The Soria torreznos are very crispy

 Once upon a time, armed with nothing more than a ten month old child and a dozen words in Spanish I headed out for a holiday in Cantabria.  We ended up in Comillas and so we shall now.   We are walking up a rather splendid avenue, on the south side of the ridge which protects the road from the sea.




Comillas has several things to offer to the keen observer.  Firstly, a bloody great Jesuit University, which sits above the town.  The Comillas Pontifical University seems to produce the sort of cove who will end up CEOs of the top companies.  https://fundacioncomillas.es/






The town itself had the usual crop of Neolithics, Romans and Mediaeval chaps and a castle.  During the second half of the 19th century, the first Marquess Antonio López y López invited King Alfonso XII to his mansion at Comillas and the town became popular with the aristocracy; the architect Joan Martorell built the enormous Palacio de Sobrellano on the instructions of the marquess.  The Royals spent summers in Comillas and so it became something of a resort.





Let is pause at the Restaurante El Carel.   Fran said, a mere 23 hours ago that ‘Excellent service at the height of gastronomy, the croquettes are very delicious and the cheeses are brutal. The Soria torreznos are very crispy. The panacota 1000 out of 10. Very good. They were very very polite to us and we will surely return!  Clara added ‘Staff, food and service of ten. It was full but the food arrived quickly. Artichokes, radishes and 1/2 cheese board, and for dessert pannacotta and cheesecake.’  I will add, it was open when we visited. This may be a shock but we turned up in October half term, full of optimism for nice meals out.  It was on Saturday.  The town then closed as the tourist season was over.  Maybe for them, but not for us.  I expect it is different now.




We are turning back to end today at El Capricho.  Anton Gaudi did wander out of Catalonia once in a while.  El Capricho belongs to his orientalist period, during the beginnings of Gaudi's artwork. The building fell into disrepair after the Spanish Civil War, a state in which it continued despite being declared a National Monument in 1969. In 1977, the last descendant of the López-Díaz de Quijano family sold the property and it was restored and turned into a restaurant in 1988. Finally, in 2009, the building became a museum. Look at the pictures and enjoy the barking made.





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