Potes, pronounced Poh-Tess, although Pooh-Tess might be more appropriate

Yesterday we drove up the magnificent Desfiladero de la Hermida (La Hermida Gorge) to Potes. As it is a holiday weekend, there was a lot of traffic on the way up, and gridlock trying to get into Potes itself. Being in-the-know semi-locals, we parked outside of town and walked the 500m to the centre. It was horribly busy, but we managed to walk around the market, then headed for a restaurant at the early hour (for Spain) of 1.30, in order to be sure of getting a table. It was nearly empty, but within half an hour it was full up and there were people waiting, so we made the right decision. Daniel then made the first of many olfactory attempts to ruin our day - he filled his nappy just as we were starting our first course. Hmmm, thanks. There was nowhere to change him, so we just had to do our best to keep him seated (so he didn't spread the smell to all four corners of the room) and get on with eating as best we could. Surprisingly we all managed to enjoy our meals despite the occasional waft - it was all local mountain fare, bean stews with chorizo and black pudding, stewed beef with home-made chunky chips, that kind of thing. And a wicked dessert - it tasted like scoops of souffle in a creamy sauce.

After lunch we changed him on a low wall, then walked back to the car and drove on towards Fuente De. On the way he managed to silently throw up, covering himself and his car seat. At Fuente De we stopped at the Parador Hotel for coffee. It had been drizzling when we arrived, but it soon cleared up, and the kids ran off to the playground in the hotel gardens, while we sat at an outside table. When they returned, 15 minutes later, Daniel's right shoe was looking a suspiciously different colour to his left one. Greeny-brown, as opposed to the standard brown of his left shoe. On closer inspection it turned out he had trodden right in the middle of a fresh cow pat, which had also got on his socks and trousers. Nice. Luckily we had a change of clothes for him, but unfortunately he had to sit on the sicky child seat again, which then made these clothes dirty again. We were very glad to get him home and straight into the bath.

Today we took it easy, wandering over to La Ostreria restaurant by the breakwater at lunchtime for a more refined lunch. Excellent food and a pleasant walk there and back. Brenda flies home tomorrow so life will return to boring normality again.