Santander!

I mopped today. Like, the whole house. I have never done that before unless someone was coming to visit. I just needed things clean to start the week... who am I!?! Ahhhhhh! Domestication!!!!!

So, I've decided to blog about a wonderful trip we took this summer in hopes that it will get me back to my gritty traveler, adventure's my middle name, roots. We visited Inaki's aunt Pilar way back in July and had a great time tooting around Santander. I mentioned her in the Peaks of Europe post, because we stayed with her then too, as Santander isn't too far from the peaks. BUT, Santander is a not-to-miss city in my opinion. Lots of beautiful beaches, hikes, fish and the convenience of the buzzing metropolis right nearby.

The day we arrived we headed out to the beach to catch some rays. Santander's beach weather is closer to Oregon Coast than San Diego, so we figured we better get some sun while we could. I can't remember the name of this beach, but it was just a 10 minute drive from Pilar's. She also has a few within walking distance and then you can hike on the bluffs in between good spots.

On day two we hiked from one beach to another, which you can see above. I can't remember where we started, but the last picture you see is a really tough beach to get down to and stays pretty deserted because of that. So pretty! We ended up at Arnia (accent on the "i") and met the family for a beer and some rabas (long, thick, fry shaped calamaris) at what seemed to be the only bar for miles.

This was the coolest bar! Right on the edge of a cliff looking out over the sea. I guess on Thursday's they have live music, but we haven't made it back for that yet. Hopefully this summer! The view in the last photo (above) is from the parking lot of the bar. Awesome!

The following day, we took Paco out to meet a business associate and had the car for the day. So, we cruised around to a couple other beach towns. The first one we hit was San Vicente. The weather wasn't great, so we hiked to the top of the town to see the church/castle (I'm not sure which it was, they're all a blur, you know how it is).

Inaki wanted to do a senior picture in that last one. Looks pretty good I think!

After a pintxo, we rolled into Comillas, which means "quotation marks" in Spanish. We were air quoting pretty much everything we said that day and thought we were hilarious, which we were. Here's some "charm" for you to "enjoy"...

They've got a Gaudi structure in Comillas that we didn't go to because it costs 5 Euros, but we saw it from the other side of town poking out above the trees, suckers! We did get to check out the graveyard, which was pretty cool. They're so different from ours in Oregon with the graves all close together and protected by a wall. Look at this threatening angel perched above the site. Scary!

Day four was spent back in Santa and it was lovely. A fabulous lunch, a long walk and some great views.

That final panorama is a golf course that sits on a bluff above the beach. And, it's public! We walked all around it and it would be a fantastic place to play for you golf peeps out there.

OK, my adventurous spirit is feeling replenished and excited to get into a bit of mischief next weekend. I hope yours does too! Tata!