Lay days in Santander

Paseo de Pareda

We have done very little in Santander other than sleep, eat, and walk the nearby streets and neighborhoods. Santander is a smaller city, that doesn't seem compelled to stay up late. Unlike many Spanish cities where midnight is the time you might be ordering dessert, in Santander, many of the streets were already empty. That was fine with us as we headed back to bed just before midnight last night. Today we finally culled out the last of our colder weather gear, and mailed it off to Santiago. Our backpacks are now as light as they are ever going to be. Robin's is probably 12 pounds, and mine might be 13. As we were strolling along we met a young French guy, Xavier, who we met on the Le Puy route. It was a very pleasant surprise. We also caught up with others we have been walking with on the Norte. We were talking with a friend, Eric, from Washington D.C., about the Primitivo route. He said over half the people he has been talking to are planning to jump off the Norte at Sebrayo, and walk the Primitivo. He was not sure why so many were considering that, but one possible explanation could be the numbers of people currently walking the Norte. Eric said that they had 60 people at the albergue in Güemes last night. It is full at 70. This he says is resulting in a bit of a race to the next albergue. It might also be that Asturias has done a good job awakening pilgrims to the beauty of the Primitivo. Whatever is going on there are now lots of folks heading to Santiago via the Norte or the Norte/Primitivo route. BTW, we have also encountered a few people who left the Camino Frances, because it was too crowded, and moved up to the Norte. So that adds a few more pilgrims as well. It will eventually get sorted out, but for now many pilgrims are trying to decide where to break their daily stages to improve their chances of getting a bed. I have no information regarding numbers of pilgrims who have not found beds, but it seems likely there must be some. Anyhow, I will pass along whatever else I learn regarding accommodations. I will close with a few photos (as always) of Santander, a very nice place to be.

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Cathedral in Santander

Cathedral cloister

Cathedral chapel

 

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