Travels in Spain

My first foray into Europe was UK, about 18 years ago. Before that, I was living in NY for about two years. Relative to that, UK (London in particular) didn't feel all that different. It was a major cosmopolitan city, not much unlike NYC, and although it probably had its own quirks - I was too consumed hanging out with my friends to discover anything. 

Fast forward another 12 years and I start dating a girl from Spain and I get my second custom tailored visit to Europe. This time I get to really discover the land - and boy did I discover. The gastronomy, the relaxed lifestyle, the history - and everything else that goes along with it.

A Road Trip Across Spain

Every time we have visited Spain, we've made it to take mini road trips here and there. One of the major road trips included driving all the way from the north of Spain to the south, to Malaga and Fuengirola. We've made at least two road trips from north to south, through two different routes. One of them involved a lot of medieval towns/cities, while the other involved pit-stops with friends and a lot of food.

Cantabria

And of course, a lot of road trips were made in the province that I always visit, which is Cantabria. Driving through the province of Cantabria in Spain, you'll know why they call it Cantabria Verde (Green Cantabria). The locals also call the inner parts of Cantabria to be Cantabria Profunda, or Deep Cantabria. Cantabria belongs to Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains, so called because of its particularly lush vegetation. Even though most of my drives have been in fall/winter, the green landscape doesn't disappoint. These are some of the stories from our road trips in Spain.

Santander

Santander is the capital and the largest city in Cantabria. Santander has a charm that feels like an old world Gatsby like town. The area that exudes this charm the most is 'El Sardinero',  considered as a summer destination for the Spanish high society in the early twentieth century. During the reign of Alfonso XIII Santander became thefavourite holiday place of court. In 1908 the city built and gave to the king the “Palacio de la Magdalena”.