The weather continues to turn towards cold, windy and wet. It’s hard to believe that we started out with 95 degrees in San Sebastian and now start our days in the low 50’s and light rain.
Once again we heard the rain hitting our hotel windows during the night. We lucked out with a very nice Hostal with a very personable and generous host whose red hair made me think again about the connections between Northern Spain and Ireland. The beds and bathrooms were generous in size and comfort. The noise was minimal despite beiing in the center city of a large densely populated city. No loud motorcycles racing or fireworks here.
We arose at 6:45 in order to get down to the train station. It was raining lightly and we were glad for our rain gear. We made a mistake of going to the wrong train station and could not buy a ticket that we needed. The smiling and cordial young man in the dark ticket booth yelled out to us and generously corrected us. It’s the RENFE station 50 meters to the right! That was helpful. Fortunately we had enough time to buy our ticket for 3 Euros each and still time to spare to go to the little cafe in the train station, get a sandwich and cafe con leche before boarding the local train. We wanted to get out of the uninteresting and industrial area around Santander and start our day in the beautiful rural areas. We hopped out a Barreda with a Venezuelan man who had asked me, an obvious foreigner , if this train went to Barreda. I chuckled at his confidence an me, and did let him know we were going there too. Now out of the train, we surveyed the slate grey rainy skies and industrial surroundings. But as pilgrims, nothing to do but get up and get going.
We headed up the hill and out of town and turned left onto the narrow country road that would take us out of the urban traffic, trucks and factories. Soon the suburban cookie-cutter housing developments gave way to rural landscape with cows, horses and historic buildings. Interestingly, instead of cowbells, we have horse bells here, and they are quite loud.
After walking for two hours in the rain, we came to the famous historic town of Santillana del Mar, considered to be one of the most beautiful towns in Spain. It was raining and grey when we got there and numerous tourists taking pictures. The church and cloister were beautiful and very much worth the 3 Euros to go in. Later I bought my pilgrim’s shell at a shop and it was very beautiful. Pilgrims all carry a shell, which I suppose is a sign of baptism since the shell is used to catch water.
Seeing that there were no likely towns with services coming soon, we stopped for our second breakfast of cafe con leche and tortilla española. It was surprising that the tortilla was freshly cooked and warm (often they seem to be cold and from yesterday) With new energy we emerged with determination to hike onwards. The rain came and went for several miles, but the road remained very pleasant, well marked and paved, which made our progress rapid. We entered a region dotted by charming little towns, some with fascinating old churches or hermitages, none of which were open. Once church had a picnic table so we stopped for an orange and break.
Heading into the final 5 km the little towns became even tinier and more picturesque. It was hard to feel tired or fatigued from the walk.
We arrived in good health and humor in the town of Cobreces, despite bedbug bites and blisters. Seeing a small bar, we anticipated it might be the only place open and might close soon. Better to get our dinner now we thought. It turned out to be correct and we were glad to be able to have a hamburger and beer to help hold us over night. We are finding that the coastal areas are almost abandoned and it’s getting harder to find food. Our planning from now on will include close attention to where we will eat or buy groceries.
Your weather is similar to what we are having, although I think you are getting a bit more rain. What a pleasure it must be to walk in such beautiful countryside.