Teleferico de Fuente De and the Picos de Europa

 Today we drove 30 minutes outside of Potes to the Telefe'rico (accent over the e) in the town of Fuente De'.  The photo above was taken from inside one of the cars so it appears blue through the glass.  We lucked out and had a beautiful day to visit what felt like the top of the world.  There was no snow on the picos, what you see is the actual color of the rock that was carved by the glaciers - it's reminiscent of Yosemite.

 The large building at the bottom is the big, fancy Parador-Hotel.  These photos don't even begin to capture the spectacular views, with the green valley to the left and the impressive peaks to the right.  Several people were purchasing one-way tickets (ida, not ida y vuelta) to ride up on the telefe'rico and then hike back down.  There are several trails at the top with a main trail circling back down the peaks.  The trail down only takes 4.25 hours walking time and appears to have a subtle grade, not very steep or dangerous.  Something I will do the next time I visit.

 Here are a few panoramic photos to take it all in...

 The travelers:

 We discovered that Cari is much braver than Christine when it comes to heights.  She had no fear in standing on the metal overlook.  I felt queasy just looking at it.  We looked relaxed in the photo above, but I strictly advised her to NOT lean of the railing - you never know what could happen, and this is Europe where safety isn't always the first thing on their minds!

 Parts of the area at the top looked almost like a lunar landscape.  Much to my delight, we encountered a herd of SHEEP!  The silence of the mountains was only broken by the soft clinking of their bells, which sounded like mountain wind chimes...so beautiful!

 The trail in the photo below will take the hiker back down to the base.  Incredible view!

 This is another shot Cari took from the telefe'rico car - heading back down to the valley.

The Picos were breathtaking and far more impressive than I could have ever imagined.  We returned to Potes for a final meal - our first real meal (other than tapas) since we arrived.  I think we have finally adjusted to the change in time and our appetites have returned.  I had the cocido lebaniego, the traditional dish for this region of Cantabria, Lie'bana.  It was amazingly delicious and filling, true shepherd food with small garbanzos, smoky spanish chorizo, pork, morcilla, etc.  Cari had the lomo asado (grilled pork) and it was also delicioso.  We finished the meal with arroz con leche (rice pudding), the perfect creamy, sweet ending to our first official big meal in Spain!