Parador de Limpias – Travels with my Wife

Santander Cathedral 8.9.25

Regrettably, although we fly in and out of Bilbao, we do not actually visit the city. Today is an out and back trip to Santander and later Santillana del Mer.

Santander first and it is a large port on the Atlantic coast or perhaps more accurately on the southern side of the Bay of Biscay and as such it is in direct line of weather coming from the west. Today that reflects the grey and damp days which come with such a location, the Bay being infamous for the adverse weather conditions.

Our initial stop is at a lighthouse, Cabo Mayor, which provides views over the sea and also towards Santander and the Bay of Santander.

Santander Cathderal decoration 8.9.25

The coach then returns us to the waterfront in Santander and we are also to walk through a park and the town centre eventually reaching the magnificent cathedral.

1941 fire Santander 8.9.25

In February 1941 a fire started in Cadiz Street adjacent to the Docks and a strong south wind fanned the fire and it swept through much of city reaching to the Cathedral. Reconstruction of the destroyed area (around 14 hectares) took 25 years. More recently it has been commemorated with a statue. Only one life was lost in the fire.

Santillana del Mer 8.9.25

Driving inland we come to Santillana del Mer which lays claim to being one of the prettiest villages in Spain. On a damp turning very wet grey day I remain unconvinced by that claim, although it is certainly attractive and pictures are taken as we wander around.

Cider is important in this part of Spain we are advised and find our way to a place which is delivering said drink and food which are welcome.

Local Beer 8.9.25

We return to the parador where the heavily worked bar staff manage to serve us all – but it can take some time. I indulge in the local beer as I cannot drink cider. As we are a little way out of the village we choose to eat in the parador restaurant and we enjoy a pretty good meal – but again the limited staff numbers mean that there are delays – which do not bother us too much but certainly lead to some discontent. Nothing to do with our tour but the management are simply trying to do too much with too few people.

Castro Urdiales church 7.9.25

Our outward journey commenced yesterday in reality as we decided (in the light of an incredibly early flight) to dine at Sorrel in Dorking and then stay in a hotel adjacent to the airport overnight. We still manage to reach check in very early. Once again Vueling want the passenger to label their own bags – a practice I hate as if it goes wrong who is responsible.

Go wrong it does. I am summoned at the gate to the desk and asked to confirm that the bag is Jackie’s as they cannot scan the barcode. Why is it all so difficult plus hours of waiting around doing nothing useful.

It is a relatively short flight down to Bilbao and we are on time throughout. It does not take long to emerge with cases (it has arrived despite the unreadable bar code). We appear to lose one traveller but depart – the tour guide will be with us later as there is a later flight coming in from Manchester.

Castro Urdiales 7.9.25

With such an early flight we know the rooms will not be ready and so the tour operator has arranged for our coach to take us to Castro Urdiales. We are dropped and wander down to the sea front. It is a smart town and there are a large number of cafés along the front – but given the time it is too early for lunch. Eating times in Spain always provide a slight problem which our body clocks find more difficult than the one hour time difference. Lunch type food tends not to be available before about 13:30 and in the evenings dinner before 20:00 is just not possible and usually later.

I walk up the hill to get a closer look at the church and castle, plus some photos from a different angle.

Apparently Castro Urdiales is a favoured destination generated by the power of AI – at least according to the BBC.

We return to the coach and are taken to the Parador de Limpias which has a modern block for the rooms attached to the older building. However the rooms are comfortable and better sized than in Iceland! We have a group meeting before dinner which tells us a little about the week ahead. The slight surprise is that the tour will be unguided in the individual towns and cities – which is a contrast to most of the tours we book.

Tag: Parador de Limpias

Spanish Paradors 8.9.25

Spanish Paradors 7.9.25