This is Santander in the region of Cantabria, our last port of call in the Bay of Biscay before we drive through Bilbao and arrive at San Sebastian.
It was a bit of a non-event really. More of a large city than a seaside town and Rick's restaurant recommendations for quality bread and excellent seafood paella were in another section of the city.
Santander has a wide sandy beach and the tidal coverage must only cover about half at this time of year because the back half of the sand was very dry.
Almost all beaches in Europe have restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, toilets, showers and plenty of opportunities for seating, shade or wind protection, right on the beach. I like that!
The rock formations further along the beach are interesting because they lie at right angles to the shoreline, rather than across it.
I wonder how long it has taken the wind and water to create this little masterpiece.
There was a small zoo type of arrangement made up of three, very large enclosures carved out of the natural rock, fed by the tide, where there were penguins, seals and sea lions, all reasonably native to these Atlantic waters.
I hate to see caged animals under any circumstances, even if their arrangements were as good as these. But I had to admit that these guys were so cute and that, other than on film, I would never be able to see them up close if not for enclosures like this.
But after watching these seals for an hour, I suspected they were going stir-crazy and I would have been glad to open the gate if there had been one.
On to San Sebastian.
We were able to get an apartment overlooking the water, in the old town, for three nights, with a washing machine. Fabulous! Our apartment is the two left hand windows on the first floor.
Our building is the third one along, on the left hand side, next to the white building. This is a tidal river and the sea raises and lowers the level for a very long way inland .
We went for tapas on our first night because - well, who'd come to San Sebastian and not have tapas.
We went to three tapas bars. This (above) was the first. Very traditional: one of probabaly one hundred in the old town that we could have chosen from. You are given a plate and you walk along the bar and help yourself from the buffet selection. Then you hand your plate to the bar tender so he can work out the price and you order your drink. Each tapa is about 2€ or $2.90 AUD and a glass of wine is about 3€ or $4.40 each.
This plate with two glasses of Rioja cost 18€ - $26.20 AUD. We had a second plate, without drinks for 12€ - $17.40 AUD.
In the next bar we had another plate with two drinks and again it cost 18€ or $26.20 AUD.
In the third bar, which was Rick Stein's recommendation for the best cheesecake in the whole world, we shared one serve of cheesecake and had a coffee each - cost 4€ for the cheesecake and 2€ each for the espresso - total 8€ or $11.60 AUD.
I forgot to take a photo of the cheesecake, mainly because it was so incredibly good I couldn't stop eating long enough to pull out the camera. And secondly, because it was so crowded (all the best places are crowded - that's how you choose one above another) that I daren't put my spoon down to get the camera out or someone else would have eaten my cheesecake.
So, in total, dinner cost us 56€ or $81 AUD. And it is ONLY SNACKS! Let me tell you what we had ...
This plate is a good example. There are seven tapa here. In total we bought eighteen pieces over 90 minutes, nine tapa each. The glass at the rear left of the plate is gazpacho, made with capsicums and with a tiny shrimp on top. Middle rear is a deep fried ball of minced pork and vegetables.
Hiding behind the pork ball (and hard to see) is a skewer with three pieces of delectable, marinated raw octopus. On the right is a slice of bread roll topped with a piece of deep fried, battered fish with a shred of capsicum.
Left middle is a sandwich of something, topped with cheese, pickle and ham. In the very middle is a skewer of three small green chillies wrapped in an anchovy. And finally, in front is a chunk of tuna wedged between two sour gherkins with an olive.
An expensive way to eat. No wonder the economy of San Sebastian is looking so good.
Tonight we are eating at home!
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