Day 4: Picos de Europa
Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Mon 8 Nov 2010 16:37
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Day 4: 8 November 2010. Tudes, Picos de Europa. N43
07.227 W004 36.616. Distance driven 134 km
In the event, we had a very comfortable night aboard the
ferry, although at dawn the sea looked miserable and it was obviously blowing at
least Force 8. We arrived in Santander on schedule and rolled off
the ferry at 1110 to a grey, miserable day pelting with rain and blowing harder
than ever. We took the new S20 motorway out of town (too new for our
Garmin maps). Once clear of the industrial area at Torrelavega we
turned west onto the E70 and the countryside became much more pleasant although
driving conditions were wild and foul. At Unquera we turned
south onto the N621 and headed into a spectacular gorge - the Desfiladero de la
Hermida - where raging torrents of water cascaded down almost vertical rock
faces, right by the side of the road, and into the swollen river
below.
We visited a 10th century mosarabic church but found it
closed, then motored on to Potes, a local centre for the Picos, where the Monday
market had just closed or had been washed out.
Not being too keen on camping in the prevailing
conditions, we looked around for accommodation and found a pamphlet
advertising a wonderful looking old farmhouse converted to apartments. The
British owner, Tony, agreed to let us have a room for one night, instead of the
normal two minimum, and we climbed up a mountain road to the village of Tudes to
find most beautifully converted old buildings in a little rustic mountain
village. Now, with a roaring wood fire going in the cast iron stove, we
are feeling more human again.
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