For our last group outing, we visited the mountains of Cabrales in Asturias, and los Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe) in Cantabria, an autonomous community directly east of Asturias. Cabrales is a region famous for its production of cheese from unpasteurized goat milk, sheep milk and cow milk. The name ‘Cabrales’ is derived from the Spanish word for goat, cabra; the cheese produced in this area is also known as cabrales.
We visited one of the villages in Cabrales, and our tour guide told us all about the history of the region as well as details about each step of producing the cheeses.
After the cheeses are shaped into wheels, they’re stored in caves such as this one until they’re aged to perfection.
(Left to right) Ani, Nora, Vivian, Alisha, Lauren, Matt and Sophie take a quick break on the hillside.
After hiking around Cabrales, we had lunch at a restaurant in the village. We got to try some of the famous cheese; the blue cheese in particular was quite strong and somewhat spicy. Here Laly fills her cup with sidra that’s dispensed directly from the ceiling.
We left Cabrales and traveled to Potes, a small town in Cantabria, where we had some free time to explore the old streets and see the river that runs through the middle of the town.
We spent the night in Potes, and the next morning, we visited the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana, which houses the largest remaining piece of the cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on.
Inside the church, the priest talked about the history of this famous relic, and then we all had the chance to touch the piece of the cross, which is contained within the golden crucifix at the center of the altar. 
Our final stop was to visit a section of the mountain range known as los Picos de Europa. Here we waited for the gondola to take us farther up, towards the summit.
Lauren and Hannah decided to climb up some rocks on the side of the mountain.
Alisha managed to feed a piece of ice cream cone to this black bird.
Emily and I stumbled upon a spot where several people had written they’re names with stones, so we decided to add our names to the gallery.
At this height, the views of the mountains merging with the sky are truly amazing.
