Santander

Here are the photo's of the girls trip to Santander. I could not decide which to use so I made a bit of a montage of my favourites using a template that was a freebie from Designer Digitals I think you might find it under ad or web challenge. I have added more segments to it to accommodate more pictures. Just click on them to enlarge.
We left Plymouth on one of the very few sunny days we had in July and the crossing was really smooth. Very impressed with the ship. There is a cinema on board, live entertainment bar and a piano bar, 2 self serve restaurants and a more formal (and less crowded) restaurant plus a great shop and duty free. It does feel a bit weird though that you are on your way to Spain geared up to speak a bit of Spanish and the ship is French so you have to rethink and speak a bit of that - like Merci, bonjour! All the crew do speak English though and are very nice. There is also a pool. It really is a mini cruise.We arrived in Santander to a bit of a dull day on the Monday but it steadily improved and it could not have been hotter in southern Spain I'm sure! The coach from the ferry to the Hotel Chique was in with the price and El Sardinero beach is a real stunner, although it does shrink a little at high tide. We had a relaxing time just wandering, soaking up the atmosphere, stopping for a drink at a cafe, & long lunches - hey - we had to sit down, it was too hot to walk around all day!! One of the best was in the park on the headland. There is a cafe there and we had the best chorizo concoction ever. Do try it out if you ever get there. However the best meal of the trip for me had to be the Italian (yes Italian in Spain!) it was the most fun night which was helped along by the attentive waiter, the meal itself was pretty good too. The crossing back on the Thursday night was a bit rougher and one of the girls felt ill and had to miss the evening meal. I felt fine but you could tell it must have been rough as during the night I kept being woken up as the rocking of the ship made you feel as if you were going to fall out of bed! Honestly, I did not get my land legs back for nearly a week after we got back!! So, I would go to Santander again it is a great beach resort. In many ways it reminded me of Torbay in Devon as it has the same backdrop of green hills behind the town. Next time it would be nice to have a car and see a bit of the country side around. Hope you enjoy the pictures. :)