Into Santander - done walking!

Liencres -Santander
25 km, 200 m

I started early because I knew it was going to be hot. When I got into Santander, a pharmacy showed 30° (86 F) on its sign. It’s a calima from North Africa, and though not much of the orange sand has reached northern Spain, it was like being in an oven.

It was beautiful and cool along the coast, at least for most of the way. The sun had just risen when I got started. There were people walking in both directions, not hoards, but I probably saw a total of 20 people, counting walkers and cyclists.

The coast changed a lot between the two end points. At the beginning, I was up on the headlands looking down 30 or 40 m to all kinds of rock formations out in the water. By the time I got to Playa de Maruca, the cliffs were gone, and the path wove in and out around brown and black rocks very close to the water. I knew that when I got to the lighthouse, things would change. There were lots of people!

The last few kilometers went past some of Santander’s beautiful in-city beaches.

By 2:30 I was checked into the hotel, and at about three, there was a knock on the door and lo and behold there was Ana. She had taken a several- hour bus from Oviedo for a few hours in Santander, a museum, a dinner, and lots of gabbing.

We got so lost so many times trying to find places that we knew were in the vicinity. Our problem was that we kept slipping into conversation and not paying attention. But what a great ending for my Camino.

This morning we had time for a good coffee, and a visit to the sporting goods store to buy my olive oil bag, a ritual I cannot abandon. My daughter and her family use a LOT of olive oil, and have not had to buy any for at least the last 15 years. The staff at the store could not have been more helpful. The woman actually walked down the block to get some bottles of olive oil so that we could do an approximation. They admitted that this was a first for them!

Ana and I said goodbye on the paseo marítimo and she headed towards the beaches while I headed to the train station. I bought a sandwich for the ride and am now waiting to head to Madrid In about ten minutes.

Thank you Ana, for coming up here and sharing the fin del camino with me!Read more