Santander y Los Pueblos

This weekend I took an airplane to Santander for a visit with my sister and her family.
Santander is a small city on the Northern coast of the Cantabrian region of Spain. The city itself sets on a small peninsula, giving it massive amounts of beaches. Unfortunately, being just about at the 45th parallel and on the cold Atlantic coast,  this time of year is not a good time to visit Cantabrian beaches. Instead, Rana and O took me out to see the construction on their new home.

 A plot of land out in a small town has been setting with nothing but dirt and grass for years. This December, after much paperwork and waiting, the contractors broke ground and began the building process for an uncharacteristically large house in the North of Spain.

 This is a nice view from the construction site. There are rolling hills and unique houses all around the place.

 As you can see, it was very cold there. But that isn't snow, it is hail. O said that this is not a typical Cantabrian winter, but it certainly made me feel right at home.

 After looking at the construction, we went to a Mexican restaurant in another little town named Lierganes. We met up with O's brother, Tiki, and Tiki's friend, Mo. Rana goes to this restaurant when she is feeling homesick, as it is a more authentic place to dine. The owners are from Mexico, and therefore make the food a little more spicy than the Spanish would were they running the joint.
This sweet little town is known for its older architecture, including a small bridge, and for a view of a very interestingly shaped hill. It is best known to me for a whiskey pub near the center of town.

 The buildings have designs that are borderline Basque style, a style I adore greatly, and tiny curvy streets that tell you this is a very old location. And yet, you can see just how modern it has become, with the yellow trash container and all.

The hill seen here is one of the favored attractions of the town, and can be hiked up to by travelers who choose to. It was too cold this weekend, but perhaps this summer I'll head to the top of the peaks.

Now I am back in Barcelona, working hard in my classes and awaiting the next big adventure.