Hotel Cuevas Iii Suances

Twas a rough old night as we free camped (including a wonderful fish barbecue) on Oyambre beach, and it soon became apparent that our surf boards were non too happy perched a-top the van roof; this to the extent that they attempted to become detached at around 5am ...

A very pretty (cobbled alleyways, olde worlde stylee, cows in a field with not only udders, but also tuneful bells which, when youºve got a dozen, made quite a din a la Mike Oldfield) little town, unlike the campsite which was essentially a sodden piece of grass, for which we were charged Euro 22, for the pleasure of a night's shut-eye.

Leaving San Sebastian behind we drove to Santander to spend the night. With nothing more then the car, no place to stay and no plan. As luck turns out we found a cheap Pension to stay at, and ate in their quaint little restaurant, treated to warm hospitality, good food, and free Grappa and Lemonchelo

... along the way, but to no avail :(

Waiting at the bus stop for the bus back to Santander, I noticed a couple of girls from the earlier bus to Santillana del Mar, and we started chatting. Clara and Sara (they rhyme!), architecture students from Madrid, and both had worked recently in Bath, England, for a number of months. I asked them if they spoke English, and they responded in Spanish "Yes, quite a bit." But when I tried speaking to them ...

... to La Magdalena - on the way over, some stupid teen mockingly shouts "Konnichi wa!" as I walked by. Some teens need to be slapped upside the head, I think. I would've done it with my beach mat, but it simply would've shattered and given us all a ton of slivers, since it was so cheaply made.

The air quality didn't seem to be that great tonight - not sure if it was air pollution or some fire burning somewhere. Things seemed to be ...

... TI, getting directions to my pension. Seeing how cute she was, I immediately knew that I was going to enjoy my time in Santander :) I hopped a bus to get to El Sardinero, the part of Santander where all the nice beaches and local money are.

Pension Luisito - the owner Julia, is the chattiest, friendliest, kindest little Spanish grandma you could imagine. The pension is quite simple, but has a fantastic location only steps from the beach. I ...

... stop marketing genius here).
Other scheduled evening entertainment includes a singing duo –
Foreign Affair, and Urban Myth, an aspiring illusionist with a dry
ice-fetish (the latter isn't the marketing department but my own
post-performance observation). The crossing was certainly a little
uncomfortable at times but compared to a previous North Sea
experience it was plain sailing so to speak. Having slept for a full
3 or so hours we awoke ...

We meet Julia and Geoffrey at Asturias Airport but have a little more difficulty finding our Hertz rental car. It was worth searching as it turns out to be a brand new BMW. We climb in gingerly as its just begun to rain because it seems a crime to put our feet on the brand new cream carpet.

The rain or at least, cloud, stays with us for the whole week which means few chances at even seeing the mountains let along walking in them. A few ...

... sales would begin, which meant we had to use up our Internet cards ($45 for 100 minutes), checking to see if the sale had started yet. The restaurant staff of the ship was incredibly nice though and brought dinner up to the library for us. Actually, the entire crew was great. Our cabin stewardess, Peewee noticed Char often slept on the sofa because she felt less seasick there, so she started making Char's bed on the sofa.

... of the scenery today was just incredible, as the winding roads cut a path through the tree covered mountains i was regulerly greeted with the most amazing views, views which were visable due to the regularity by which i was climbing and descending through said mountains. I fear and relish in equal measure the fact that this rise and fall may well be the story of the next two weeks, could ...