ONE DAY IN SANTANDER

one day in santander was the result of a lucky booking accident. santander was the only available flight destination in the area on the day we needed so we booked it. afterwards, we decided to check it out since we were going to have a couple of days in bilbao, which we had seen anyway. we were so very pleasantly surprised by this place we knew nothing about.

the airport shuttle left us at the bus station. we had lunch next to the cathedral. we had very good pintxos since it was too early for real lunch.

down on the waterfront, we came across this! it’s the new centro botín, designed by architect renzo piano and scheduled to open on june the 23rd. go visit it if you can, because it will open with a carsten höller show, a goya show and the permanent exhibition of the center. i’d love to go, but i doubt i’ll be able to.

then we went to los reginas to take a 45-minute boat ride around the gulf. but the ride we wanted was not available since it was not the weekend. maybe next time.

we walked along the waterfront, on our way to the only thing on our list.

this is the beautiful playa de los peligros.

and this is our destination: la peninsula de la magdalena.

this is el palacio de magdalena.

i loved the quiet scenery. in the near distance we can see la isla de mouro.

on our way around the peninsula, we found a place that allowed us to climb down to the water.

the biggest surprise, apart from the amazing open sea, was the sea lion and seal enclosure. i don’t like seeing caged animals but i’ll stay on the fence this time, since i don’t know the exact circumstances. the animals were lounging and swimming.

this one had such a graceful swim, it looked like it was flying. very beautiful!

this one had found a comfy nook and was snoring away in the pleasant afternoon sun. it was loud too! we were laughing, but that didn’t disturb it in the least.