm enough were we are that Kevin is in shorts and a t-shirt at 8:30pm and I'm only in jeans, a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater.  But I haven't shed the flip-flops yet.    

... the beach following a day's activity. The sand was soft, the water cool, and the atmosphere made me feel like I was in Maine rather than...Spain. Nevertheless, our hotel's style seemed to be a mix of an Alpine Village (a la Helen, Georgia) and some some of Dutch architecture. Jon and I had a nice room, which included a Towel Warmer that we were actually unable to figure out how to use it. That night we ventured to the center of our small town for a dinner at a place called ...

... of many of these grand houses, a lot of which seemed to have been built by emigrants who returned home having made their fortune in tobacco in Cuba. What there was none of were "tackeries", the usual seaside shops full of souvenirs, beach gear, ice creams and rock. It was very genteel and refined, more like a Cannes or Antibes. However, not so genteel or refined was the six coach loads of school kids on the beach ...

... and simple. The exterior was adorned with fuchsia flowers that seemed to be draped along the stone wall. Upon entering the church, I suddenly felt very calm and at peace. The alter was simple and made of wood and all of the paintings and statues of Jesus and Mary were very simple as well. Part of the beauty of the church was in its simplicity. It was wonderful! For anyone traveling to Spain, I highly recommend the national park of the Picos de Europa and Llanes. It was a great trip!