BBQ at the owner's house~
As a pre-end-of-year gathering, we were all invited to William and Carolina's place for a bbq/staff party. We ended early one Friday and set off in cars and buses to Liencres, where they both live in a large house by the beach.
Of course the best place to gather is around the food!
Carolina checks to make sure there's enough food for us hungry folks....
Graeme and Amanda are happy after some good eats
William sneakily tops up more capirinha for Piedad while she is absorbed in conversation
The covered patio area is wonderful for an afternoon nap
Happy birthday Elena!
Joe attempts to beat Amanda's records at the frog game
We wandered down to the beach where Graeme, Amanda and Urien braved the cold waters for a dip and some wave-battling
Recent kitchen experiment and an excessive meal out~
Happily wrapping wontons at 1am....well, forced-happy in the photo, exhausted in reality, but we still had lots of fun playing around with our food! ;)
Lunch at the mulata, a nice seafood restaurant where we ate waaaaaaayyyyyy too much. This is fish for one person....wwwwhhhhhoooooaaaaa!!!!!!!
The fancy presentation of the hake stuffed with crabmeat didn't win any fans
Another round of visitors~
Mel and Tim arrived on the ferry from England one lovely sunny Thursday, and spent the weekend here exploring out lovely region. Tim left Sunday, and Mel on Monday for Madrid, and then Mel returned for another weekend on Friday. Weather was not so friendly to her as it rained down in Madrid (that's a rare thing at this time of year!!) and of course here in Santander (that's not so rare up here....). But overall, we had lots of fun, ate TONS (too much....I'm still recovering...) and explored lots of different areas.
Arrival meal in Santander--lovely pintxos in the sun
Dinner out with the gang--raciones and Sangria to share!
We were sweltering in this restaurant because it was so full and the weather was great!
Pintxos bar-hopping Saturday night. This is stop number 2--tostadas of various types at Hijas de Florencio
So besides eating (which we did tons of....), we also explored the region and took our visitors sightseeing:
The mysterious-looking lighthouse
Dramatic cliffs of Santander
Last weekend, we took Mel to the famous cave El Soplao, where we went on a tour inside and she taught us a bit about the stalactites and stalagmites and other interesting stuff. Great to have an expert with you on these kinds of trips! :) Unfortunately, no photos allowed inside but there were some really cool formations that looked like straws, curtains, columns, Christmas garland and tinsel...and of course the usual "religious figures"... ;)
The local government also decided it'd be a great idea to have an Oktoberfest, so a few days before it started, they announced it and splashed posters everywhere! It is (still ongoing till the 20th) a 10 day affair in the bullring, with tents (since the weather hasn't been great), lots of food and drink, and crazy music and dancing. We didn't expect too much but ended up having a fantastic time, watching the insanity that comes about when people guzzle too many steins of beer....
Protection from the elements
Benches and tables to mingle around
People are singing and dancing and moving their arms and legs, but it's hard to see...we'll see if my video uploads...
A litre of any liquid would make me put on that kind of face too! But Mel is a brave one.... (we shared that quantity amongst the three of us at the end....)
Roasting up loads of meat for the hungry visitors--is he licking his fingers??
It's a wonder you don't become buff from lifting hefty drinks and weighty chunks of meat--we had sausages and a pig's "elbow" (do they have any??) and were stuffed to our eyebrows....
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