Throughout the entirety of this program, we are fortunate enough to be able to travel to other areas of Spain on the weekends for small excursions, and the weeks preceding and following the end of our courses. This weekend we travelled to Santillana del Mar, San Vicente de la Barquera and Comillas, all located in la Costa Occidental.
Although I’m not a huge fan of structured tours, it was good to visit these places and be informed on how they were founded and what they are primarily known for. Santillana del Mar is a cute little (I mean tiny) town just 30 minutes from Santander. At a time, it was a military town that housed soldiers, governors and military leaders during war. Additionally, there is the Collegiate Church towards the back of town that was originally a monastery that housed the relics of Santa Juliana. It is currently a tourist attraction, in which you can pay a couple euros to walk around on the inside and see the beautiful church itself. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take photos of the inside to help preserve the paint and decor of the tabernacle and other pieces of art inside, but here’s some of the inner courtyard.
This small town is filled with little “tourist trap” (as I like to refer to them) shops where you can get a coffee mug, t-shirt, or some other type of generic souvenir. However if you search around you will be able to find small artisan shops with some (fairly pricey) painted pottery or tiles or leather goods. My advice to you if you visit this tiny town is to wear comfortable shoes since all the streets are cobblestone and haven’t been updated in any way. Although you won’t do a lot of walking it might just pay off in the end to go for comfort over style.
My favorite part of this town was a harpist that began playing the most beautiful music… She began with “River Flows in You” followed by “Clocks” by Coldplay, making for a wonderful end to our time there!
Overall, the views are absolutely stunning… when you’re there, you are far out from the city, no apartment buildings, no crowds, just the beauty of the land that surrounds you. Additionally, there was going to be a wedding at the monastery, so we got to watch the guests trickling in dressed impeccably (of course); can you say dreamy?? *insert heart eyes here*
Here’s some of my favorite pictures I snapped from our visit…
After we left Santillana, we headed down the road to our next stop: San Vicente de la Barquera. This was a little beach town on the coast of Spain. There wasn’t much to do here, but enjoy the breathtaking views of the ocean, grab some great seafood (I had already eaten so I missed out unfortunately, but everything I saw looked great!), and tour the small cathedral and castle that overlook the town. Both were closed for siesta when we got there, but I recommend at least walking to the top to get a great view of the water and the town!
In addition, if you walk across the bridge you can go to a little dog friendly beach! I didn’t know what else to do in our free time there, so I walked over to pet the dogs (this might sound pathetic to some, but I know all you dog lovers are jealous).
For our final stop, we headed out to Comillas to take a tour through Antoni Gaudí’s “Capricho”. I’m not too big into architecture, but I will admit that this house was really a sight to see and I would recommend taking a day to go check it out if you have the time! The design is totally eccentric but highly functional and beautiful at the same time-I truly have never seen anything like it! He is also famous for many other architectural marvels, but getting to see this one up close and personal was very interesting. Our tour guide was so nice and informative, showing us the little tricks and details the house contained such as the unique window shutters or the intricate ceiling tiles individually carved out of wood. Make sure you take the opportunity to observe the nooks and crannies of this place-I can guarantee you will find some small, yet noteworthy design element that impresses you!
Overall, the excursion, in my opinion, was very informative and filled with historical elements. If you’re into history, I would advise you to get guided tours in order to learn more about what you are looking at or do your research beforehand so you can appreciate what you see!
Life awaits, my friends! Until next time,
Cat
Life Awaits 
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