Santander in a Snap

The drive from Santiago de Compostela to Santander took most of the day.

Santander is the capital of the Cantabrian Autonomous Community of Spain. I was particularly looking forward to visiting this town because I had never been here before and I had heard so much about it.

Also, my student who had done his final project on this city was very enthusiastic about his research, so it had to be good. Even though I caught a bug that was going around the bus, I wasn’t going to let it stop me.

As we rolled into the city, June Naughton, who was sitting nearby turned to me and asked, “Want to go swimming?” The water looked freezing, but I didn’t care. After spending all day on the bus, it seemed like a lot of fun to get knocked around in the waves. The plan was to put on our bathing suits as fast as possible since it was almost sunset.

However, my roommate, Kristen, ran into some trouble. Her ankles had been swollen for several days from all the walking, but when she showed them to me, they looked abnormal, so we called my dad who is a doctor. I’m so glad she said something, because she ended-up needing antibiotics.

My mom and dad, who were planning on heading to the shopping district, took a detour to the pharmacy first. The doctor ordered Kristen to keep her feet up and rest. June and I had just enough time to take a dip. Just a handful of people braved the ice bath. June proved her Hawaiian metal by diving right in then body surfing the waves into shore.

The idea was to say, “I’ve been in the Cantabrian Sea,” so I got up my courage and went underwater. By this point, we were both so numb that we forgot we were cold. We didn’t stay long, mostly because of the choppiness rather than the cold. We enjoyed the view while we caught-up on our respective ideas of the trip, then hustled back to the hotel to take a warm shower.

After dinner, my parents and I bumped into June and her roommate, Judy, at the Casino. Judy was up by a lot and June was enjoying the show. They were having a blast. Unfortunately, we left the very next morning. We were there for about 12 hours, half of which were spent sleeping.

In other words, our visit was a like a tease. The city looked small and the architecture was very different from other parts of Spain that I have visited. It also seemed very rich. I didn’t make it to the old quarter, but my parents did, and my mom confirmed my suspicions.

Our guide told us that in mid-June through the end of August, there are little bars all over the beaches, called “chiringuitos”. It was still a bit chilly and students are still in exams, so Santander was still quite. There’s a university in town… maybe one day I can come back and stay for at least a weekend.