Fiesta de la Cruz en Potes

The road to Potes - curvy, steep, narrow and a true adventure.   It was fun driving to Potes, including the time that the road was so narrow around a cliff-hugging curve that we had to stop with a line of cars just to let a large truck pass.  The reward at the end of the road was the beautiful town of Potes, capital of the Valley of Liebana (with an accent over the 'e') .  Potes is a beautiful town at the foot of the Picos de Europa, with stone arcades and medieval cobblestone lanes.  We are in the region of Cantabria, famous for its queso (cheese) and whose symbol  is - appropriately - la vaca lechera (the milk cow).  Potes has the Rio Deva running through it, as seen below, that we must have crossed on the highway at least 5 or 6 times before arriving at Potes.  Either the road or the river winds a lot - probably a little of  both.

 Upon arriving at Potes, we were welcomed with a street band!  Little did we know, we had arrived in the middle of their Fiesta de la Cruz (Festival of the Cross) - a local festival with organized groups of young people hanging out with their respective pen~as in matching shirts.  Each group had a theme and their own transportation.  We will post a video of one of the transports with music and dancing tomorrow.

 Part of the festival was the traditional carreta (wagon) being pulled by two huge, black bulls through the streets of Potes.  This was to feature Cantabria's history, with pastores (shepherds) in traditional dress (see the belly shirts!?! - not sure how traditional that is) and, most importantly, with the albarcas (hand-carved wooden clogs with 3 pegs) that make walking the rocky, steep terrain much easier.

 Here is a close-up of the albarcas:

 And here is the carreta traveling the cobblestone streets of Potes:

 Another part of the festival was the parade of the giant Pastor Cantabrico (Cantabrian shepherd).  Notice his boina (beret) - the belltower of the main church in Potes is in the background.

The people of Potes keep things in perspective, even during time of holiday or fiesta.  See below the most important news of upcoming events, most notably the upcoming Barcelona and Madrid soccer matches.

We are off to the Picos de Europa tomorrow - see them in the background of the photo of Potes below.  More amazing sites await - hasta pronto!