July 18-19: Mogrovejo, Monasterio de Santo Toribio,

Mogrovejo, not far from Potes, is known as one of the most picturesque towns in Spain. It’s small, but it’s very cute, and has some views!

B admiring the view near a big local oak tree.

Snack time? Almost. First we needed to attend to a flattish tyre…

More wildlife… so snaily!

And some local stream-age…

And for some local gastronomy…

Whoa! This whisky was submerged in the Cantabrian sea for 18 months! Barnacles and everything… but at $300 AUD

Sidra (cider) is more of an Asturian thing, but luckily Asturias is just a stone’s throw away, so these pourers help pour sidra from a height (you need to ‘crack’ the cider by pouring it impressively into a glass, you see?)

More Potes…

Now, onto something a little interesting. The Franciscan Monasterio de Santo Toribio. Apparently, in the 6th century, the remains of Saint Toribio, along with a large piece of the ‘true cross’ (lignum crucis), upon which Jesus Christ was crucified (more on this soon), were brought to a small functional monastery, by people seeking a holy place. The location became one of five key pilgrimage sites for Christians (along with Rome and Santiago de Compostela, among others), and many people came to kiss or touch the fragment of the true cross. So much so that there was concern that it would become degraded and diminish in size over time, so in the 16th century it was encased in glass and gold-plated silver, which is how it remains, with a small window where the wood itself can be touched or kissed by modern-day pilgrims and those who come to the special daily mass services. To be continued…

The older priest was actually really funny and engaging. There was a couple in the crowd who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and wanted to reaffirm their commitment. At the end of the service, people could come and see/touch/kiss the wood of the true cross. It was a bit surreal to think of the historical, let alone religious, significance of that wood. Now, for the doubting Thomases (#religy-reference) out there, an interesting tidbit of info is that in recent times, a fragment of the cross was sent for testing, without providing any context of what it is claimed to be. The results of the test came back indicating that the age of the wood is around 2000 years old, and that it is from a type of cypress tree that is not found in Spain, and is not even found in Europe! It is found… in what is modern day Palestine, which is the geographical region where the crucifixion is reported to have occurred. So there you go!

Note the little window at the bottom, ready for a kiss!

Vibing on the view, too.

Understandably.

And now, lunch!

He said he was confused because by my Spanish he thought I was a Spaniard, but by drinking a Gin and Tonic at that time of day, not!

And then… a winery tour!

And back home, maybe sidra time? We cooled a bottle by placing it in the stream, and when we went back to pick it up, a water snake had coiled around near the bottle!!!