South to North

The last time I posted I was in Tarifa, but didn't post any photos of that place.  Truthfully, I didn't take many photos there, but here's one (obviously I played around with it in post, maybe I should have just left it alone, oh well):

When I left Tarifa I headed back to Granada for a couple of days because I'd made friends there.  Drunken hilarity ensued, which was not photographed (as far as I know) and will not be documented here.  A long, hung-over bus ride got me back to Madrid with enough time to do laundry and catch a little sleep before hopping on another bus for another long bus ride.  I made it to Gijon, capital of the Principality of Asturias, at about six o'clock on Friday morning.  I arrived more than a little tired, but excited to meet my cousin Leon and his family.  After some confusion with the city bus (which I claim to be caused by my lack of sleep, not my shitty spanish) I arrived at Leon's apartment and met him, his wife Rachel, and their boys Conrad (2) and Owen (almost 1).  In addition to the apartment in Gijon, they also have a house in a small village about an hour outside of the city.  Since Leon's dad (John), step-mom (Julia), and brother (Barney) where staying out at the house, the plan was for Rachel to take me out there on Friday, then everyone else would come out on Saturday.  The house is in a truly beautiful setting, a verdant green valley, surrounded by high, rocky peaks.  I'll let the pictures do the talking though.  Their house is in the center of the picture:

Look at all that rock.  And not a single climber anywhere.

The view sucks:

Leon, Owen, Conrad, John, and Julia:

I had a great time and truly enjoyed meeting my extended family.  I've always thought of myself as coming from a very small family, as I have no siblings and only one first-cousin, but I guess reaching out a few generations there's a lot of wonderful people that are related to me.  I look forward to seeing them all again, whether it's in the US, Spain, or somewhere else.