My washing line project is drawing to a close, I have reached the end of the line and this is my penultimate picture.
A washing line on a balcony in Barcena Mayor in Cantabria in Northern Spain….
It is a Challenge, Feel Free to join in…
“…lively commentaries on village happenings relieved the monotony of net-mending to which many women were obliged to devote the major part of the daylight hours. Net-mending left the brain free to create its own fancies and to work on the raw material of speculation and known fact from which the tissue of gossip was woven.” – Norman Lewis – “Voices of the Old Sea”
In my previous post about Castro Urdiales in Cantabria I referred to the net fixers working on the harbour. Blogging pal John asked for a picture and I am happy to oblige.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Beaches, Europe, History, Literature, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Basque Country, Cantabria, Castro Urdiales, Eroski, Liendo, Life, Photography, Travel
After lunch we continued our stroll to the handsome old town of Castro Urdiales where the Town Hall stands adjacent to the immaculate main square next to what was the original tiny harbour that was sheltering behind its protective stone walls.
Around the harbour side women were working under parasols repairing fishing nets and past the fish market at the far end of the harbour a set of weathered stone steps took us up to castle which stands on an elevated rocky outcrop. We made the tour of the restored fortress and then walked around the outside of the impressive medieval parish church, the Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Asuncion, which had the external appearance of a much grander cathedral.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Cantabria, Europe, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Basque Country, Cantabria, Castro Urdiales, Eroski, Liendo, Life, Photography, Travel
Motoring west once more on the Autovia del Cantabria the rain stopped and the sun came out again and after a few kilometres we left the motorway for the village of Liendo to find our accommodation. As usual this wasn’t that easy and we made a couple of circuits of the sleepy streets and tried to understand directions given to us in impenetrable Spanish before we chanced upon it hiding behind a high stone wall and with only a very discreet sign to identify it.
We were staying at the small Posada La Torre de la Quintana, which was a converted stone mansion with an impressive façade and surrounded by carefully manicured gardens. And we were delighted with our choice of accommodation, which was rustic and authentic and we were lucky to have the best suite in the hotel complete with a glass fronted balcony.
Posted in Europe, History, Literature, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Balconies of Spain, Cantabria, Castilla y Leon, Laredo, Liendo, Life, Photography, Travel
It is now nine months without travelling and holidays so I have had plenty of time to look back at some of my old posts. On 9th December 2008 I was in the delightful town of Santillana Del Mar in Cantabria in Northern Spain.
On the final morning of the visit the weather proved to be a disappointment, I could hear rain on the window as I started to stir and when I did the weather check I could only report back that the sky was grey and it was drizzling. At breakfast our host confirmed the worst and informed us that the forecast was gloomy all day so we decided that it was probably a good day to go and do something undercover and perhaps visit a museum.
Posted in Beaches, Cantabria, Europe, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Altamira, Cantabria, Cave Paintings, Flintstones, Santillana de Mar, Travel, Upper Paleolithic period
“…Sigüenza, ninety miles from Madrid, remains a quiet spot in an empty landscape. It sits among narrow valleys celebrated by Camilo José Celar in his ‘Journey to the Acarria’” – Christopher Howse – ‘A Pilgrim in Spain’
I am sharing with you my favourite places in Spain; last time I was in the north in Cantabria and today I am two hundred and fifty miles south in the town of Siguenza in Castilla-La Mancha…
Click on an image to scroll through the gallery…
Posted in Cathedrals, El Cid, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Semana Santa, Spain Civil War, Spain UNESCO
“Le plus joli village d’Espagne” – Jean Paul Sartre
In my last post as I left Trujillo in Extremadura I made reference to my favourite places in Spain so I thought I might take some time to share these with you. I begin with Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, almost four hundred miles north of Trujillo and in a very different part of Spain.
Santillana del Mar is a most picturesque town and often appears in any top ten of best villages in Spain. This may of course have something to do with the fact that the French writer, philosopher and all-round clever dick, Jean Paul Sartre declared it to be the prettiest village in Spain, although I am not absolutely sure just how much of Spain he visited and just what he was comparing it with or how he came to this rather sweeping judgment. Perhaps it was just a lucky guess!
Click on an image to scroll through the gallery…
There is apparently an old saying that Santillana del Mar is The Town of Three Lies, since it is neither a Saint (Santo), nor flat (llana) and has no sea (Mar) as implied by the town’s name. However, the name actually derives from Santa Juliana (or Santa Illana) whose remains are in the kept in the Colegiata, a Romanesque church and former Benedictine monastery.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cantabria, Doorsof Spain, Extremadura, Green Spain, Northern Spain, Santillana del Mar, Spain UNESCO, Trujillo