I sense a new series developing here. Now there’s an idea…

During our day out in Gernika a couple of weeks ago I happened to spot on Facebook that Vintage Trouble were playing in Santander the following Saturday; fast forward a few hours and I’m sat at home with my card in my hand booking tickets and a hotel in Santander. Spontaneity is the best way.

Ever seen Gomorrah?

Despite my dry January mission I allowed myself something of a ‘cheat day’ and would be off my own leash for a day. More on that later. We arrived in Santander in the early afternoon, grabbed a bite to eat and a quick drink and dropped our bags off before heading out to explore the city for the day. It’s not all booze and debauchery on this blog you know!

As per usual there was the quick scout of Wikitravel before inevitably just heading in the general direction of the city and stopping wherever took our fancy.

The first place that caught our eye was the Centro Botin art centre. Although we had very little interest in going inside we spent a bit of time exploring the surroundings and actually speculating what it was.

Imagine the monument isn’t there and you’ll see a great picture of the Centro Botin museum.

There’s a time and a place for art and culture, but a one-day dry January holiday was certainly not it! In the end we felt it was probably best to head to a bar for a beer or two and take stock. Better safe than sorry.

A few cheap swift ones at a friendly bar named La Pita later and we were on our way again, this time in the direction of the Palacio de la Magdalena. The former Royal seaside getaway is one of the city’s most popular attractions so it felt only right to at least tick that one off the list!

No royals in sight on a day like this!

There’s nothing quite as grim as a seaside town in the rain (and I speak as a man who often had birthday parties in November in Blackpool) and unfortunately at this point the rain had started coming down in bucket loads. Despite this the palace was worth the walk as the surroundings and the building itself were really nice. Fit for a king, you could say…I’ll get my coat.

My best ‘I’m not freezing and wet and I’m having a really good time I promise!’ face.

I’d like to say we powered through and did a full day of sightseeing regardless of the rain, but the truth is we went to the Palace, came back and got drunk.

Oh yeah, I also found a Japanese shop selling natto on the way, so all wasn’t lost. If you haven’t got a clue what natto is, it’s a slimy, smelly Japanese foodstuff made of fermented soybeans. And it’s brilliant.

Things I didn’t expect to find in Santander #1.

As was the case with Gernika the previous weekend, despite a rainy day Santander left a good enough impression to make me want to go back when the weather picks up. As for the night ahead and the Vintage Trouble gig, you can read all about that here.