31 July - Day 6 - Santander to Comillas 0km Rest day

Last nights pension was across from the bus station and it was noisy until 4am. We are making good use of our ear plugs. 

The pension owner told us only paper in the toilet but even that managed to block the pump, and we awoke to sewage coming up through the drain in the shower! 

Kim’s smell hasn’t really come back yet after COVID so she was able to miss out on the stench. Quick pack and bee line to find breakfast. 

It’s Sunday morning and the streets are empty but we find a bakery for tortilla, coffee and wifi. The trifecta. 

Call our parents to check on them. Kim’s parents are recovering from COVID. Val had it bad and Dave only slight symptoms. Both have cabin fever. We can relate. 

Our journey is 686km from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela. We have 25 days, hoping to average 20km a day so we need to take some legs by bus. Today is one of those days. Santander to Santillana del mar 31km. Touted as the prettiest town in all of Spain. We opt for 2 hours to check it out and then bus on to Comillas. 

Santillana del mar is picture perfect and we explore the old cobbled streets, get our pilgrim passport stamped at the cloister adjoining the cathedral (which is closed!) and then head for lunch. 

We haven’t eaten a lot this trip so Kim’s purpose today is to eat her way through the day. Find a little cafe that does a pelegrino tostados (jamon and tomato with their amazing local bright green olive oil) and another cafe con leche. They are both massive! 

While away the hour in their courtyard people watching and digesting our lunch. 

Bus station is right outside the old town on the side of the street - easy. 

Santillan del mar is inland so we head back to the coast to Comillas 22kms. 

We like Comillas instantly. We pass the white sandy beach, the old harbour and get dropped off outside the old town. We find a pension, shower, wash our clothes and then head to the beach. The wind has picked up so we opt to go into our knees. Nice stroll around the old harbour and then back through the old town. 

The church is open but there is no one to stamp our pilgrim passport. We fail again. We will need to be very diligent for the last 100km to get 2 stamps a day in order to get our Camino certificate! 

There are lots of majestic houses in town, the one above was Gaudi's.

There is a nice buzz about the town and as it hits paseo time we sit outside a local bar and people watch. 

Paseo is a traditional way to experience life in Spain and are usually taken in the evenings or around meal times as people head out into the plazas and squares and enjoy drinks, tapas or their evening walk and dinner.