SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER SANTANDER

SATURDAY, SANTANDER SPAIN (North Coast) Saturday 08 October 2011

Jane & Cheryl Two Piligrams w.o Backpacks

VW Caddy A square boxy looking bread van

Roman bridge in Cangas de Onis

Parador Cangas de Onis

For those of you who thought we had given up the ghost and stopped writing, it is just that we have been eating way too much, enjoying ourselves and in between putting the kilometers onto the rental bread van as we have now journeyed half way across the top of Spain from the far west above Portugal and now we are on the coast with the Bay of Biscay blowing low hanging clouds ashore with intermittent rain squalls too. So before we can have weekend fun, we need to back track the last two days:

Thursday in Lugo from Vilalba day trip we covered so it’s merely Friday’ journey to Cangis de Onis just inside the Asturias region. After a few detours (we prefer to call them that) or side trips to places still unknown we had a nice really nice lunch in Aviles in Casa Tomas. Paul loves to find these places. Cheryl decided she was not very hungry but nonetheless managed to sink a huge tureen of Fabadas. (a bean soup/stew which is delicious) and we continued on our way to Cangas de Onis via coast roads and up a mountain and down the other side. We conferred with the cows who were very placid and amiable. Some were right in the middle of the road just chillin’. The Parador is a lovely Monastery with roots going back to the 8^th century. It has been rebuilt a couple of times but they do display the excavated walls and chimneys etc. Very nice.

We went into town to walk around and were very surprised to find a thriving little town. It is a center for 4 wheeling, kayaking and hiking. A lot of young people around. After Galicia where the little towns were quite quiet in the evening it was a pleasant surprise.

I am now going to rate the Paradors: Chincon our first stop is a big favorite, nice rooms and surroundings. Friendly helpful staff.

Benavente was a bit cool staff-wise and the rooms needed a bit of a touch up, paint wise.

Verin was out in the middle of the country with lovely rooms and an old castle just up the hill. It had forest fires also! Staff okay I guess.

Vilalba had the most fabulous rooms! Almost junior suites with canopies over the beds and sofas and chairs for relaxing. Nice lounges on every floor too. Vilalba is very small and quiet.

On Friday we  headed up to the coast and followed Garmin, with a bit of difficulty. Our Michelin map book is several years old and Spain has a bad habit of changing road numbers so we floundered. Actually I was a bit annoyed with Carmin (as we have dubbed Garmin) because we paid for updated maps and had just updated her last month, but she kept on trying to take us up goat paths and unpaved roads! I think Paul has to go back in and re-assign her instructions! We stopped at the Altamira Museum. This is a reconstruction/replica of the fabulous cave paintings that are 18,000 years old. Only about 10/15 people are allowed a day, as the huge numbers of visitors were, by their very presence, causing  a dangerous deterioration of these fabulous pre-historic cave paintings. There is a four year waiting list! The museum is wonderful. Nadine, I know you would just love it. Perhaps as an almost PhD of Archeology you would have some pull and get in with less than a 4-year wait!

Then we headed in to Santillana del Mar. A beautiful old town with a coat of arms on nearly every house. This was because of the unfair taxing laws which allowed nobility to not pay taxes, so to overcome that a lot of families were declared “Noble” A clever dodge!

My typing fingers are sore. I will update this after a visit in to Santander. All for now. In Santillana we drove the back streets and ended up again on the main highway. We paid a little old lady 2 euros to park and meandered off to find lunch which was menu of the day again (surprise, surprise) Cheryl had paella, Jane melon with ham and Paul the asparagus with mayonnaise. We all had baby lamb chops with fries. Each had desert and coffee and the price came in at 36 this time as the gal had charged extra for the bottle of water in addition to the vino. Oh well. Head to the coast and find our digs in Santander. The Gran Hotel Victoria is a fairly new modern building (1998) just 2 blocks from the ocean with majestic views of the bay and surrounding areas. Having stayed in all Paradores so far we are accustomed to being spoiled with a welcome drink and free garage for the car. Not here!! It is clean and comfortable and the first hotel in which the A/C is still working from the summertime.

We have been into town again (Santander) and took the double decker bus tour on Saturday around. We sat upstairs uncovered and did not get wet as it was partly sunny and a mild 68F. Such expansive beaches, and parks all around. The center of town has no old town as the vast majority of buildings are fairly new from the massive fire in 1941. Cheryl found a yarn shop and found some yarn that she pays double for in the States, so she is most happy!

This is a very nice city! Lots of lovely parks and clean beaches. In previous days this was the summer retreat for government and royalty before things went belly up, so they are trying to re-invent themselves as a summer destination for vacationers, should work too, it is really nice. They mentioned too that Sevie Ballesteros used to play golf here a lot. He was from nearby.

No menu of the day today, we had a drink and ate some pinchos ( we are in pincho territory now, not tapas) then we came back to the hotel so Paul could have his nap and Cheryl and I went for a walk on the beach. The sea looks lovely and is a kind of icy blue in color. There were quite a few surfers out in the water ( in wetsuits!) and we saw one older gentleman going for a dip!  A bit chilly if you ask me.

We are planning on going out for a nice dinner tonight. Paul has been checking out places on the internet. It worked for him in Almeria when he found La Gruta (remember, Ron and Sandy?) So he is hoping for similar success tonight! We really have been lucky with the weather so far, I hope I haven’t just jinxed it! I dropped my umbrella on the bus so I hope again that is not a bad omen! Fingers crossed.

Oh, by the way, this too was an important stop for pilgrims on the way to Santiago on the northern route, so we are truly doing it backwards!
Saturday nights destination was  http://www.bodegadelriojano.com/inicio_en where it equalled the great food in Alemaria (La Gruta). Ensalada, Grilled shrimp, Fish Soup, Lamb Chops, Solomillio special and normal (a punto). great crusty bread and rose wine from Navarra.. It was very interesting , with huge barrels around the walls and perfect service. When we went in at about 9PM, the Maitrer d' said we would have to eat right away as they were totally booked later on. No problem! We like to eat about 9 anyway, an hour later the place was packed.It was a terrific meal. So anybody wants a super place to eat in Santander go to La Riojana! Finishing up now. Time to go down for breakfast. The sun is shining, whoo Hoo! Off we go to Elizondo today for a week and we will meet up with a lot of friends. Dave, Joyce, Carole, Juan Mi and Maite and all our "family" in Elizondo. Hope the weather holds.