Walking the historic streets and golf courses of Santander, Spain

It was a beautiful sail to Santander which is located on the northwestern coast of Spain on the Bay of Biscay. It is reported to be a population of 180,000 but it seems a much larger and more bustling city.
The city dates back to ancient times but its first written mention dates back to Roman times. It was occupied by Romans, Moors, French and finally Spain in the middle ages. It has a large and beautiful harbor and the morning sail-in was spectacular.

Just after we arrived we left the Ship to play golf at Real Golf De Pedrena which dates back to 1928.

The city of Pedrena is most famous for being the home of legendary golfer Seve Ballesteros who was born and raised in the town. He came from a golfing family that included his father, uncles and brothers. He is said to have played on the neighboring beaches with a 3 iron given to him by his brother when he was 8 years old. Seve died in 2011.
From the clubhouse you can see his home high on a hill overlooking the course.

We were told this is where he is buried, under one of the trees overlooking the golf course. The Members are very proud of this heritage.
This was a very, very pretty course.

Since it was built in 1928 there are many big and old trees lining the fairways. It is much shorter than the course in Porto but the greens were huge and diabolical.

Most of the Members walk this very hilly course but we did notice they have motorized walking carts. We all rode in riding carts.
After golf we walked into town with a Resident couple and eventually dined in an Italian restaurant (go figure!). We chose Italian (in Spain…) because there were very few restaurants open at 7:30 pm for dinner. In Spain, the siesta is alive and well and most Spaniards don’t even think about eating dinner before 9 pm or even much later. Only the tourists eat early and it is hard to find restaurants that open early. Anyway we had a nice dinner and a great time with friends.
The City if very lively and there were many, many people out and about when we walked back to the Ship around 10 pm.
The following morning we explored the city by foot to get some fresh air and a bit of exercise. It is a really pretty city with many old and tall buildings lining the waterfront. We just love it when the Ship is docked in the City center and we can easily get into the City.

We were surprised at how many people were out walking the city on a Friday morning.



After about 2 hours of walking and snapping many pictures, we returned to the Ship as we are scheduled to depart at 3. Lunch on the pool deck was followed by a short nap.
In the afternoon we attended a presentation by Butterfield and Robinson who have been engaged to organize some overland journeys for us. They are in the top of their field for designing unique and unusual experiences for their clientele. So far they have planned 8 Journeys over the next 6 months.
Later that evening was a black-tie dinner in our formal restaurant called Portraits. It seems to be a joy for our executive chef and sommelier to plan a feast with superbly paired wines. They did not disappoint.