This was my last day in the Picos de Europa mountains and too little time had been spent here. I decided to take a very early look at Fuente De from where it was possible to take a cable car to the top at Aliva.
The peak was hidden by cloud. From the bottom the car disappeared at about the half-way point.
Inside the car a collapsible ladder was mounted on the ceiling, just below a hatch. It occured to me that this might be the escape route should all things mechanical decide to fail. I couldn't imagine having to climb up onto the roof in a howling winter gale to be airlifted by helicopter! I closed my mind to the possibility.
At the top was a cafe with superb views...of cloud. However things somewhat unexpectedly and quickly cleared...
...giving way to something of a lunar landscape.
There was a track running behind the mountain in a circuitous route back to the cable car terminal. However, time again pressing, I had a quick coffee in the inviting cafe and returned to base in the cable car.
From here I was heading south into the Mesetas! It had been pretty chilly in the mountains, between 5 and 12°C, and the thought of some July heat was enticing.
Over the Reserva de Fuentes Carrionas mountains was a winding, rough road undergoing metalling. This photo was my last farell to the Picos de Europa in the far distance.
After Cervera the road straightened out somewhat to
Hererra de Pisuerga and thereafter it was a rather tedious motorway
but one by which the miles were eaten up.
I decided at Valladolid to take a last minute detour and visit Coca where there was a historic castle.
It was built in the late fifteenth century by Don Alonso de Fonseca. Coca
Castle along with Cuellar, Arevalo and Olmedo, formed a strategic
square of much importance to Spain, and remains one of its most beautiful castles. It was fully completed in 1551 and remained untaken until the French under Napoleon in 1808.
It was beginning to get pretty warm here, now registering 33°C.
I arrived late in Salamanca at C. Regio in Sta Maria de Tormes on the outskirts of the city after 293 miles.
What a day of contrasts!
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