Spain part 4: Around Santander town

Santander is a port city in Cantabria, northern Spain. Much of Santander was lost in their Great Fire of 1941 and this significantly changed the architecture of the town.

Two of Santander's highlights are its cathedral and palace, both of which we visited on Spanish speaking tours:

Cathedral
The mainly gothic cathedral, it has been renovated over time, was built between the 12th and 14th century on top of the former Santander Abbey. Parts of it survived the '41 fire so it is rather a special place in town. My favourite part of the tour was looking at the stonework at the entry to the church. Rob liked the altar the most and it was a good thing that the guide decided to put the lights on for us to see it (after the request of another tourist)!

Detail on cathedral exterior wall

Part of the lovely church windows

The altar

The cathedral 

Church from the road

Palacio de la Magdalena

The palace at Santander was constructed in 1908 to provide a summer residence for the royal family of Spain. The royal family used the palace until the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. It is now used as a meeting hall and conference centre and, in the summer, by the Menednes Pelayo International University. It has a magnificent view coastal views from the highest point on the Peninsula of La Magdalena. 

We joined an evening tour of the palace which took in a recreation of the royal residency. It was in Spanish so we took it as an opportunity to try to practice our comprehension! The inside was grand but we probably enjoyed the outside of the palace, its views and the surrounding public park the most. Apparently the Queen (originally from England) most enjoyed the landscape and architecture as it was very close to her native home at the Island of Wight.

Palacio conference room

Palacio de la Magdalena

View from the Palace

Palacio de la Magdalena

Kat and Palacio de la Magdalena

Flower beds and Palacio de la Magdalena

Walking around Santander

Santander was a great town to walk around. My favourite walk was easily along the top of the cliffs overlooking the bay area and Somo. 

Cliff walk Santander

Overlooking Santander bay

Santander is very hilly and it has an outdoor elevator that takes on one of the bigger hills. Of course, we went on a walk that saw us climb to the top of the elevator in order to take it down! There are some nice parks scattered around town, including the lovely Llamas Park. Many days our route would be past the market, through the town hall square and towards the esplanade. Due to the windy roads and hills, it was easy to be surprised as you came around a bend to a beautiful view of the sea or a grand building.

The palace area also has lovely walks with views of the beaches and lighthouses. There is a small zoo nearby the palace gardens that has penguins and seals, as well as a ship exhibition. 

Cloudy day view over Santander town and looking out into the bay

Elevator 

Elevator

Saw Hat Luffy from Japanese manga series One Piece

Statue and marketplace near home

Rob's royal throne

A beautiful Spanish leaf!

View from our apartment

We lived near the town square: Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Hanging out in the square: a favourite pastime for all

Ayuntamiento (town hall)

Ayuntamiento

Trying the specialty cakes of Santander

Santander town

Beautiful archway

Lovely buildings

Santander bank building

Spain part 2: Santillana del Mar and Comillas

One weekend whilst we were in Spain, we took a trip to the two towns of Santillana del Mar and Comillas, only a few hours from Santander by their cheap and comfortable inter-city buses.  Our host in Santander advised against staying for the night as, in her opinion, we didn't need long to see both places, I even overheard a conversation in a cafe of some other toursts that were leaving on a bus at 11.30, visiting both towns and returning for a show in Santander at 8pm.  We think we could have easily spent more than a weekend there, particularly in Comillas.

Santillana del Mar
Parts of Santillana del Mar had certainly become a touristy town, but with good reason.  They have a beautiful old church, lovely architecture, well-maintained cobblestone streets and nearby are caves in which lived some of the earliest human inhabitants.

Santillana del Mar's main drag (Collegiate church in the background)

Posers in front of the Colegiata de Santa Juliana at Santillana del Mar

While we saw the outside of the church and wandered about town by the early Saturday afternoon Kat unfortunately began to feel even further ill, and retired to bed, but I (once making sure she was comfortable) returned to see the inside of the church.  No photos allowed inside (I apparently, was the only one observing the rule).

Unfortunately, I was not able to see the cloister, as there was a wedding but I did get to have a lovely, peaceful and solitary look around.  For the thousands of pilgrims that have walked this way over the years, while extraordinarily grand for such a small town, it seemed a very peaceful & spiritual place to be.

What is now the Colegiata de Santillana del Mar (or 'de Santa Juliana') was once a small chapel built as long ago as the 9th century when the remains of Santa Juliana were supposedly kept here.  It flourished into a great monastery and became a collegiate church in the 12th century.

Morning sun on the Colegiata de Santa Juliana 

Within the walls of the monastery

For the latter parts of the afternoon we were entertained by local triathletes who were almost cycling and running past our window, being encouraged by a very repetitive man on a loudspeaker.

About town there are some proud coats-of-arms

Stunning house decoration

Late afternoon in Santillana del Mar

Comillas

Comillas, well, a day probably wasn't enough.  Our bus came into town in the late morning, but was stuck on the outskirts because of a road closure for a cycling event.  Deciding not to wait, we walked the last kilometre or two and cheered on the cyclists as the peloton passed through.

Bike back!

We first were excited by the necropolis, with a large angel standing guard.  Originally, the angel was there to protect the marquis' first son, but eventually the place was opened up and the angel was given to the town to protect the souls of their dead.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place with a view of the surrounding hills and down over the town.  

Guardian angel standing watch - ever ready at Comillas

We continued up the hill, eager to leave behind the crowd and traffic of the cycling event behind us and hoping to find the entrance to the Pontifical University - which I think is under renovation.  We did not manage that, but had a very enjoyable walk.  We returned for lunch where Kat found a Kat-sized personal Lighthouse - and we visited the local port/marina, which itself had a nice view of the esplanade and I think was once used for whaling. 

A Kat-sized lighthouse

It was only after lunch that we visited the town proper. We passed a man playing a digeridoo outside the grand church on the multi-layered market square, and walked part of the pilgrim route to a beautiful spot overlooking the beach, where a tall monument to the Marquis of Comillas was erected, sticking our beaks into the pilgrim's albergue on the way (which was packed full). 

Church of San Christóbal rising above the market square

Comillas Beach

On the pilgrim's path, outside an albergue

We of course, paid homage to the sand and water - where we realised that our experience of the beach differs greatly from the local Spaniards.   Spanish beach-goers set themselves up to face the sun, wherever it might be, while we generally always orient ourselves to thew water.  They probably have good reason, summer had started to draw to a close, and we were on an Atlantic facing beach, so the water wasn't what you would call inviting. Kat grabbed this lovely photo of this phenomenon in action.  Umbrella and backs to the sea and wind, faces to the sun!

Setting up at the beach

Sun is the priority, not water

This was all before enjoying an early dinner, where we had the unfortunate opportunity to overhear the horror of sleeping in one of the flea infested beds at the albergue.  The American recounting the story from the night before had just arrived in town at 7pm  to find all Comillas albergues full, and that he would need to continue walking!  Long hard days that reminded me a little of our efforts in Nepal.  A small part of me was jealous that he was on such a beautiful long hike, but the other part of me was looking forward to a nap on the bus that would carry me back to my nice warm and flea-less bed, in an apartment with hot running water, a stove, refrigerator and wifi!  

Spain part 1: Santander and Somo

Santander was a beautiful place to spend a month. 

We knew we wanted the flexibility in our trip through Europe to stay in the one spot for awhile and as our journey progressed we decided Spain was the place. Originally (so long ago now!) for our time in Spain we thought we could get jobs or volunteer as well as some hiking along the Camino de Santiago (St James' Way) but that evolved.  We decided we were most excited about staying put for a month somewhere near the beach, and do small walks on the El Camino de Santiago.  Doing a huge part of the walk was out of the question (I think that it is more than 800km long), but setting ourselves up in the beach-side town of Santander meant that we could do a few parts of the Camino Del Santiago Del Norte quite easily. 

In the end even that turned out differently than we imagined. Kat finished off some research work then got sick (and now has stories to tell about a home visit from a Russian speaking doctor and a trip to the emergency room). Whereas I landed a job working remotely for a client in Australia that allowed us to save up some additional travel money, but this did tie me to a computer. We learned some Spanish (but there's a lot more to go!), and we saw some amazing sights. Little did we know that Santander was once summer residence of the Spanish royalty, but more on that later.

Beaches

The first week in Santander was really hot and we took the opportunity to visit three of the best beaches in Spain, according to Rough Guides.  We went to Playa de la Magdalena, Somo & El Sardinero; all of which lie along the Camino Del Santiago Del Norte  and all are very close to each other and all beautiful in different ways. The beaches were full of Spaniards enjoying the final weeks of the summer holidays. We enjoyed watching some play paddle ball and alternated reading in the sun with swimming in the ocean. It was so lovely to be at the beach as it had been awhile!

La Playa de la Magdalena

El Sardinero

El Camino del Norte

"The Way of Saint James" follows the legend that St James' remains were taken from Jerusalem to the city that is now known as Santiago de Compostela.  Although a pilgrim could take any route to get there, regular routes developed over the centuries.  Nowadays, the northern (del norte) walk has about 20 pilgrims starting per day and follows the northern coastline whereas the standard or "the French" camino (so-called because traditionally most pilgrims were French) can draw up to 200 pilgrims per day, particularly in the peak season (source).  The weather is probably less reliable in the north, and apparently goes up and down a lot more.  Overall, I think there are a number of reasons to pick the French route over the north, but we were happy to join a part of the north route along the beautiful coast.  Luckily for us, it passes through Santander. 

On our first weekend, we took the local ferry across the bay where locals go for warmer waters trapped in the bay by the sand bank (no Dolphin Sands Road-ing here, although one would think that the real pilgrims would go all the way around).  With our tent, backpack and hiking shoes, we didn't really fit amongst the beachgoers who I am sure never wear sunscreen.  

A little out of place at Somo

We had a pleasant walk along to sand dunes and beach for a few kilometres to reach the campsite at Somo.  After a bit of a standoff with a waitress where I was trying to explain that I only wanted one meal and she was only trying to find out our table number, we left for our (reverse) walk along El Camino del Norte.

A beautiful coastline

Deep in thought

This walk took us along the clifftops by Somo where we saw the true wrath of the Atlantic, again like our visits to the Cliffs of Moher and other places in Ireland. With nothing to stop us falling off, and no idiots trying to get that perfect photo likely to fall off, we quickly left the busy-ness of the beach and Somo behind and thoroughly enjoyed the combination of sun and wind.  

Kat making friends with el Camino del Norte

Kind of wish they moved after 2 hours (we passed them in both directions)

It seemed a strange place to find a crop of maize, but that's indeed what we found, alongside wild berries, that I foolishly tried to eat.  The picturesque walk along a dirt track, sometimes overgrown with berries was quiet and peaceful and ended in a steep descent into a cave-like bay where we took a dip and briefly read our books. 

The downwards climb at the far end of our loop

Our return to Somo coincided with my ability to finally internalise (and express) the word for 'ice-cream' and we settled in for a night interrupted "only" by what I would describe as a cannon, or some other ear-splitting explosive device, going off every hour, something that took me back to the traumatic experience of sleeping in the backyard of a train station in Edinburgh.

Sunday was a lovely day, a long sleep-in to then wake with coffee and pastries on the beach, which we visited tent and large backpack in hand and enjoyed for the remainder of the day before a comfortable ferry ride back to our cosy room in Santander.  Although we did not earn a plenary indulgence, or a compostela/certificate of accomplishment (only awarded for those on a religious journey who make it to Santiago de Compostela and who walked over 100km), we did have a great weekend, with many of the things we both enjoy.  Food, coffee, walking, camping, and beaches.

El Camino