I had always thought of Spain as a Mediterranean country but closer inspection of the map shows that a third of the Country’s coastline is along the much more dramatic Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian coast is over two hundred kilometres of panoramic beaches, hidden coves tucked into the pleats of the cliffs, green headlands and little towns where fishing boats shelter below harbour cafés.
There was an interesting castle and an old town that stretched from the headland to the church of Santa María de los Ángeles and which enjoyed magnificent views over a busy river estuary to the mountains beyond. And there was a good view too of the Maza Bridge, with its twenty-eight arches, which was built on the orders of the Spanish Catholic Monarchs in the sixteenth century.
Posted in Beaches, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Hotels, Literature, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cantabria, Life, Photography, Picos de Europa, Santillana de Mar, Travel, Ubiarco
The sky was blue and the sun was shining and there was an interesting castle and an old town that stretched from the headland to the church of Santa María de los Ángeles and which enjoyed magnificent views over a busy river estuary to the mountains beyond. And there was a good view of the Maza Bridge, with its twenty-eight arches, which was built on the orders of the Spanish Catholic Monarchs in the sixteenth century.
Posted in Beaches, Cathedrals, Europe, Food, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Cantabria, Life, Photography, Picos de Europa, Santillana de Mar, Travel, Ubiarco
Although the forecast was poor the weather by contrast was better than expected and there was a clear blue sky with just a few wispy clouds and from the museum car park it was possible to see the sea only a few hundred metres away.
We drove out of the village on a road that climbed quickly and at the top we were overawed by a sight that we were not prepared for. At a distance of about fifty kilometres we could see the two thousand five hundred metre high peaks of the Picos de Europa which remained snow capped and glistening white in the mid morning sun.
Posted in Beaches, Cantabria, Europe, Food, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Antoni Gaudi, Cantabria, Comillas, Culture, El Capricho, Life, Picos de Europa, San Vicente De La Barquera, Santillana del Mar
When we reached the motorway we headed promptly west again and in a very short time we were in the fishing town of San Vicente De La Barquera, which was busier than Comillas and even in mid December had a hint of vibrancy. The sky was blue and the sun was shining and despite my horrible cold man flu this made me feel a whole lot better.
Posted in Cantabria, Europe, History, Hotels, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cantabria, Picos de Europa, Santillana de Mar, Spain, Ubiarco
Of course it wasn’t like that at all and after we woke in the morning to find Bobby Ewing in the shower with Pammy and went downstairs the genial host was there to greet us and direct us towards our breakfast table. We were the only guests though and we had no explanation for the ghostly footsteps. We felt curiously in the way so we hastily finished breakfast and left the San Telmo for a drive along the coast.
Posted in Europe, Hotels, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cantabria, Comillas, European Brown Bear, Picos de Europa
Have Bag, Will Travel 