Blogs from Santander, Cantabria, Spain, Europe - page 4

Having given up on the sunshine ever returning we try our hand at some mountain climbing and drive into the Picos de Europa, taking the mountain pass an impressive sight meets us as we cross the peak (that and the road abruptly ending leading to some dicey ´offroad´moments). Ignoring the arm wrestling contest that occupies the town square on saturday night we bed early to rise for the mountain trek in the morn. And what a sight it is, a sheer wall of rock rising 700m above. The weather isn´t kind and some of our fellow climbers seem to be expecting more of a sunday stroll, we note several pairs of high heels and one skirt that doesn´t look like it was dreamt up by North Face. That said Stu´s extra layer in case the weather ... read more

Geo: 43.461, -3.80793To sleep past 8 AM ... it's not a luxury I normally have, because my internal alarm clock never seems to let me sleep past then, whether at home or on vacation. And it's a luxury I didn't have today! Off to buy a ticket for the ride to Santander, and to grab breakfast - the first thing to come to mind was any place on Plaza Mayor. The cafe was overwhelmed, with only one waitress serving what seemed to be way too many customers. Sunny but still not yet too hot, it was a perfect spot to relax and get some sustenance. Sitting there and enjoying the moment, I had one of those "I love Spain!" moments that happen so frequently for me here. Really, they're more of a "I love travel!" moment, ... read more

I wrote this around May 1st, 2009, while I was hitchhiking towards Llanez, Cantabria. I was headed to live with a family for a week, to help them build a cob house. Cob is a earthen composite material made of clay, sand, straw and mud. It is extremely ecological in that walls can be built of the very material from which the building site is excavated. Here is a revelation I had while waiting for a ride... How generous the people of the Earth can be, if you just put yourself out into her! Kindness pours in, happiness is exchanged. For human contact is vital, to even the most solitary beings. I believe a person could and will go crazy in a desolate setting. The touch of a loved one, the laugh of a friend, ... read more

Since the last blog the weather (I'm sorry to say!!) has got much better. While in the Pyrenees we had an awesome day that involved a cable car, a chair lift and a 12 mile walk to a glacier and back. The scenery was absolutely fantastic and it was so bizarre to make a snowball while wearing boardies and no top (the males that is!!). It was possibly one of the best days of the hoiliday so far. The next day Suze and Ben chilled out whilst Jake and I got a cable car upto 2500m and biked back down again. It was quite hard going as we chose to do a 'red' run but it was a good challenge for us both. The only problems were Jake breaking a chain and then (luckily closer to ... read more

When the person in the tourist information described our chosen walk as 'straight up there, turn left at the little house and follow the path back to Fuente De' you are led to believe that it will be pretty straight forward. With our detailed map and having given the terrain the once over for signposting we felt confident. However, The Picos de Europa with its copious shear rock faces is not walking territory for the faint hearted. In fact we think to describe its high peaks as walking terrain is totally misleading, challenging hiking or mountaineering more accurate. So we embarked on our chosen route with its mild difficulty rating. We ascended quickly away from our base camp careful to keep orientated and on track. We kept to the most substantial populated path (three other couples) ... read more