So here in Madrid, from the 12th – 22nd April, we have our Easter Holidays. This works out to about 10 days of freedom from little children. I love my kids but we all need a little time away from each other, and by Thursday 11th I was READY for a break.
10 days off for me meant time away from Madrid, seeing more of Spain. After my original plan from the start of the year, to go to Seville (famous for its Easter celebrations), was advised against by my Sevillana housemate, I decided to head to the North. Going North has been a priority for me since I got to Spain as I have family who live near Santander, who I haven’t seen since I was 13. It was hence important for me to try and visit them while I was living in Spain, and they were a great excuse to see a different part of the country. I had attempted a trip to Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastian in early December when we had time off, but I ended up being too sick and had to stay in Madrid. So I decided that Easter would be my time to reconnect with my family and do some more exploring.
I decided to start my adventure straight away on the first day of my holidays from work. The plan was Santander with my cousins from Friday – Monday morning, Bilbao Monday – Wednesday morning and finally San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque) from Wednesday to Thursday night when I flew home to Madrid. I got an early morning train to Santander on the Friday (which cost me €30) and I gazed out the window as the scenery got greener and greener. I arrived into the city at 12pm, which gave me a few hours to explore Santander before I met my family when they finished work and school.
The early afternoon consisted of a highlights walk around the city. I started at Centro Botín, a modern art gallery and architectural beauty. This building, which only opened in 2017, is a gorgeous metal structure shaped like a boat and placed so it appears to be heading for the sea. If you are an art lover, you may enjoy the modern art inside, but for me, the best part was the stunning views you get from the terraces and rooftop that are open to the public. You can wander up the three levels and look down on both the Atlantic and the city behind you. I also stopped and had a lovely coffee in their cafe, which has a patio looking out on the ocean. Centro Botin was definitely my favourite Friday stop.
But that is not to say the rest of Santander isn’t beautiful, it’s a charming seaside city to explore. Take a wander on the lovely Paseo de Pereda and gaze at the sea. Pay a visit to El Mercado de la Esperanza, the traditional food market in the city centre, where you can see a wide selection of groceries. The town hall, or ayuntamiento, is also a beautiful building, which is in front of the market. Yet, because I was wandering between 1-3, most things were closed or closing, so I ended up strolling around the city and stopping for lunch in the sun. Not the worst way to spend an afternoon.
And it was about to get better. After lunch, I collected my suitcase from where I stored it at the bus station and took the local train to meet my Spanish cousins. The family, the Maza-Ritchies, are made up of Keith (my mum’s cousin), his wife Ana, and their three kids, Alex (13), Mateo (10) and Pablo (6). Unfortunately, Keith was away for most of the weekend and I only saw him Sunday night, but I really enjoyed my time with the rest of the family. After a very welcoming collection from the train station, we headed home to drop my stuff and then off to Mateo’s Padel match. Padel is a sport like tennis which is only found in Spain, which I was looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately, to Mateo’s and my disappointment, the match had to be cancelled, and instead, Ana, Pablo and myself ended up wandering around their lovely village. That evening we headed home for dinner, which was a great chance for me to get to know the boys and Ana a little better, but I felt very at home with them. We mixed Spanish and English throughout the weekend but stuck to English a lot as the boys tried to make me feel comfortable talking with them.
They were so good to me all weekend, especially on Saturday and Sunday when we managed to see so many beautiful places over the two days. Saturday morning began with a lovely breakfast at home before a trip to Somo, a beach town that looks across the bay at Santander city. Though Mateo and I considered swimming and came prepared, it was far too cold to go in much further than our ankles. Yet the views were beautiful, and it was the best beach we saw over the weekend. After soon getting cold we headed to Pablo’s football match – soccer stops for no-one in Spain – and I can confidently say it was the best match I’ve seen in my 7 or so months here. Pablo, the goalkeeper, played fantastically.
After all the excitement of the match, we headed that afternoon to the peaceful Sequoias, the redwood trees from California which can grow to be the tallest trees in the world. They have a beautiful plantation in Cantabria, which is the largest crop in Europe. I have never felt so small standing beside a tree. Pablo had been there recently on a school trip and acted as our tour guide, while the other two found the best angles for our photos. We soon headed to Comillas, a town beautifully placed by the sea, and home to El Capricho de Gaudi. We wandered up through the very narrow and quaint streets to this famous holiday home, and as we didn’t want to pay in, we headed next door to the wonderful Palacio de Sobrellano which gave us secret views of Gaudi’s design. After enjoying these two sights, I was just as excited as Mateo, a true lover of ice-cream, to try some of Regma’s delicacies. We all sat in a little square in the sun, trying not to drop ice-cream on ourselves, and enjoying the day.
We did not finish in Comillas however and stopped in Santillana del Mar on the way home. Santillana del Mar is not dedicated to a saint and is not beside the sea, but is a precious medieval gem. We wandered around the little pedestrianised streets, looking at the old town along with other hoards of tourists. In comparison to the rest of the places we went to that weekend, it was by far the most touristic, and everything seemed geared to the far travelling visitor. I’d still recommend it but might recommend Comillas over this little tourist town.
That night, everyone was tired and we happily rested for the next day, when a treat awaited us. The kids were so excited all weekend about going out for breakfast on Sunday morning, which I remember as being such a treat when I was their age. We arrived in El Sardinero, the more upmarket part of Santander, on Sunday morning and Ana brought us to a lovely restaurant looking out at the sea. Breakfast was thoroughly enjoyed before we began our scenic walk to the Palacio de la Magdalena, a palace situated on the tip of Santander’s little peninsula. I really enjoyed the Palace, not just for the beautiful building and its gardens, but also for the fact the gardens were home to a family of penguins, which we got to see being fed. I love penguins, and I will make no apologies for that. They also keep sea lions and seals, which were also cool to see. We wandered the grounds and then headed home for the afternoon, we all needed a rest. That evening Keith came home and I was able to catch him up on all the news from home before I left soon after the kids went to school on Monday morning.
I really enjoyed my time with my Spanish cousins, to be honest, much more than I thought I would. I hadn’t seen these lovely people since I was 13, and this was my first time meeting Pablo. I didn’t know how the weekend would work, but they could not be any more welcoming. For boys becoming teenagers, Alex and Mateo seemed happy to chat away to their strange cousin to Ireland, or at least they were very good actors. Ana was a fantastic host, making sure I got to see the best of her region and that I was really enjoying my time with them. Both Pablo and Keith were really good fun, both of them making me laugh. I’m really grateful for the weekend I got to spend with them and I can’t wait to spend more time with them in the future.
It was also a fantastic way to see a new region of Spain. Had I gone on my own, I would have stuck to Santander, and I would not have gotten to see half as many places solo. For this reason, my trip to visit the Maza-Ritchies very much turned into a trip to Cantabria rather than a trip to Santander, and I’m very thankful for that.
From Meath to Madrid 