Santander, Potes, & Picos De Europa, Spain

I went to the northern city of Santander for the Fulbright mid-year conference and ended the long weekend in a roadtrip to Picos National Park.

Santander was absolutely beautiful although a little cold. These trees were my favorite. It felt like I was in a jungle in the city, and when it rained, they were a perfect shelter.

The beach and the sunset over the mountains was also beautiful. Santander is a picturesque town on the coast, where I spent most of the time.

(This British man was searching around for something metal, I hope he found something!)

We stayed in the beautiful town of Potes in Cantabria. It was the cutest town outside of the Picos de Europa National Park and right on the border of Asturias.

The drive here was incredible, it was like the mountains parted ways for the road. As I drove, I couldn’t see the top of the mountains because of how massive they were.

These simple green doors were the entrance to the cathedral in Potes. They emulate the simplicity of the religious decor inside as seen in the next picture.

My favorite small spot of the town of Potes was this tiny house. In the backyard was a chicken coop overlooking the vast fields. On the other side of my camera were the snow capped mountains.

(One of the roosters :))

In the national park the mountains parted ways just like they did on the drive there. At the bottom, in the valley, laid a turquoise blue river flowing. The only noise besides our boots was the rushing water and an occasional goat sound.

As we ate lunch at this abandoned cottage house in the mountains, a family of goats came to greet us. Then they took over the house! (I think we accidentally broke into their home)

The Picos de Europa is one of the most magnificent mountain ranges I have seen and I hope to go back and do a new route in the future.