Mountains, cliffs and lighthouse views

Professional photos from the surfing competition last weekend--here you can actual see the people rather than just the scenery. :)

A local village man, probably wondering what the heck those crazies are doing out in this weather.... :)

Now some photos from this Saturday--went to a nearby town called Santoña, about half hour from Santander, for a hike in the mountains. It was a cloudy day and there were conflicting forecasts, but hey, why not take a chance and hope for the best. It turned out to be a good decision as we got rays of sunshine peeking through and it wasn't too hot---so perfect weather even if it didn't end up to be the best for photo-taking. :)

Along the boardwalk just before the start of the trails, there is a commemorative piece dedicated to Luis Carrero Blanco, ex-president and intended-successor of Franco. He was born here in Santoña and was said to be even worse than the dictator himself, but was assassinated in 1973 by ETA. Hence the start of change.....now we still wonder why this is still so prominently displayed here though many statues and such associated with the dictatorship have been removed throughout the country.

The trail is along the coast, surrounding the mountain Buciero and the one we selected was the route of the lighthouses and cliffs, which supposedly was 12km and takes 4 hours. Either we were super-speedy (didn't feel like it) or the sign was wrong, but we cut only took about 2/3 of the time, at slow speed, and including a steep detour.

Of course I met a few locals along the way and made sure to say Hola as they were eating their morning snack... :)

So when we got to the detour for the first lighthouse, we descended 700 steep steps.... (I forgot to count) to the Faro del Caballo

All this for the spectacular view that greeted us from the lookout jutting out into the bay....

So what goes down.....must come back up. So here we huffed and puffed back UP the 700 steps to get back to the trail and continue our way around the route.

We were only at the first little bit (eastern part of the map above) and continuing on, I stopped to let this little guy cross the road....actually it was pretty big, about thumb sized--hence the reason it caught my eye!

Around the other end of Santoña, we saw this nice beach-front cemetery, with the campground right beside it....

And also this complex with a wonderful beach and mountain view.

TRIVIA TIME! What is this place below? Email me with your answer! (Hint: The walls above are the borders surrounding these buildings below...look at the map for a clue.) ;)

We finished the hike, went back down and sat down for a snack along the boardwalk and watched the thirsty dogs, tiny children on bikes (one kid asked why we were laughing at him...) and nuns stroll by on this lazy afternoon.... From there, you can look across to Laredo and see the long stretch of beach, and the ferry boat that connects Santoña and Laredo...didn't see like it was having very busy runs, since the captain was blasting music as he floated by... :)

After leaving Santoña, we headed back in the direction of Santander, to check out some famous surfing beaches in Somo and Langre, just across the bay from Santander. The sun was setting and it was still a pretty nice day, but the wind was very strong right on the exposed coast....we did see a few surfers braving the winds, and catching some nice waves. :)

After a long day of hiking and some rest, that night, a few of us went out to check out a free jazz concert in a local bar/club right on the beach. Here in the north, it's all about beaches and mountains, which I love! :) Even at night in the dark, you could see the waves lapping against the sand as you sit inside enjoying the music or a drink or two, and I can only imagine how nice it must be in the summer! Later that night, we hit up a few more bars for some chatter and more music, just like the locals. The streets got quite full later on as the rain stopped and people piled out into the square to take advantage of the mild temperatures--the later it gets, the busier it gets at night!