We always say we won't just tramp about but we always do...

Playlist

Fauré - Complete Music For Piano

Various - Trojan Beatles Tribute Box Set

Blackfield - Blackfield V

Esbjörn Svensson Trio - Seven Days Of Falling

Ezio Bosso - The 12th Room

Ted Nugent - The Ultimate Ted Nugent

Bach, W F - Three Fantasias, Three Fugues, Three Sonatas

Annette Humpe - Zeitgeschichte - Das Beste von und für Annette Humpe

Brouwer - The Black Decameron

Seel - Four Generations

Dutilleux - The Centenary Edition

If - If

Nicolson - Play

Electric Light Orchestra - Alone in the Universe

Herman Van Veen - Fallen oder Springen

Corelli - La Folia

John McLaughlin - My Goal's Beyond

Keith Jarrett - Sleeper

Fehlfarben - Über... Menschen

Moby - Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.

London Sinfonietta - Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters

Klangforum Wien - Der Erste Bank Kompositionsauftrag 2002-2007

Various - Funk

Szymanowski - Szymanowski: Piano Works, Vol. 1

Paul McCartney - Pure McCartney

David Bowie - Blackstar

Krauze - Piano Works

Dillon - Traumwerk • String Quartet No.2 • Parjanya-Vata • Vernal Showers

Gabi Delgado - 2

Rijnvos - Block Beuys

Motörhead - Aces Up My Sleeve - The Collection

Jason Moran - Same Mother

Various - Island Presents: Rock Steady

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (Immersion Box)

The Staple Singers - The Best Of The Staple Singers

Santana - Lotus

The Neal Morse Band - The Similitude of a Dream

Yello - Toy

Chick Corea - The Best Of Chick Corea

Udo Lindenberg - Stärker Als Die Zeit

Brahms - Linkages

Torke - Music on the Floor

Various - Front Line Presents Roots

Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon

Zahara - Santa

Arkhonia - Trails/Traces

Markus Reuter - Fool of Music

Rihm - Musik für drei Streicher

Rheostatics - Green Sprouts Music Week

Various - Island Presents: Roots

Stöckigt - Meisterwerke für Fagott

King Crimson - Thrak (2015 Stereo Mix)

Various - Funk Fever

Various - Downtown Funk

Haas - Janacek, Haas, Szymanowski String Quartets

The Pineapple Thief - What We Have Sown

The view from the office this morning...

Round the corner to Cafe Quebec for breakfast...

Then, a walk through the market...

This wee monkey's looker-afterer was in buying fish...

Onwards...

Through Portico Plaza... 

..and along past one of the many churches spotted yesterday...

...and the cathedral...

...and through the Pereda Gradens...

Wasn't sure what this is going to be when it's finished...

...but I liked it...

It's Renzo Piano's Botin Centre and has been being constructed since 2011, set to be one of Spain's leading art galleries when finished...

Looking out over the water...

...and back to Banco Santander...

A beautiful, warm, sunny morning...

Our very far off target was in the distance...

...as we walked along the water side...

These, Los Raqueros - statues of kids who used to dive into the water to retrieve objects for cash...

...and the Monumento a José Hierro - which we did not realise was a head until a passer-by pointed it out to us, presumably recognising us as clueless tourists...

...cos we were too busy doing this...

Onwards...

...occasionally looking up into the city...

At the water's edge...

...wildflowers...

We walked on past the marina...

...and waved these Swedish yachtsmen off on their travels...

On we ventured, past the University...

...our goal still very much far off in the distance..

...the Nautical Technical College...

...the modern theatre and concert hall that is the Palacio Festivales Cantabria...

Impressive!

Past the Nautical School...

After an hour's walk, time for a sit down...

The Dunas del Puntal in the distance...

Onwards once more...

Our goal still very much in the distance...

Up off the beach....

...to the higher road...

...with excellent views - this the Isla de la Torre - with yet another Nautical institution...

In the distance now, Faro de Cabo Mayor...

...as we approached the Peninsula de la Magdalena...

Ice cream was required, two hours into the walk...

Around the gardens...

I could not resist the lure of the long jetty...

...after which, the walk continued...

More lighthouses, Faro de la Cerda...

...and Faro de la Isla Mouro...

...and on...

This couple were checking their photos - we'd taken one of them for them back in Santander...



Finally, after 2 hrs 40, our goal - Palacio de la Magdalena...

Only to find it was closing for a three hour siesta...

Dejected...

Oh well, next time...

Down the other side of the hill to the Muelle de las Carabelas, dock of the Caravelles...

People sailed across the Atlantic in these tiny ships...

Just along from this, a strange sea-zoo, with seals and penguins...

We did not see the "comedy" penguins though...

At least I thought the sign said comedy penguins but "comida" means feeding...

Ahem...

The bus back took just seven minutes...

Back to Cafe Quebec for lunch, where I chose what I thought the barista advised was Goulash Tortilla - well, I don't know what it really was but it seemed to be a pure garlic tortilla...

Oh well...

Back to the flat for a rest and some Bucks Fizz/Mimosas...

A couple of hours later, we were back out and searching the back streets for a funicular we'd seen marked on the map...

Finally, we found it...

Fine views were afforded from the top...

...before we walked on, exploring the more modern suburbs of the town...

...including the Conservatorio Jesús De Monasterio...

...for young and, perhaps, not so young, musicians...

To be honest, this mural was probably the most interesting thing we saw...

The views, however, remained good...

We made our way back down the hill towards our apartment...

...and to Plaza de Ayuntamiento...

...where the free Nutella stand was outdoing the Red Cross for custom...

Back to Gallofa & Co for coffee and cakes around 5...

Then, to the train station to check times for a proposed trip tomorrow - we'd decided not to go to Bilbao - that will be a holiday in itself at some point in the future...

And now, a kind of pub crawl...

This was a very popular wee place with food orders continually being shouted out from the kitchen - cheap as chips - I cannot recall its name though...

As we sat here, the rain started...

A walk through said rain to the old town and we dived into another bar, the name of which, I also cannot recall...

By this time we were soaked through - we made our way to Plaza Cañadío and into Bar Canela...

The drinking was having an effect...

Our final destination, for a late dinner, was also on Plaza Cañadío, Bodegas La Conveniente...

...where, quite possibly, slightly too many tasty Tapas were ordered...

But much enjoyed and good night was had...

Past an interesting fridge on the way out...

...and front of house...

Into the dark, thankfully, the rain now gone...

...kind of...

...past the cinema next door to the apartment...

...and home...

A long, enjoyable day, tramping about in usual holiday fashion...

Highlight of the Day : Tramping about...