I leave for Santander very early, taking a place for the car in the public parking lot of the Zona Alta. It is one of the few places that does not require payment and is very close to the historic center, and as soon as you arrive you have to get in line so that whoever leaves will give you a place. There is a system between neighbors in the area to park the car all day.

I am walking towards the center from the Zona Alta and pass through the Central Market, in the Plaza de la Esperanza. There is the church of San Francisco. I go down to Calvo Sotelo street, one of the most important streets in the city. There are some of the most emblematic buildings of the city such as the post office or the Santander bank building.



Once parked I go to the center where I will see the Plaza Porticada, which is where the town hall is located, very close to the sea.


And we will arrive at the Santander Cathedral, called the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady. This cathedral was built between the 12th and 14th centuries on top of an old monastery. It consists of two floors, the crypt and the church. The crypt is from the 12th century and the church is from the 14th century in a Gothic style that would be enlarged to establish new chapels inside. Even in the 20th century new modifications would be made. It also has a cloister from the 14th century.

Very close to the cathedral is the Church of the Annunciation in a Renaissance style from the 17th century.


I will walk along the coast to see different important buildings and the Pereda Gardens with the Botín Center and the old Santander docks.



After seeing the center I will take a bus that will take me to the Sardinero area where I will take a walk, seeing the casino, the manor houses that are around the Sardinero, and I will head towards the bay to reach the lighthouse and visit the coves in between.

We will be able to see the Molinucos beach, in the image, and the Mataleñas path. Then I will go to the port to take a tourist boat that will bring me closer to Somo beach (in the image) where I can take a long walk. The day in Santander, despite being the height of summer, was very cloudy but the sun was still shining.
I eat on the boat with my friend Germán who is from Santander. And in the afternoon I will go to the bar area, after taking another walk along the promenade to leave for Palencia with a stop at Aguilar de Campoo. Between Cantabria and Palencia on the highway I had one of the worst experiences on the highway with a very thick fog in the middle of summer and with the civil guard lighting up because you couldn't see anything. Despite the quality of the highway, it is very dangerous to drive at more than 80. It was getting closer to 30 km from Aguilar de Campoo and all the fog disappeared and it was back to summer.

Once in Aguilar de Campoo I will make a quick visit to this small town. With a Romanesque church, Santa Cecilia, at the top of the mountain, near the castle, which is very pretty, this town has a lot of history.



A main square with large arcades that overlook the collegiate church of San Miguel . There was already a Visigothic temple in its location which would undergo modifications passing through the Romanesque to be built already in the fourteenth century the state that can be seen today. It is of a late Romanesque and Gothic style. The door has 9 fairly simple archivolts without decorations and inside it has a ribbed vault.



When I was there, there was a traveling exhibition of paintings at the Prado Museum, near the river. There you can see a painting by Bosco.



It has a couple of large monasteries: Santa María la Real and Santa Clarafrom the 16th century. In addition, the Pisuerga river that comes out of the Aguilar reservoir passes through the town. River that bathes the city of Valladolid before entering the Duero.



After the visit, I will spend the night in a good hotel on a road 30 km from the highway. Strategic place for visiting the most unique towns of Palencia, the beautiful unknown.

Day 7, Romanesque Palencia (CLICK to continue)

August 8, 2021