Monday, 10th April 2017, Santander
Last Saturday Exeter was completely grid-locked and it took us more than two hours to drive the four miles down to Topsham. This was due to a combination of unfortunate circumstances - road accidents, engineering works etc. Realising we needed to get out of Exeter in good time for the ferry from Plymouth the following day, we decided, as the bridge over the Exe would still be closed and the city almost certainly at a standstill again, that we would leave with several hours to spare and have breakfast down in Plymouth. Thus, by 10am we were sitting in warm, bright sunshine on the beach at Devil's Point in Plymouth with mugs of coffee and hot pasties. Later we walked up onto the cliffs to discover that from a tiny bay, just opposite, on the Cornish side of Plymouth Sound, Charles Darwin set sail on his momentous voyage on board the Beagle, that resulted in his research into the Origin of species.
Plaque commemorating the departure of the Beagle in 1831, carrying Charles Darwin on a voyage of research resulting in his seminal work on the Origin of species, Plymouth
The bay from which the Beagle set sail in 1831, Plymouth
Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound
Pont Aven, the Santander ferry arriving at Plymouth
Naval cottages at Devil's Point where my mother lived as a child when my grandfather was stationed there, Plymouth
On board we went in search of our cabin. By the time we found it and returned on deck we were already on our way out to sea. The whole operation, including changing the towels and bedding and restocking the restaurants, changing staff and presumably refuelling had taken less than two hours!
The crossing took twenty hours and the ship was fairly crowded. We enjoyed a very pleasant on-board supper with wine and slept long and comfortably in our cabin. This morning we returned upstairs for breakfast and coffee as we sailed across the Bay of Biscay, still totally smooth. As we ate, sitting at the very front of the ship we watched as pod after pod of dolphins played with the ship. They deliberately swam into our path disappearing under the ship as it cut through the waves. It was the most amazing free wild-life show! We assume the movement of the ship through the water perhaps affected smaller fish somehow, which attracted the attention of the dolphins. Nice to imagine though that the dolphins simply enjoyed showing off for us all!
Ian keeps amused during the crossing!
Faro de Cabo Mayor, Santander
We set off in seach of a bus stop to take us back into town and have spent the afternoon exploring the centre, wandering along the seafront and admiring the lovely coastline and sandy beaches. We have also climbed up to the lighthouse and walked out to the tip of the Cabo where the cliffs rise from the white surging waves that have carved out deep caves. The sea is azure, the surf white and the rocks a dark, brownish grey. We have also visited the cathedral, a pleasant, well proportioned but rather austere building consisting of a 13th century cathedral with a later one above it. It also has a 15th century cloister.
Cabo Mayor, Santander
Cathedral, Santander
Head Offices of the Santander Bank, Santander
Semana Santa poster, Santander
Semana Santa, floats for the parade, Santander
Semana Santa, floats for the parade, Santander
Tuesday, 11th April 2017, Santander
A warm, bright day but with a lovely maritime freshness. Leaving Modestine contentedly enjoying the company of a British campervan and a home made Yurt we walked to the bus stop alighting at the Planetarium attached to the University of Cantabria. How much we would have understood on the transit of Venus or the magnetic fields created by black holes, offered in Spanish, is questionable but we were both disappointed to be told the Planetarium was fully booked all week. Later we saw why. It is Semana Santa and schoolchildren are being taken out for fun and frolics. Surely we'd have understood as much as a class of seven year olds?! We consoled ourselves with good cheap coffee and shared a croissant in the student union cafe before continuing beside the quayside where men were happy fishing and the Santander Parks Department were doing an amazing job pruning shrubs, laying cobbles, cutting grass and laying hydroponic drips to keep the plants well watered throughout the coming months of summer.
Further along the quay we reached the Oceonographic Research Institute, not open to the public, but next to it was the Aquarium and the Museum of the Sea. This proved to be fascinating and an excellent place for us to shelter from the sun. Time flies when communing with sharks and flat fish. The aquarium even has a glass tunnel so the fish can swim all around visitors, even overhead.
The museum covers all aspects of the sea from geology, fishing, shipbuilding, naval battles, conservation, fish canning and more. Eventually we left in search of food and walked along the sandy beach and a wooden boardwalk around the edge of the bay to a beachside cafe where waiters in white shirts and bow ties served tapas, omelettes and bocadillos to the customers. Having no idea of what to ask for or how to do so we went inside and brought out our pointy fingers that have proved so reliable right across Europe. They still seem to work and soon we were sitting at a table on the beach under a sunshade with our bocadillos of Spanish ham and a couple of beers.
Rested and comfortable we continued along the beach up onto the beautiful headland of the Magdelena, the playground of the residents of Santander. On the top is a chateau built by public subscription for the King of Spain at the end of the nineteenth century, but we'd missed the last tour before the afternoon siesta and had little inclination to wait for three hours until the next one. So we continued around the headland to a small, free zoo with seals and penguins. The penguins were sulking in the heat but the seals were more than happy to show off their tricks as they snorted and frolicked in their rocky enclosures. All this is provided and maintained by the local council for the enjoyment of the residents of Santander.
Seal showing off swimming upsidedown, Santander
Clifftops at Santander with the Isla de Mouro
Wednesday, 12th April 2017, Santander
Today has been our last day in Santander and by now we have become familiar with getting up and out to catch the bus from the bottom of the hill. Today we have explored the markets, discovered the bull ring, wandered along the shady side of the main shopping street browsing the cafes and smart food shops and, more importantly for Ian, visiting the library of Marcelino Menendes Pelayo (1856 - 1912). He was from Santander and as a child was brilliant as a mathematician. He turned out to be brilliant at everything else as well except, it would seem, common sense! His family was forever contending with his absent mindedness. On one ocassion a coal fell from the fireplace and set fire to the rug. Oblivious to the danger his only response was to wave away the smoke and hold his book closer to the lamp, annoyed that the smoke made it difficult to see the text he was trying to read! By the age of twenty two he was elected to the chair of Critical History of Spanish Literature becoming possibly the youngest professor in the world! He avidly read everything he found and became director of the national library in Madrid. On his death he left his enormous book collection to the city and today it is regarded as one of the city's most treasured posessions. Certainly we found it impressive and his home, across the courtyard from the library, is open to visitors, placing him in context. He appears as a benign scholar, close to his family and completely obsessed with his book collecting. He did read everything in his library however and during his lifetime was always willing to allow others the benefit of his collection.
House of the scholar Marcelino Menendes Pelayo (1856-1912), Santander
Personal library of Marcelino Menendes Peleyo (1856-1912), Santander
The Spanish people, at least in Cantabria, are slim, youthful and fit. We have also found them friendly, helpful and very tolerent of our appalling Spanish. Generally too they are considerably shorter than the British. Not for them a diet of cola, chips and burgers! There are pleasant cafes around the city with shady seats outside under parasoles but people don't really seem to eat much at midday. Most have a coffee or beer with tapas, pinchos or bocadillos. It is a time to relax with friends for a couple of hours before returning to work until later in the evening. It seems the main meal is eaten far later than we are used to in Britain. Like so many young people these days young spaniards of both sexes are often rather heavily tatooed.
The main food market was wonderful with stall after stall selling fish, crabs, lobsters, shellfish, and barnacles. We watched in fascination as huge fish were dexterously scaled, gutted and filleted. Prawns and gambas waved their tentacles as they waited to be weighed, popped into bags with a paper bill and carried off home to be plunged into a boiling cauldron for tonight's supper!
Fish market, Santander
Fish market, Santander
Trotters and snouts! Meat market, Santander
Iberian ham, Meat market, Santander
Side street in Santander with typical enclosed balconies
Street in Santander
View over the city from the top of the funicular, Santander
