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General Activities and Travel
Snowshoeing and hiking
I’ve been doing a
fair amount of hiking, mostly in the Cantabrian Mountains and generally within an
hour’s drive of Santander. Nothing like the rather strenuous standard of hiking
I’m used to with clubs in Ireland, in particular the clubs I’m a member of
in the Galway area. I now realise that we really are hard core hikers (without
getting into the serious mountaineering aspect of it). Here a lot more people
take to the hills (weather is better!) but not as many people seem to go in for the
rugged type of hiking. I’d love to get out and do a good old belt up the hills, the kind of thing that leaves you feeling that you’ve actually done some exercise. They tend to do more gentle walks on lovely trails with
MANY stops, but I’m going with the flow and enjoying the scenery.
I did manage to organise a trip to the Picos area with a few friends and we had an incredible day snowshoeing.
The scenery was fantastic and walking on the snow was great fun, it brought me back to my days in New Hampshire and all the snow activities I did there.
I’ve also done some great coastal walks – they really have a stunning coastline in the north of Spain.
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Christmas and New Year
They definitely don’t ‘do’ Christmas here like they do in Ireland. A blessing or a curse, depending on your view of Christmas. As most of my friends and family know, Christmas is not my favourite time of year – too much palaver, commercialism, materialism….etc. I usually try to avoid it like the plague and this year was no different. That was easy enough to do in Spain. They only celebrate with a family meal on the evening of the 24th and the 25th is a holiday/family day. The really big day here is the 6th of January – what they call ‘The Three Kings’ and what we call either ‘the three wise men’, or the Epiphany.
My friend Susan from Ireland came for a visit over the Christmas period, which was great, as no matter how much one protests about not being ‘in’ to Christmas, it’s not a very pleasant time to spend on one’s own. We had pretty reasonable weather for the week and spent the first few days around the Santander area doing coastal walks. Estela very kindly loaned me her car for the duration of the visit – which was great as it helped with the scheduling. Susan was blown away by the beaches to the east and west of Santander and it was nice to see them through different eyes….they are magnificent.
Basque country
We drove to Bilbao where we stayed for one night in the old town. I really liked Bilbao and of course we spent a few hours at the famous Gehry building – the Guggenheim. I felt the same way about this as I did about Machu Picchu in Peru. I wasn’t that pushed about going to visit it but when I got there WOW. The outside of the building is pretty stunning when viewed from all sides, but the inside….I thought it was fantastic.
The shapes and curves and flow of the physical aspect of the building are amazing…forget the exhibitions…you could wander around outside and inside, looking up and out and down and God knows where for a few hours. Like everyone, I was a bit disappointed with the exhibitions – I felt they could have made more dramatic use of the space but there is one permanent one there that is well worth seeing….......
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Richard Serra's A Matter of Time. It doesn’t look like much initially but the sensation you get when you wander in and out of the sheets of steel is very unique.
San Sebastian
Then on to San Sebastian, which was gorgeous…we stayed two nights and visited a town 30 minutes away – Hondarribia, last stop before hitting France – you look across the estuary and vive la France. There’s a small ferry which takes about 10 minutes.
There was a marked difference between the ‘tourist’ experience in Santander and the Basque country. In Bilbao and San Sebastian nearly everyone we spoke to understand and spoke English and they were friendly – almost the opposite of Santander. Although I'm reliably told that it was because we were non-Spanish...hmmm...not sure about that!
The Basque country is the BEST place for Pinxtos (pinchos)…No, not tapas as we know them - and not raciones - here’s a little description for the uninitiated:
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| Tapas : these are usually tiny, bite-sized snacks |
I’ve been informed that if you're paying for tapas, then you‘re in the wrong bar…..they’re usually given out free, but not everywhere – Granada’s the place apparently where they're always free.
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Pinchos: more than bite – sized and
usually on a piece of French bread with
a cocktail stick through the middle.
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3 or 4 of these pinchos and that's dinner taken care of for me. My favourite one is caramelised onions with melted goat's cheese and a splash of balsamic....mmmmmm!
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| Raciones: a portion or platter…. usually to be shared… |
In Bilbao and especially in San Sebastian, the array was dazzling in every single bar/restaurant in the old town area. The atmosphere each night was electric…everyone comes out between about 6-9pm and wanders from one bar to the next. I’ve never seen such displays of food on bar counters. You just help yourself and then when you go to pay you tell the barman how many you’ve had and pay accordingly.
One weird aspect of all this is that people drop the tiny paper napkins they use onto the floor…this is definitely the thing to do – no rubbish bins anywhere….but it is a bit disconcerting as sometimes the bars look really messy and dirty and it definitely goes against the grain when you are brought up to always put rubbish either in a rubbish bin or in your pocket – Susan and I were traumatised by having to do this but we got over it quickly enough and went native.
…..and then south to Elviria (Marbella region)
Susan went back to Ireland and I headed down to the south of Spain to visit Mary and Conal who have an apartment there. They’ve stayed for longer durations for a few years now since retirement and semi-retirement but this is the first year they are there for a full 3 months.
We had pretty good weather – even when it’s only 14 deg, if the sun is shining it feels like 20 on their terrace. Suffice to say that I was waited on hand and foot…Mary cooking up a storm of great vegetarian food and Conal doing all the driving and route planning for the hikes.
We did some great classic hikes in the general area and while it was not as hot as it can be at this time of year, it was perfect weather for hiking – with lots of sunshine and blue skies.
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| Torrecilla and a horseman passing by...showing the way |
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| Torrecilla and the ridge at La Concha.....a 'must do' |
On New Year’s Eve we had dinner and then took a trip into Orange Square in the old town of Marbella…the tradition in Spain is to eat 12 grapes as the clock strikes 12….so, 12 grapes in 12 seconds……….try it – it ain’t easy. Each grape represents a month of the following year so you need to make sure you eat 12 to bring good luck. It was interesting to see the results of the cutbacks and the effect on the atmosphere this year – no fireworks and a more muted energy about the place.
What I did notice was a bunch of tourists (mostly British and German) tottering along in high heels on the cobblestones, making their way from whichever restaurant they’d been at with festive hats askew and glasses of champagne spilling onto the street ….not a pretty sight. All in all I’ve come to the conclusion (without being a total killjoy about it) that New Year’s Eve is TOTALLY OVERRATED….
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| The finer things in life (for some people!) in Puerto Banus near Marbella |
This trip was a
perfect way to end the lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg (unpaid) Christmas break
from school (19 days!). I returned to Santander fully refreshed and ready for
action. Luckily the first week was just 2 days of classes. Now it’s full steam
ahead until Easter, when we just have a four-day break. It was nice seeing the
kids again – they were so full of their experiences – no problem getting them
to talk about Papa Noel or their big day on the evening of the 24th December, or the three
Kings festival, when they always get presents
and of course the eating of the 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve.
Observations on Spain….some great things
Their National Health system. I can’t speak for anyone needing a heart bypass operation or similar but for the common or garden stuff – fantastic. I was unfortunate to get strep throat TWICE in the space of 6 weeks, so paid three visits to my doctor in the designated health centre across the road from where I live. The first time she gave me a prescription for antibiotics and painkillers, the second time we tried to avoid the AB and the script was for a powder solution and painkillers and the third time I had to succumb to AB again. Total cost for three doctor visits and three trips to the pharmacy……15 Euro….the equivalent in Ireland would be at least 175 Euro.They are also extremely efficient – you pop in or phone and usually get an appointment within an hour or so and when you turn up, you are seen bang on time or within 5 minutes. On both cost and efficiency, Ireland could definitely learn a thing or two. It was the same in Portugal.
Dog Poo….they are conscientious!
Lots of people with dogs – they are crazy about them and you see them walking their precious little bundles everywhere. And – here’s the kicker – they really DO pick up the dog poo. Every single time I’ve seen a dog poo the owner has donned the plastic gloves and done the necessary. Definitely makes for more pleasant walking in the streets.
Recycling pedal bins
Rubbish collection – again, the same as Portugal – you can drop your rubbish off every day into recycling bins which are dotted on practically every street (not very aesthetic but very convenient). And they have bins with foot pedals, so you don’t have to open them with your hands and be treated to that awful PONG. They are unsightly though and they are slowly replacing them with smaller compact versions at waist level…..the rubbish goes deep into the ground (don’t ask what happens to it after that or how they empty them!).
Weather
….some not so great things
Manners…….our version and the Spanish versionI have been observing this since I came here – it would appear that a lot of Spanish people don’t seem to know how to say:
o
Please
o
Thank
you
o
Excuse
me
o
You’re
welcome
o
Sorry
(for pushing past you/into you/bashing through you)
o
Oh
I’m sorry….did I just cut in front of you in the queue you’ve been waiting in
for 15 minutes, never mind I’ll just do it anyway and keep the customer service
person talking for 5 minutes’
o
‘Oh
excuse me, didn’t mean to shove into you in order to get in front of you in the
aisle on the plane – never mind, I’ll just shove and say nothing’
And…this is not just me talking – a friend told me that her brother married a Spanish woman and he had to re-educate her to Irish norms….e.g. ‘give me a slice of toast’ or ‘pass the butter’ without the please and thank you just didn’t cut it with his mammy at the Sunday tea!
This is definitely one of the things I’ve had to get used to here, especially in Santander - the attitude of the people in terms of what I consider politeness. For example, someone pushes past you in the street – forget ‘I’m sorry – or ‘excuse me’. Don’t hold your breath, you’ll be waiting. I've talked to lots of people about it and I now understand that it’s absolutely a cultural thing. But while you have to be open to adjusting to other types of cultural norms (e.g. they don’t eat their evening meal here until about 10pm), it’s hard to adjust to this one – the funny thing about it is that when you discuss this with Spanish people, they nod their heads vigorously and say….’yes, yes, that’s typical Spanish’!
And ......
Just in case you think the sun always shines in this part of the world....it doesn't....I'll leave you with these pictures taken on a 'wet knicker' day in the mountains!!
On that note……Happy New Year everyone and here’s hoping to at least a healthy one – that’s all we need, everything else is a bonus.
¡Hasta luego!
....Hel
