Santander, Cantabria, Spain.

The very last of our Galicia and Asturias odyssey. Yes, of course we popped into Castilla y Leoń and finished up in Cantabria, but the main focus for us were the big two here. We adored this part of Spain, and the people we met along the way were fabulous as well. A huge thank you to our friend Jorge from Santiago de Compostela who gave us some great hints and tips for locations and food in the areas we passed.

Now, to the last stop we made which was Santander, no not the bank, but home of the bank.

The Granny patrol.

The internal ceiling of the Main Post Office, just before I was very politely, and with a smile, told by the guard not to take photographs.

This is the central post office outside.

Simplicity.

The bank headquarters.

The tiles under an art gallery by the sea, quite something, no?

But is it better in black and white?

Look a crane! Not that one, that is a seagull.

Waterfront statues.

Dive on in to Santander!

There is a really cool eclectic mix of building styles along the waterfront.

With little invasions of nature.

Always nice to get a big chair and some sun with a view.

Palacio de la Magdalena.

Faro de la Isla de Mouro

The Sawa sister.

Blowing her own trumpet, too, by the looks of things.

I have started to fall for tiles again, the Moorish culture of parts of Spain do that to me every time.

Even when on a grand scale.

Honestly, over the planning of this trip I never thought I would love it this much. The question is how can I live everywhere. I love Warsaw, when it isn't polluted, and many of the people in it. But, when you go to somewhere like Galicia or Asturias, you just think "How can I not live here?" It is beautiful, it is motivating, it is something I never thought I'd find in Europe. Rugged, civilised, traditional, modern but dying. I have a saviour complex in the sense that I want to make everything and everyone better. I want Galicia to be a thriving place, full of good positive energy and happiness. I want Warsaw to be inhabited by people who want to make the city itself better. I want to make myself better, but at the end of the day all I will do is write about it and sit on the couch pondering my futile existence in this crazy game called life. Maybe time to play Football Manager to make a small village team a European Champion.....

Ortigueira, Galicia, Spain

Another brief on-the-road stop off. The gorgeous port town of Ortigueira. It is a place you can buy really cheap property, as it rains and fogs often (by Spanish standards). It really reminded me of a tiny Vancouver. Which is cute. We arrived in amazing sunshine and thought, "Wow, what a perfect place!" Then along came a front and drenched me, of which I didn't dry out from until I got to A Coruña.

The cemetery on the hill where I was caught in a squall of wind and rain.

The soft colour of grey is total rain. It had stopped by the time I had run the 500m to the car, but I was a drowned rat!

Cudillero, Asturias, Spain.

Oops, I just noticed that I missed this:

Before we got to Galicia, we stopped in the quaint seaside village of Cudillero. A once thriving port, it now survives on tourism. It has also seen its population plummet over the last 40 years or so, by about half. Like many smaller villages in Asturias and Galicia, it is dying. The young move to the bigger cities, the older stay but just slowly pass on. It is amazing to stumble into places with 5-10-30 houses all empty. I plan to one day buy an entire village and have you all come visit. It is a dream to bring something back from the dead. To start again the economies of these small regional areas, and hopefully in a sustainable way. Asturias and Galicia are so amazingly beautiful, and compared to other parts of Spain I have visited, they are plentiful in water, cleanliness on the ground and in the air. The beaches are empty, the food is amazing. I don't understand why they are not more popular..... Hopefully, these blog posts will encourage people to visit, maybe even move and start a business as well.

The colourful properties of the port facing city. It reminds me of Cinque Terre in Italy.

Dog cafe paradise.

The marina and port, on a relatively calm day.

Another lighthouse to add to the compilation.

Andalucia - Puerto de Santa Maria

Many people when they go to Andalucia they go to Cadiz for a day or two to enjoy one of the oldest cities in Spain. But, there is a great alternative to staying there which can be costly at times. Going to stay at Puerto de Santa Maria is cheaper, and only a short ferry ride across the bay. It is a really pretty town, has some nice beaches and seafood locations and is a great place to run in the cool mornings. We had some great breakfasts there and it is a nice base to explore the surrounds as well.

We were lucky enough to be there on a festival night so we got some fun singing group performing while we had some tapas.

Getting warm with some wine and freshly cooked tapas

Maybe a good idea to get your wine by the litre, Mosto is even cheaper than petrol.....