Destination: Foz, Northern Spain
After another great nights sleep, we woke around 6am to get showered and head to breakfast before we reached Santander. The Taberna was still relatively quiet, so we were easily able to get a table and sat down to tuck into the French version of a full English. Suffice to say, it was a good effort. I appreciated that they had tried with the veggie sausage and the ‘fakon’, but I really wasn’t sure about the mushrooms. I think they may have been cooked in wine.
Having spent the last of our food credit, we headed out on deck to make the most of the incredible sunrise. The Santona was just pulling into Santander, which has a wide sweeping harbour. We were blessed with the most intense colours reflecting on the water, contrasting with the mist rolling in from the hills on the coast. What a fantastic start to the day and to our Iberian adventures!
I could happily have stayed for ages taking it all in. But it wasn’t too long before we were called down to our vehicles. As I have learned my lesson on previous trips, I made sure to set up Waze as soon as I got into the car. I use Waze whenever I drive in Europe because as well as giving me directions, it also helps me stay on the right side of the road! Turns out I needn’t have hurried, as we were in for a bit of a wait.
My original plan had been to explore Santander before setting off. But the ferry was at max capacity and it took ages to get off and through border control. So we’d be heading directly for our first stop of the day in Gijon.
San Vicente de la Barquera
We hadn’t been driving long before we had to stop for a break. So I pulled off at the next junction, without really knowing where we were going. The road lead to a lovely little town on the coast called San Vicente de la Barquera, it was ace! It is very pretty and has a really long and quite spectacular bridge spanning it’s estuary. Better still we immediately found a car park that had ‘facilities’ which was a very happy coincidence.
As we’d stopped and I’d paid for the parking, we thought we’d have a look around the town. It was very busy, clearly a very popular destination. I was surprised I’d not come across it while planning the trip. If you are heading along the Northern coast of Spain it is well worth a visit.
We had a lovely walk around the town before heading for the reason it was so busy. There was a medieval market happening in the tiny lanes of the old town, leading up to the castle. There were lots of people in medieval costume and all sorts of arts and craft stalls as well as a huge range of local produce.
