Camino Del Norte - Day 11

Camino Del Norte - Day 11
Santander to Santillana Del Mar
Distance 32.5km (7 hours)

I set off at 6.30am this morning from Santander. There seemed to be a lot of pilgrims on the Camino. A very pleasant walk out of the city contrary to the guidebook.
By 9.30am, I was 15 km into the walk when I had to catch a train. The journey was only 5 minutes long but took me over a river estuary to another village. By not taking it would have added another 10km onto my day.
I eventually arrived in Santilana village around 2pm. The heat on the road to the village was 30C. I thought that my shoes were going to melt.
The village is stunning. It is a wonderfully preserved medieval stone village. I honestly expected knights in armour to charge down the street. The place was packed with tourists. The Albergue is tiny only 16 beds. I managed to get one but we had to wait until it opened at 4pm.
There was an elderly loud English couple who had obviously been drinking too much. As we came to register, the gentleman fell face first onto the ground. Everyone went to help. I grabbed the first aid kit from the hospilardo and treated his wounds. In the end, everyone kept asking me if I was a doctor. The drunk couple went into one of the dorms, I went in the other. Later, the same bloke fell in the showers. I avoided them the rest of the evening.

I had a pleasant meal with a couple of pilgrims before retiring to bed.Read more