Hotel Palacio Del Mar Santander

... swift action resulted in them being relocated underneath the van, despite the protestations of Lymºs board, which proceeded to lash out and cause him bodily harm about the head. (A: ha ha ha !!) However, all is forgiven and we all lived to surf another day.

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

... nice on a day like today, and also because Santillana del Mar was quite different from Santander. Guess I'll have to come back one day for Comillas, and also for San Vicente de la Barquera, another nice town the TI suggested. If only I had known Cantabria was so incredible, I would have visited this region long ago.

It was a gloomy day, making for a depressing bus ride that quickly put me to sleep. The bus arrived in town during siesta, so ...

... it fun, which is something I miss about Oviedo, Leon, and Burgos. I tried a bit, but the residential areas of El Sardinero just weren't the same. Though on my walk, I did manage to find a kebab shop and a cheap cafe, so budget options do in fact exist here. And walking along the beach front is still fun, because it's so lively. Too bad it was quite a warm, humid night without any breeze, otherwise it would have been an even more enjoyable ...

... but I think I need to start ... but not because of the salesgirls, only because we don't have their stores in Canada. Honest!

Time to visit the interior of the cathedral; this has been my plan of attack the past few days, since I've been arriving to these places late in the day - walk around the outside when I arrive, and check out the inside once they open up in the morning.

The Burgos cathedral is more famous than Leon's ...

... a
group of Costa-del-crime-a-like, trolley-wielding pensioners
,clutching our boarding passes and waiting to board the ferry.
Notorious for its choppy seas and 'mal
de mer', the Bay of Biscay ferry crossing has a reputation that
precedes it. One that Brittany Ferries has tried to gloss over,
offering 'mini-cruises' where you can take the 20 hour crossing,
over-indulge in food and wine before throwing it back up, spend half
a day in ...

... 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 ...

... were majestic, but in an ancient sort of aweing way. Well we made it to the top alive. This park is on the very tip top of a mountain. A Japanese company is designing a gondola sort of thing to connect the mountain we were on with the one accross from it. A long way. It will be the biggest gondola type ride in south America. That's where Oscar got confused when he thought the slide thing I wanted to do was the biggest in South America. But anyways it is actually a museum, let's call ...

... maybe) We continued to go back to said restaurant that served us so well and every day the meals got bigger and the wine more plentiful. The beach was lovely, the surf was good and the sun shone. I found a English book shop and was able to buy some new books, the lady was sweet and gave a promo bookmark even though she new i wasnt coming back. Seistas were had, just a small way i could take part in Spanish culture (plus i was stuffed ...