{"id":3245,"date":"2014-07-04T11:42:26","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T10:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=3245"},"modified":"2026-05-23T08:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:30:34","slug":"the-twists-and-turns-in-the-road-and-of-eating-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2014\/07\/04\/the-twists-and-turns-in-the-road-and-of-eating-out\/","title":{"rendered":"The Twists And Turns In The Road And Of Eating Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
A wooden horrea at Ria\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was after 10am by the time we drove away from Cudillero and we didn\u2019t drive very far to start with.\u00a0 We stopped on the outskirts of Avil\u00e9s at a huge Carrefour supermarket\u00a0and went a bit crazy.\u00a0 Rodney came away with a pair of swimming shorts and a couple of screwdrivers in the size that we need and of course didn\u2019t previously possess.\u00a0 We also filled the trolley with masses of food and nibbles, I was concerned we would never fit it all in our cupboards and tiny fridge; I guess we\u2019ll be eating very well for the next few days. The next stop was just down the road to fill up Eileen with some LPG in her gas tank and then we sped along the traffic free A8 as far as Lastres.\u00a0 We spent so much time in the supermercado, that it was already lunch time, so we picnicked at the top of a cliff with nice views over a rocky beach and then walked round in to the village<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Lastres\"
Lastres<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The village is crammed into a steep gully and spreads all the way down to the harbour.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how they envisage building their houses right on top of each other like they do.\u00a0 \u201cExcuse me, can I borrow a bit of your roof to put my side wall on?\u201d\u00a0 It reminded us of the Cinque Terra in Italy, but not quite as pretty and the place was not exactly lively, we must have spotted about ten people and four of them were tourists; oh and there was a cat strolling around too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Lastres<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was only another 10kms to the campsite at Arenal de Moris, which apparently means the Sands of Moris, not sure who he is, but there are a couple of very nice beaches just below the campsite, so maybe they belong to Mr Moris?\u00a0 Rodney was checked in as Rodwey, unusual, but it could suit him\u2026.?\u00a0 I may continue calling him Rodwey.\u00a0\u00a0 It had rained on and off for most of the day, so we tucked Eileen\u2019s nose under an olive tree, just to help us remember that we are in soggy cool Spain and not in soggy cool England.\u00a0 We\u2019re so close to lovely beaches that it\u2019s really annoying that we can\u2019t appreciate them with our beach towels in a prone position.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Eileen
Eileen nudging an olive tree at Arenal de Moris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t even worth setting up the patio, so we stayed indoors.\u00a0 Rodney labelled up all of our photos and I finished sewing a large sardine, a very large sardine in fact.\u00a0 And then while Rodney drank beer and watched soccer in the campsite caf\u00e9, I danced along to Joe Cocker, whilst scraping the last couple of teaspoons of Nutella from the pot.\u00a0 I cooked medallon de babilla, it looked like a nice lean steak, but Google Translate tells me it is \u2018stifle and veal\u2019.\u00a0 Checking my dictionary, stifle means to suffocate, throttle or restrain; eeks!\u00a0 Gawd knows what it was, but it tasted darn good with saut\u00e9ed potatoes and a selection of vegetables.<\/p>\n

And after dinner we strolled 200 metres down to the beach and got wet in another shower of rain on the way back up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
Just before sunset on Arenal de Moris beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

All morning it drizzled and the clouds clung to the mountains, but there were lovely views all the way from the coast heading inland.\u00a0 We stopped at the Mirador del Fito and could see all the way back to Lastres and Carravia, in between the low hanging puffs of wet clouds.\u00a0 At Arriondas we missed a turning and drove in both directions through the town.\u00a0 At Cangas de Onis we did it again, wrong way through town, ring road back around and then spotted the turning just after the Roman bridge.\u00a0 We continued south and the road gradually narrowed in to an incredibly narrow, steep sided gorge.\u00a0 The 10km section called the Desfiladero los Beyos was dramatic in its rock formations and rather too difficult to get a photo that would capture the real essence of the canyon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The Mirador del Fito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Eileen
Eileen in the Desfiladero los Beyos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we crossed the border from Asturias to Castilla Y Le\u00f3n, the canyon opened up into a wider gorge with an increasingly winding road. The clouds became incredibly thick around us, we were right inside them, but as we passed the Ponte del Pont\u00f3n, we popped out and the sky turned blue\u2026\u2026 and white.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen very little wildlife on our trip around Spain and Portugal, not even any \u2018roadkill\u2019, so it was really nice to see a family of three deer beside the road.\u00a0 Sadly they made a very nervous and speedy dash into the undergrowth, so it really was only a glimpse.\u00a0 As we crossed the meadows near to Ria\u00f1o, lots of storks were taking off and landing in the long grass, they looked almost comical, but fabulous when gliding around beside us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The gorge widens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Embalse de Ria\u00f1o is a huge reservoir and, as we crossed a bridge over one of its tributaries, the whole lake was spread out in front of us and, with the jagged peaks of mountains on the far side, it looked spectacular.\u00a0 After the narrowness and gloom within the canyon, it felt like something inside your chest had lifted.\u00a0 Even the yellow broom seemed to make the scenery glow and the view from beside the church was lovely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The Embalse de Ria\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The church at Ria\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bicycle
Bicycle garden in Ria\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Ria\u00f1o we ate a \u2018meat no veggie\u2019 lunch at the Restaurante El Mes\u00f3n and then turned Eileen east and headed along the south side of the Picos de Europa.\u00a0 The road map showed the route as a very wiggly line and we weren\u2019t sure what we were in for.\u00a0 It was yet another picturesque drive and the road really did twist and turn, even\u00a0right back on itself many times, all\u00a0within a beautiful wide green sloping valley.\u00a0 There were glimpses of jagged peaks, but the cloud was still covering most of them.\u00a0 Thankfully there was very little traffic on the roads all day, so Driver Rodney was able to crawl along and take in the fabulous views as much as me, well almost as much as me, the hairpin bends did take up a lot of \u2018eyes on the road\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC02975<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We reached Potes late in the afternoon and checked in to Camping La Isla set by the river about 3kms out of town.\u00a0 The wi-fi is free, the bathrooms are very smart, but sadly the weather was far too cool to spend any time by the swimming pool.\u00a0 There were supposed to be views of the mountains, but we couldn\u2019t see any.<\/p>\n

A big spider crawling up my leg, when I was in the shower, was not a good way to start Thursday\u2026\u2026..!\u00a0 However, the day did improve.\u00a0 The rain had stopped, but we still set off on the walk in to Potes fully prepared with fleecies on, raincoats in the rucksack and no sunglasses.\u00a0 About 500 metres from the campsite we turned around for some reason and realised there were massive mountains behind us, what a view!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The view of the Picos from outside the campsite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We weaved our way around the village, some of it is very old and its setting at the junction of the Rio Deva and the Rio Quiviesa, gives it a certain charm.\u00a0 Often at the end of a road or on a bridge, you get an amazing view of the Picos de Europa with small patches of snow still clinging to them.\u00a0 A charming man advised us to eat in his family restaurant \u2018La Cantabria\u2019, as all the food is “locally produced and the restaurant has been there for many years”.\u00a0 He was a bit more expensive than most of the others in town, but we decided to take his advice, especially as \u201cthere are views from the tables upstairs\u201d.\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 The only views upstairs were of a smoking chimney on one side, or straight back down the street on the other side.\u00a0 We opted for the street view and when the whole bottle of Rioja wine and 1.5 litres of mineral water arrived, we thought the meal would be generous too.\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 Rodney\u2019s bean and wild boar soup was fairly tasty, but my croquettes, were a bit boring.\u00a0 Then the main course arrived.\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 Rodney had a tiny, tiny piece of salmon drowned in a pink pepper sauce with just a couple of leaves of iceberg lettuce.\u00a0 My fillets of wild boar turned out to be three tiny mouthfuls covered in a very strong cheese sauce and a handful of chips on the side.\u00a0 Whatever happened to vegetables in Europe, they weren\u2019t even on the menu as an\u00a0optional side dish?\u00a0 Then the desserts arrived.\u00a0 Hmmm. Rodney chose the cheesecake with caramel and I picked Natillas, which usually turns out to be a sort of cr\u00e8me caramel.\u00a0 Well, Rodney got a cr\u00e8me caramel sitting on a sponge layer, which was a bit weird, and nothing like a cheesecake, while I got a bowl of custard with a dry rich tea biscuit floating in the middle.\u00a0 Rodney didn\u2019t dare to order a coffee, we paid the bill and left. \u00a0Curiously no other customers came in to the restaurant\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Potes
Potes and Rio Deva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Potes\"
Potes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

At some point during the day, the weather changed completely and we were overheating on the walk back to the campsite; but neither of us wanted to complain, we just hope the sunshine will last till tomorrow.\u00a0 When we got back, the weather was perfect for lazing by the pool or perhaps even a swim, but the pool was full of noisy children and all the sunbeds were occupied, so we opted instead to laze in our chairs beside Eileen and listen to the sound of the river rushing past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Walking
Walking back to the campsite and marvelling at the scenery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"
And here’s my sardine cushion for storing socks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  It was after 10am by the time we drove away from Cudillero and we didn\u2019t drive very far to start with.\u00a0 We stopped on the outskirts of Avil\u00e9s at a huge Carrefour supermarket\u00a0and went a bit crazy.\u00a0 Rodney came away with a pair of swimming shorts and a couple of screwdrivers in the size […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8316,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3245\/revisions\/8316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}