I'm still "researching" Cantabria. We'll be driving from Turegano (near Segovia)and plan to spend a couple of nights SOMEWHERE in Cantabria. We've visited Santillana del Mar, San Sebastian and other coastal towns (Comillas, San Vicente de la Barquera, etc.) on previous trips. We're looking for a lovely green valley surrounded by hills/mountains...some place moderately accessible. I've been reading more about the Liebana and Cabuerniga Valleys but am wondering what the landscape and towns are like farther east. Can you make any recommendations?

Maybe Valle del Pas, I haven't been yet, but it's famous.

You write: "We're looking for a lovely green valley surrounded by hills/mountains..."
Potes, capital of Liebana, fits that description. Last year I stopped there, at Hostal Picos de Europa. Very nice!

I am a 'shore & seafood' person; so I usually stay at el Sardinero and prowl the seafood restaurants in Santander's Barrio Pesquero. Cocido Lebaniega is a little too heavy for me.

¿Have you given any thought to Asturias?

Yes, we had thought about Asturias...it's a little further west, right? We're looking for somewhere to spend a couple nights after we leave Turegano (near Segovia)and before Fuenterrabia. I have been looking into the Potes area which sounds beautiful. And I'm trying to find out more about the valleys to the east of it...thinking that they may be slightly more accessible. We won't be doing any serious hiking but just want to enjoy the countryside, small towns, etc. We visited Cantabria years ago (in the 1970s)...I have such wonderful memories of those gorgeous green hills. Please tell me more about your experience there.

I know a little more about Asturias, too. Cantabria and Asturias are very similar, and going to Asturias would most likely require a direct drive north through León and Oviedo. The topography is akin, and you will find great cities to stay in, that are treasures, in Asturias too. I recommend:

Go up through Mieres, go east from Oviedo to Nava, continuing on through Cangas de Onís, which is the gateway to Covadonga...a must see for natural splendor! Continue on to the coast and make Ribadesella your destination (along the coast). I've driven this, and IMHO, it is the most beautiful drive I've ever taken...I WANTED to get lost in Cangas...

Extra bonus: Between Cangas de Onís and Ribadesella you'll find Altamira-esque prehistoric caves (Tito Bustillo, etc.) that are available for limited visitation.

Enjoy your trip, wherever it takes you.

Sorry, Carole: I am not personally familiar with parts of Cantabria east of Santander (other than from passing through). Laredo is nice; so is Castro Urdiales; but I don't think you will find many places to stay in the hills south of there (Casas Rurales?). You might consider selecting a base from which to make excursions into the hills and mountains.

Experiences: Years ago, my 'Host' family and I day-tripped from el Sardinero into the hills near Comillas to visit some family of theirs. It was Sunday: We went to 11:00 AM Mass at Monte Corona, a centrally-located Church that served 5-villages, all called Udias. After Mass, there's a little weekly fiesta: accordion & clarinet & drums appear and some of the young girls dance; others do what young girls do: mostly giggle. Covered dishes are put out (and jarafas de vino) and the young men wrestle. Manolo tried to get me into the wrestling; but these guys were lumberjacks and I was a young student, so I deferred. Later we went to the home of some relatives and had a wonderful dinner. There were some late afternoon thunderstorms and the people were terrified.

Last September, I looked up Manolo (after 40-years). He (and Quito, who was 12-years old back then) remembered me. Why would they remember me? Few people had cars back then. A car in 60's Spain was seen as a symbol of wealth and power. My car was an old broken down '52 Nash Rambler station wagon that I had bought in Morocco. After car ownership became more the rule than the exception for Spaniards, it would still take a few years for the required behavior pattern changes to set in (i.e., no drinking & driving).
Back then, my friends in el Sardinero found it curious that I wouldn't take a drink when I was driving or when I was going to drive.

[This message has been edited by Eddie (edited 02-10-2001).]

Great memories, Eddie. No wonder you're still in love w/Spain. Do you think those Sunday gatherings still exist today in the rural areas? Do you think now that everyone has a car they have accepted the responcibilites? I read often how coming of age as far as alchohol is concerned is not the fixation in Spain like it is for many Americans. I'm curious as I plan to attend the Wine Battle Festival in Haro w/(2) 17 yr olds and I'm hoping it will be a fun experience not a decadent one!!. Can you imagine such an event in the US? They'd have us carded and inside a chainlink fence 3 miles high!

Karen writes:
"Do you think those Sunday gatherings still exist today in the rural areas?"

Sadly, I have to say: "I think not!" If the young men from the villages don't have cars they have 'motos.' 'Prosperity' has killed many of these beautiful traditions - I am just happy to have lived to enjoy some of them.

"Do you think now that everyone has a car, they have accepted the responsibilities?"

In Spain, yes. They have had to do so. It's a phase: as prosperity (car ownership & the independence it brings) comes to a country, people's behavior patterns have to change. We see it in the per-vehicle auto accident statistics: first in France in the 60's like when Albert Camus died in a high speed crash into a fixed object; then in Spain where, because of the mid-day 'siesta,' there were not two, but four 'rush hours' every day; and even now, in Portugal. I know of some people in Spain who have lost their driving privileges indefinitely.

Quito owns a tavern called 'El Chupi' on Avda. de los Castros near UIMP (University International Menendez Pelayo). 40-years ago the place would be mobbed with students and the Tuna Universitaria would keep me up half the night, every night. Now the young people go to the 'discos' behind the Gran Hotel Sardinero - they still managed to keep me up half the night (at Hostal Paris, in September) revving up their Motos at (4:00 AM) closing time.
BTW
In case you missed it: El Chupi is what the baby's 'pacifier' is called in Spanish - an appropriate name for a tavern.

Carole:
Another place where you might find lodging (because of reported Marian apparition) is a few miles east of Potes - San Sebastian de Garabandal. Groups of religious 'pilgrims' stay in that area so they can visit sites where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared in the 1960's. I think you have to head south from Cabezon de la Sal - there's no direct route from Potes to Garabandal.

[This message has been edited by Eddie (edited 02-11-2001).]

If we have only two days to spend in Cantabria, what towns/sights/drives would you suggest as "must sees?" We've visited Santillana del Mar/Caves of Altamira on a previous trip. Does anyone know anything about Carmona or Barcena Mayor?

[This message has been edited by Carole Chiaro (edited 02-24-2001).]