Day 10 – Santillana del Mar to Rubadisella

June 28, 2019 – This morning we woke up to explosions…I thought it might be the end of the world, but Wayne reassured me that they were M-80’s and skyrockets….several very loud ones….

As previously mentioned, there was a big carnival at the park near the plaza last night and they blew off M-80’s at the end of the carnival too….at 2 in the morning! Well, we found out this morning that it was the feast day of Saint Juliana, the Patron Saint of Santillana del Mar. Lucky for us!  We got up and packed, checked out and headed to the old town plaza to go get some breakfast and a cappuccino. We discovered that the museums and things we had planned to see were closed for the day due to the celebration/festival.

Santillana del Mar grew up around a monastery and subsequently the 12th-century Church of the Colegiata, which is probably one of the most beautiful in Cantabria.  Once an important pilgrimage center, this magnificent piece of Romanesque architecture houses the tomb of the local early-medieval martyr, St. Juliana or Santa Llana, from which the village takes its name and who they were celebrating today. Juliana was killed by her father because she was a Christian.

We stayed for the procession of Saint Juliana and while all returned to church for mass, we went and got a Pinxto and a beer. Pinxto is sort of like a Tapa or hors d’oeuvres except with a toothpick to hold it all together. You are charged per the number of toothpicks you end up with. We had the special though which was 1 Pinxto and a beer for 2.50 euros, which is typical. After mass, we were treated to several cultural dances by the residents. It was so fun and interesting to watch this cultural celebration.  You can see the pride the participants have in their culture. Even the small children participated and are learning the traditional dances.

We left Santillana del Mar to head west along the coast to our next destination, Rubadisella. This drive took us into another autonomous region of Spain known as Cantabria. The drive was lush and beautiful with many trees, rolling green hills and towering mountians. The name Cantabria is derived from the Celtic, denoting people of the mountain. This area is a dairy producing area so there were a bunch of tan colored cows also and some cute calves jumping around. As we got closer to our next Bed and Breakfast, we started to have views of the ocean with the rocky coastline and some larger green mountains. Beautiful…the ocean is so clear and blue here.

After we checked into our room, we headed to the town to look for food. We decided to get some meats, cheeses, bread, lettuce, tomato, fruit and chocolate and go have a picnic….BUT we didn’t have wine glasses, or an opener…so we went in search of those as well.

After we got everything we needed we headed over to a little coastal place called Infierno. There was a very nice little park down a small narrow lane with picnic areas and tables set up. It was so green and beautiful with cows (with cowbells ringing) in the distance. Just over the hill is the ocean. Unfortunately, we forgot the bread so we had to have our meats wrapped in lettuce “protein style” It was good, but just not the same. We love the bread here.

The moist ocean breeze was blowing inland where it hit the mountains and created a flowing cloud river as the moisture condensed. Wayne tried his skills at getting a time lapse where the clouds formed then almost completly disappear and then formed up again at sunset. See the video below.

After our picnic we came back to our room and settled in for the night.

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