We’re in luck, and the weather looks fine this morning. Rachael plans a walk and I’ll hop on the bike, with us both planning to be back by around one for lunch. Rachael finds another route for herself on Wikilocs, this one an easy walk to the coast to Santa Justa Beach and back. A small outing of barely ten miles, but one with steep hills, many cows and goats, and stunning views when she finally makes it to the coast.
For myself, I’ve drawn up a loop west along the coast nd back, thinking I’ll surely see a new bird along the beaches somewhere. We’re in the north though and I expect to see some gulls or terns that don’t make it further south.
I don’t though. I think I see exactly one gull, way off soaring above the bay in the distance. There’s more to life than birds though, and the steady stream of knockout views are a fair consolation prize. Especially interesting is Comillas, a small town with a remarkable architectural legacy. In the second half of the 19th century it was one of the most distinguished seaside resorts in northern Spain, and the summer resort of the Spanish king and other royalties. And in an odd historical quirk, Comillas was the capital of Spain for exactly one day, on August 6th, 1881.
It’s a hilly ride that fills the morning and tires the legs, but I make it back in time for lunch, just a few minutes after Rachael. We walk the terrible streets of Santillana toward the Plaza Major, rhink8ng we’ll go to that same restaurant we planned on for yesterday, but we see a menu that attracts us on the way and stop short again.
Before leaving for the ride I go around to the back to get my bike from the shed and say good morning to our shaggy neighbor. I can’t tell if he even saw me.
The exit through town is a mess while we’re here because the street is torn up for a new restoning project. I can’t believe they’re not taking the opportunity to convert this horror to asphalt.
It’s not long until I’m out of town and biking though gorgeous but hilly countryside. Were so lucky to be getting a break in the weather so we can see it!
The Church of San Pedro, in Cóbreces. It’s striking because it is so unlike the other church architecture in the region and looks like a structure you might see in France or Germany. In fact it’s fairly modern, built in th3 late 1800’s in the French neo-gothic style,
Next to the church is another modern neo-gothic construction. This one is a Trappist monastery, but was originally a Cistercian abbey when opened in 1910.
Dropping toward the sea, accompanied by a steady stream of peregrenistas. We’re on the Northern Way here, the route that originates in the Basque Country near San Sebastián and follows the coastline the whole way. It looks like it must be a spectacular route.
Still in Comillas is Palacio de Sobrillano, the Marqués de Comillas’ summer palace built in 1888. It’s good to be the Marqués. I wonder where he went south for the winter.
The architect? Gaudi, in one of his earlier works, at the same time he took over construction of the Sagrada Familia. Just something he knocked off in his spare time apparently.
