Little pueblo we stopped in after the zoo

A familiar face! He started squawking right when I arrived actually, so everyone around was like "Oh! He recognizes the American!"



Here kitty kitty kitty...

continued

aww...

Zoo @ Santander

Prepare for lots of pics!! This zoo wasn't a normal animals-in-cages type of place... there were acres and acres of land for the animals to roam and such. This place was originally an iron mine converted into an animal reserve.

Many of the animals were well.. not on their best behavior, to say the least... They managed to get a few inappropriate poses on my camera, but I'll share some of the G-rated ones with you here :-)






...I think the ducks are squatting on the hippo-habitat...







General view of the area

Ladies and Gentleman, a 3rd edition of....

Things I have Learned In Spain Vol. III

- The classic yellow school bus is barbaric and hilariously outdated. School children should ride motor-coaches with plush seats about twice their own height.

- The only reason a female would ever wear a backpack to a college campus is because she is going hiking right after class… not to actually carry books and school supplies or anything like that.

o As a subset of school-attire, nor would a female EVER wear sneakers to walk to campus, with one exception: Converse Chuck Taylors which are properly color-coordinated with that day’s outfit are currently an acceptable fashion statement for the “offbeat” types.

- I am the only college student in Spain that doesn’t smoke.

- Carhartt is not a farmer’s boy brand of rough and tumble clothing. In fact, it is a very trendy fashion label for men to wear Carhartt. (On that note, who knew that Jay was trendy in Europe?!)

- When American women age, they get crow’s feet around the eyes. When Spanish women age, they get chicken-feet around the eyes.

- While Americans put their feet in their mouths when they’ve said something they wish they hadn’t, Spaniards put prawns in their mouths.

- However, just like us Americans, the Spanish do “knock on wood.”

- There is nothing wrong with showing nude beaches just in passing conversation during the afternoon news.

- It is perfectly normal for college kids to throw a party on campus every Friday afternoon where they can kick back and have a beer and play loud music, even when classes are still in session next door.

- It’s not a good idea to ask the shopkeeper of a store on holy Catholic grounds if they sell any pagan symbols…. Learned that one the hard way, whoops. (It’s a funny story, ask me if you’re curious)

- The L.A Lakers is the only important NBA team worth talking about.

- The soccer team of Liverpool is no longer property of the British: In fact, they are affectionately called, the “Spanish Liverpool” since so many of their players, and even their coach, are actually Spaniards.

- Last but not least, EVERY meal should have some sort of dessert involved.

Cabrales and Corbatas...

This is Cabrales, the most famous Asturias-native cheese.... and boy is it strong. If it tells you anything, when we bought it, even though it was wrapped up in several layers of foil and in plastic wrap, the shopkeeper still insisted that she put a few coffeebeans in our bag to help combat the smell for the ride home.



When Pedro told me that we were going to stop in a small town to buy "corbatas," silly me translated that literally my head to think that he meant we were going to buy neckties. I mean, hey, I was just going with the flow. When we arrived at this supposedly famous corbatas shop, I quickly realized that this wasn't the case and in fact, there is a small croissant-like pastery like what you see here which are literally called "neck ties."

Mirador del Fito

Some excellent views



This is from the actual "mirador" which is a neat little platform which was built to get a better view of the landscape.

Lakes of Covadonga

Lake Ercina with Pedro, Merce, and of course myself and Elephant



Me and Elephant in front of Lake Enol



Me, Elephant, Merce, and Pedro at the "Mirador de la Reina"... I suppose one could translate that as the "Queen's overlook"



Well, you can figure this one out i think.

Covadonga and more

Okay, prepare yourselves for a lot of pics, because today was a day full of fantastic views and some massive picture-taking.

We started at Covadonga, which is the famous site where the Christians won their first significant battle against the Moors "back in the day."


This is the basilica of Covadonga. Since this is the Sunday before Semana Santa, people brought in branches of laurel which smelled amazing.


Me and Elephant hanging out with Pelayo


This is below the main "chapel" of sorts and also below the tomb of Alfonso I and Pelayo (and his wife)... People aren't allowed to take photos inside unfortunately, but you can see parts of it from here.



Another view of the basilica.