Spain Day 16 - Fuente De and Comillas
Trip Start
Jun 25, 2008
1
22
77
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Potes,
Cantabria,
Spain and Canary Islands
Monday, July 14, 2008
An early start (greeted by a small herd of torros as we head out our front door), and then we all hop in the car towards our first destination, Potes. I'm expecting windy roads (our neighbors warned us ahead of time) ... but I'm surprised to find that along with the narrow two lane roads (one each way), there are also large bigrigs and RV's trucking along. Janice tried to capture how close we were to colliding with the oncoming traffic ... notice the RV's wheels. YIKES! Thats CLOSE!
We arrive in Potes and are very pleasantly surprised to find the city is pretty cool. Large walking areas, shopping, large selection of restaurants, ... and an old castle type building smack in the middle of town. Its getting close to 1pm, so we pull in for a quick 'menu del dia' before heading on to Fuente De. Just before we head out, Janice spots a grocery store and heads in for some nectarines, which are perfectly in season right now. She takes Sam with her, and although no nectarines are in stock, Samuel discovers a new doggy! For 5 Euros, Janice buys it and now Samuel's homesickness is at least temporarily cured! YES!
Another 20km away from Potes, Fuente De is the home of the world's third largest teleferico (large tram sort of thing, almost like a ski lift). Good lord.
The first cow
This thing is ridiculously scary looking from the ground. The station near the parking lot gives us a view of the tram. This first picture of the mountains actually has the tram wire in the photo and you can see that the wire virtually disappears as it climbs up the height of the cliff face. CRAZY.The cabin itself holds a maximum of 20 people plus the conductor. Our group fills it completely, but we do roughly half of our group are children, so we have plenty of breathing room (and weight to spare). As the tram pulls us higher and higher, my knees start shaking and a beads of sweat start forming on my forehead. I can feel my knuckles getting whiter and whiter as my grip clamps down on the handlebar. I've discovered a fear of heights I never knew existed before! (I later do some more research on this subject and find that its more of a protective thing. Without the responsibility of watching the kids, my fear lessens considerably.)
Fuente De is AMAZING. Unfortunately, the minute we get there, the battery symbol pops up on our digital camera so I have to limit the number of photos I take. But wow. The best way to describe the experience is to try to imagine that you've never before seen a picture or painting of Yosemite and then stumbled upon it one day. The sheer magnitude of the scenery would be awe inspiring, even more so since you weren't expecting it. In the same way, the peaks of these mountains just took our breath away. As we step off the tram, even the kids have started to get scared.
More...
Immediately to our left is the cliff. Too scary to look at for now, so we hike up the hill a bit to gather ourselves. We are surprised to find thousands of ladybugs flying around! Everywhere. On the ground, in the air, scurrying around rocks. The kids were delighted and ran around on an endless ladybug hunt (no killing allowed). They both have such a fear of insects that neither let the ladybugs crawl on them, but Samuel was brave enough to extend his walking stick to the critters as a temporary home. Each time one would start crawling up the stick, we'd hear a shriek and see Samuel spaz out and fling his stick around as if death was just nearly upon him. Too funny! Also on the mountain were approximately twenty sheep and goats and some cows believe it or not. Birds roamed the area, presumably looking to feast on the ladybugs.We were so high up, the clouds were lingering right around us ... whirling about as quick as I've ever seen clouds move. Snow can be seen approximately 2km up the hill from where we are. Children running around in awe, ... And then, Momma Janice spotted the Rock Biter! (Neverending Story reference...) ... Yes, here, we've discovered that this is not a fictional character. He is real!!! See the eyes, the long nose, the mouth?! Kids loved it.
After exploring for a couple of hours, we headed back to the tram. I ditched the kids with Janice and headed towards a special vista point. They have a thing built where you actually walk out on to a platform that hangs OVER THE CLIFF, where you can feel the wind blow all around you, and you can see through the grate below ... pretty scary and cool. Trying to explain the impact of it all ... my vocabulary fails me.
We get buckled up in the car and head towards home. Janice and Ella fall asleep. Sam and I navigate the roads. After about an hours drive, we find ourselves in the town San Vicente de la Barquera. We are searching for a beach to enjoy. The sun is out, but when we park and get out of the car, we find its too windy and chilly for an ocean day. Back in the car for ten more minutes of driving to the city of Comillas. Another gorgeous Spanish city, this one housing two ginormeous palaces and several cathedrals. Its a beautiful city, a perfect mix of historical sights and modern amenities ... and right on the ocean. The kids play on the playground, Janice scratches her ice cream itch, and fun is had by all.
Back in the car, we head back home for a relaxing evening, then some work for me, then sleepytime. Fuente De was definitely an amazing experience. Glad we went. The only thing we didn't do on this road trip was to visit the area's cities known for their blue cheese, Liebana. The local tourism office informs us that they will be holding the 5th annual cheese festival this Saturday. If we don't find something more appealing, we may be back for some free cheese samples and festivities.
Comments
no you di'in...
you literally took some time and found a pic of the rockbiter to add to your images..
thats hilarious!
i can only imagine the moment it was realized and you guys chuckling and pointing at the spanish one! it is a bit uncanny...
did you guys ride a gondola? riding those things is sublime!
...rockbiter. what a name.
most likely to win picture group
If you held a poll to find out which days' pictures were the best, I would vote for this day. I had no idea Spain had such beautiful mountains.