The Road from Santiago

  Northern Spain is generally ideal Fantasy Country.  Adventures involving wizards and the like rarely take place on the flat. You need lumps of geography. Flat plains and rolling countryside.  I think Cantabria meets the bill.  But first, finance. We are outside the Bank of Santander’s Digital Service Centre.  We are also by the Bank’s archive.  https://www.archivohistoricosantander.es/   The building is impressive. The reviews are not. There are four of them and they average 3.  Morgnol wrote, four months ago, ‘Well, I have certainly tried to contact the Archive to obtain information but I have had to give up... IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE’  To be honest, this seems on brand for Spanish regional museums. Two years ago Miguel added ‘They don't pick up the phone or answer emails. The form on your website does not work. How do I contact you? It's impossible no matter how you look at it’ We are advancing into Solares. Solares is what happens when ...

  I like to take wrong turns once in a while just to keep it real.  Back down the hill we go and then in to Heras.   Heras is one of those small pueblos - population 771 - which has a bit of industry near it; the houses have been regenerated and a neatly appointed plaza- ready for local fiestas.  The iglesia San Miguel props up one end of the plaza.  The reviewers give little away.  Begona said ‘Very nice church and a very nice priest who gives a pleasant mass’  Dani added ‘Catholic cult temple a little shabby…’ Just out of sight, to the south, is the Torre de Alvarado.  It is a very solid tower, constructed in 1573, by Don Juan Sainz de Alvarado y Bocerraiz .  By the Plaza is la Plaza.  A bar. A week ago Moza only gave three stars.  ‘The waitress is always overwhelmed with milk, the woman is not to blame, but she is having something and hearing that she is alone and can't handle everything and that the person who is supposed t...

  South of Santander are several lumps of geography. From here the rivers go east and west; the motorways go east and west and we go east. Before the we cross the Solia we pass the Punto Limpio Astillero. It is a recycling centre. It gets an average of 2.6 stars.   Three months ago Noelia said ‘There are 3 people there who do nothing, the only thing they do is tell you where you have to leave things. If it is not your job to help the people who go there to throw away a mattress that is heavy and difficult to handle, and all they have to do is give instructions as if they were flight attendants, for that they hire only one person , which are not needed anymore. Or that they help the taxpayers who pay them to deposit their waste there or, even better, that they save us taxpayers unnecessary salaries. As long as we pay one's salary, that's enough.’ We are following the N635.  It goes from Muriedas to Solares.   Muriedas is just by Santander’s airport.  Solares is a...

  We are strolling around the south western end of the Bania de Santander, around a bit of industrial estate and near a few port facilities.  First we need to go back on ourselves as I got a bit lost yesterday and we have met the immovable object that is the S-10. One of the jolly things we will pass is the Rocodromo Trepaariscos indoor rock climbing centre.  We have about three hours till it closes.   https://rocodromotreparriscos.com/ It claims the largest climbing wall in Cantabria.  I am not sure if this is a big claim.  It gets 4,7 stars,  Some people are against it but I am in a bit of mood and we are going only have nice things said today. Across the Ria de Boo we go.  This seems a seasonal name.  We are heading along Avenida Juan Carlos I.  Presumably named when he was still a national hero.  Across the way is the Marismas Negras, a nature reserve of tidal mudflats.  Six years ago Judith was not impressed.  She sa...

  We are mooching around that bit of land where old Santander phases out and outer lying settlements fade in.  We start at the docks, wander past the airport and then wander into Maliano with its older crowded houses and looming flats. The first photo is looking back.  We then emerge out and on to the Bar Restaurante Raos.  It is closed today. If we turn up at 6.30am tomorrow we would be in luck.  A week ago Andres said ‘Homemade food restaurant with some dishes of Peruvian origin. You eat well for 12 euros. Very nice treatment. Small size of the dining room, to say the least.’ We can gaze on the Aeropuerto de Seve Ballesteros.  For those of you not aware, Seve was born in Pedrena.  It is just over the water from the airport. He won an awful lot of golf tournaments including 5 major championships.   Deirdre was most impressed a fortnight ago.  ‘A small airport and a joy to go thro.  Didn't have to wait for the Ryanair desk to open even t...

  It is a brave new world which we step out into - which today, mostly consists of routes through the docks.  For the occasional landee it is still a bit magical.  Just over a day since you had left Blighty you emerge blinking into the daylight from the cavern of Brittany Ferries finest and follow the car in front, hoping you are on the right side of the road, or is it left, and the headlight adaptors have gone on right. Brittany Ferries get a surprisingly small 55 reviews.  Adrian said, two weeks ago, ‘What a great way to start and finish your holiday,a one night cruise on a large car ferry between Santander and Plymouth. This is my fourth time going to Spain this way, and I just booked next year's trip. Some may say it a bit pricey but looks at the distance it takes you and your car and passengers. Nice cabins on board or though the lighting in them is very dull. Comfortable beds,and great fresh food served in restaurants, also if you want on board entertainment an...

  Today we end the second leg of this centipede odyssey.  The first was the walk to Santiago.  The second to the ferry port at Santander - the entrance and exit of adventure.  It is not a long walk today. Today is a damp day in Santander.  It is going to be about 14oC.  This is just about average for the temperature in October.  It rains for about a third of days and drops about 115mm of the wet stuff.  As a rule. Santander is as sunny as Paris and London.   We are going to cross the main drag along the coast and enter the Jardines de Pereda.   It has statues and green and a book markets.   The Centro Botin is an art gallery that looks a bit like a space ship that has landed.  https://www.centrobotin.org/   Charlotte sums it up quiet well three weeks ago.  ‘A small but interesting art gallery. The permanent exhibition was only one room, and when I visited (Sept '24) there was a very modern temporary exhibition on...