As some of you may recall, when we were camped at Playa Merón, we mentioned the wonderful market in Santander. It might be one of the largest and most fascinating in Spain. The whole lower section is devoted to seafood, everything from fresh squid, barnacles, and whole bunches of strange critters we know would be […]

According to the notes on our 1997 Spanish map, it was 16 years ago that we had explored the many beautiful beaches along the Costa Verde of northern Spain. Perhaps our favorite was one called Playa Merón. Parking was free and the long, clean deserted beach was a short walk away. We remembered it had […]

Of all the amazing UNESCO World heritage sites scattered across Spain, one of the most impressive is the Altamira Cave near the medieval village of Santillana del Mar in the state of Cantabria, 30 km west of the city of Santander. Altamira (Spanish for ‘high views’) is a cave in Spain famous for its Upper […]

Santillana del Mar is a small town in the state of Cantabria in northern Spain. The first people living in the area were prehistoric cave dwellers some 36,000 and 13,000 years ago. Romans had settled nearby but the exact date of the founding of the abbey of Santa and Asturias de Santillana is not known. […]

Fresh out of France, as we headed west along the north coast of Spain, our first destination was Bilbao. Not so much for the city itself but more to visit the amazing Guggenheim Museum designed by Canadian-American Frank Gehry. This extraordinary piece of modern architecture is arguably as important itself as the exhibits it contains. […]