Surf and Turf

Annaleigh:

Today I went to the carrousel. I got ice cream. I am excited for tomorrow because I’m going to the beach.

 Autumn:

It’s funny that Annaleigh is excited about going to the beach tomorrow, since the beach has been a major part of our activities for the past two days. Today, after another lazy morning, we decided to explore a beach called Playa de Somo, which is outside of town and most easily accessible by ferry. 

We got to the ferry station just as the next ferry was about to depart, and we jumped on board as one of the employees was untying the ropes that tethered it to shore. It was pretty uncrowned, and we were able to get a bench to ourselves on the upper deck without a problem.

 The ferry afforded us the opportunity to view the lovely Santandaer skyline from a different view point.

When we arrived in Somo, we quickly realized that this wasn’t much of a swimming beach. You don’t need a degree in Spanish to understand these signs:

I knew that Somo was popular among local surfers, but as it turns out surfing, kiteboarding, and similar pursuits were really the only in-water options. There are about a dozen different surf schools there that offer lessons in a variety of activities. I actually offerred to sign Annaleigh up for a kid’s bodyboarding lesson, but she wasn’t interested. We were both actually perfectly content to enjoy a couple of hours on land. Annaleigh built pretend ice cream shops in the sand, and had a blast running between me and the water and letting the wind turn her towel into a superhero cape.

I happily listened to the crashing waves while I read, watched the surfers, and "ate" Annaleigh’s sand ice cream.

It was pretty relaxing, except for when a particularly strong wave crashed through the high tide watermark, soaking our towel, shoes, and backpack. I was not amused, but Annaleigh thought it was just about the funniest thing she’s ever seen. Fortunately, the sun and the wind worked together nicely to dry out most of our belongings by the time we needed to use them again.

Eventually, hunger drove us up to the nearby surf café, where we still got to see and hear the waves while I ate an obscene amount of delicious calamari. If you take a good look at the strip of land in the distance to the right of the cafe window, you can just make out Gran Hotel the palace that we visited yesterday. I was very excited to have that as my view for most of the day.

After eating, we made our way back to the ferry dock and returned to Santander. This time around, there were loads of kite surfers, which was really fun to watch. Once we landed, we strolled down the promenade to Los Raqueteros, a series of statues that represent the working-class children who used to dive for coins and other items thrown in the water by boat passengers in past centuries. Annaleigh is still working on her diving form.

We returned to our apartment briefly to drop off our beach items and then headed back out for ice cream. I had to convince Annaleigh that a line at an ice cream shop is actually a good thing because in a town with lots of ice cream shops, it means that they’re selling a high-quality product. I was not disappointed today. I will be picking our dessert destinations from this point on.

It was a beautiful evening, so we headed back down to Jardines de Pereda to see if their carrousel was running. Annaleigh was thrilled to see that it was, and she raced to the top level as soon as she had her ticket. In spite of the park and playground being super-crowded, she managed to have the carrousel all to herself.

Afterwards, I let Annaleigh play in the playground for a little while. Here a cultural difference between the U.S. and Spain was glaringingly obvious. It was 7:30, which would normally mean an ever-dwindling crowd on American playgrounds. Here on the other hand, the playground was full of kids from infants to tweens, and it looked like most people were just getting started. Families in Spain operate on a different schedule, and it is not unusual to see young kids running around plazas and parks as late as 11:00 at night, especially in the summer. Annaleigh tried to use this a a bargaining chip, but I could see the exhaustion on her face, so we called it a night with me promising her one late(ish) night in Plaza Mayor when we get to Salamanca.

We returned to our quiet side street to discover that it had been blocked off for a concert. It’s now nearly 11:00pm, and the band is still going. What is most unusual is that they are playing covers of old-school American country and folk music. I have no idea what is going on, but fortunately Annaleigh was able to fall asleep without a problem in spite of the noise, and my room is at the back of the apartment so I should be alright as well. In the meantime, I have been provided with enjoyable - yet confusing - background music while updating this blog. One of my favorite things about this country has always been its unpredictability.