Bilbao, San Sebastian, Santillana Del Mar
Trip Start
May 14, 2008
1
3
14
Trip End
May 30, 2008
Santillana del Mar,
Cantabria,
Spain
Monday, May 19, 2008
We allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping in and didn´t get up until 10:15. We left Basque country and are now in the province of Cantabria. We began the drive west to our destination, Santillana Del Mar. On the recommendation of the desk clerk, we stopped for lunch at a town called Castro-Urdiales
Typical Spanish tapas
. There is an amazingly huge harbour there, protected by two breakwaters. A rowing race was in full swing, so we watched that for a bit before walking along the promenade to the other end. There was an ancient castle there, sitting perched on the cliff. The grounds were open to the public but all the doors were locked. The fact that a pub and discotech were situated right below it kind of took away from the ambiance! After checking it out, we strolled back along the promenade and checked out all the restaurants until we found one that met with Jim´s approval. Jim and I have both noticed that there are a LOT of babies and pregnant women here! Also, the Spaniards enjoy walking and it appears to be a family/social event that they do daily. Children are dressed up in their cutest clothes, babies are in designer buggies complete with umbrellas to keep the sun off their sensitive skin, and most of the ladies wear high heels or boots during their walks. The other big fashion difference that we´ve noticed is that the younger girls wear leggings with short skirts. You don´t see much of that at home (yet?)!
We enjoyed the sunshine and scenery, and hit the road again at about 2:30. As we headed west, the clouds rolled in and soon we were driving in a torrential downpour
The medieval castle at Castro-Urdiales
! By the time we got to Loredo it had almost stopped raining, fortunately. We took the exit and were immediately greeted by a massive factory or mill of some sort, spewing gas and other toxic waste from high smokestacks. I guess it´s only fair that we see the ugly side of Spain too!From there we went to Santander. We found the waterfront and made a pit stop at Playa de Los Peligros (= Beach of Danger!) so I could collect some sand for my collection. I also got some sand in San Sebastian, and figure I shouldn´t collect anymore or I might go over my weight limit on the plane! From there we drove a little further to Peninsula de la Magdalena, parked the car and decided to go for a walk through the park because we saw some ancient fishing ships on display in the distance. As we got closer, we found an aquarium with penguins, seals and sea lions in a magnificent setting. It was all part of the Palacio de Magdelena, perched high on the hilltop. The ships had voyaged to South America and back and there was some history written on plaques, but it was all in Spanish and hard to decipher. The palace itself was amazing! Unfortunately it was closed, but we walked around it and admired the views. On the way back down we saw 3 wild cats, which made me miss Taz & Bandit. This area ended up being a real find, and it was all free to the public.
Back in the car, we tried to get out of town but were caught in a massive traffice jam
Close-up of the castle
. It turned out that we were near the soccer stadium and a game was about to start! It was mayhem as people tried to find parking spaces - cars were parked on sidewalks, practically in crosswalks, and even down the median of the road, facing both directions! You´d never get away with that in Vancouver!From there we followed the backroads, past stone farmhouses, deep valleys, green pastures with cows, horses and sheep grazing, until we got to Santillana Del Mar. We checked into our hotel, a restored 18th century mansion called Hotel Los Infantes. This place is amazing - it has a library and a lounge with a bar on the main floor, turn-of-the-century furniture and antique armoirs in each room. It feels like we´re staying in someone´s very large, elegant home!
The Lonely Planet Guide has this to say about Santillana Del Mar, which sums it up perfectly. "This medieval jewel is in such a perfect state of preservation, with its bright cobbled streets and tanned stone and brick buildings huddling in a muddle of centuries of history, that it seems too good to be true. Surely it´s just a film set! Well, no. People still live here, passing their precious houses down from generation to generation. You could easily pass by on the motorway and never be the wiser to its existence
Our little blue Citroen rental car
. Strict town planning rules were first introduced back in 1575, and today they include the stipulation that only residents or guests in hotels with garages may bring in their vehicles. A stroll along the cobbled main street, past solemn noble´s houses from the 15th to 18th century, leads you to the lovely 12th century Romanesque Colegiata de Santa Juliana, a former monastery...."We´re getting into the swing of things, starting dinner at 10:00 pm! We strolled through the village and Jim stepped in some dog poop so washed his shoe off in an ancient horse trough. We climbed to the top of the village and looked down upon Santillana Del Mar, which was very picturesque with horses grazing in the fields and the sun setting on the red tile rooftops.
We had a great dinner for 15 Euros each, which included a bottle of wine. Met a couple from Taunton, England who we chatted with for awhile.....and it was midnight before we got to bed!
Comments
Wow What a Trip you had
Linda you need to become a travel writer and I would love to travel with you sometime - you really do have a lot of fun in the wildest places! Glad you made it home safely and I'll look forward to our next bar-b-que! Cheers
M