We both got put through the fast track gate only to have our bags checked for silly reasons.
I had a tin of iron bru and my bottle of water clearly had more than 100ml.
You're no longer required to lift them out but the rule still applies.
So when someone says liquids are now ok remember they mean you don't need to do the poly bag thing.
All I know is some mornings it's good and others it's brilliant.
We arrived in Santander and duly got through by 9:52, meaning we got the bus at 10. We had booked the bus to Laredo at 12 to arrive at 12:40 giving us an hour in Laredo before getting the 13:40 to Castro Urdiales, quite simply a perfect little town on the Spanish north coast.
Castro Urdiales has beaches, castles, tapas bars, squares, a port, harbours and a beautiful long walk into town.
We came roughly the route we would walk in the morning so it was useful for me to see where we were in relation to the road.
The bus comes in from the west side and has two stops, roughly equidistant from the town centre.
At a rough guess I'd say the town was 3km long and our pension was in the middle.
We took the bus to the bus station and walked the magnificent boardwalk.
Best bars in town were Los Arcos and Sukaru but there were several we really liked.
It's not all about the food and drink so we walked to the castle and down along the pier.
Then went back to the pub, then bed then out to start the walk.
Tough uphill stretches had me beat at the beginning. There was nothing in the tank. I was fine on the flat but going uphill I just ground to a really slow 0.5km per hour. This is a guess but if we were walking together, Simon would be 50m ahead in about 1 minute. This meant he got a few rests. I was really worried about it but comfortable that it was a primary function of the fitness post cancer Camino.
Lots of little towns and rarely a coffee in sight. I was thinking our stop at bar Alexander was it for the day. We finally got a break for lunch about 12, just as the heavens opened.
We were walking past a cafe in Ismales and I thought let's have two stops in this town. Then I thought, oh it's not on the beach and we carried on another 100m and the rain poured down.
We could see it was a lot as the hill ahead disappeared so we took shelter. 10 minute stretches followed then clear skies and on we strolled. Hard to believe it had been so glorious less than an hour earlier.
The picture reminded me it had been and this stretch up then down the hill along the coastal path once we had crossed was stunning.
Walking along the side of the motorway less so bit the wee pueblos were lovely.
There had been a bar as part of the campsite but it was too early to stop.
Another later on was closed but also there appeared to be a pop up cafe as it was Saturday, although it could've been a wedding.
Once at the bay we could watch the surfers and just the glorious tidal patterns and perhaps the safest beach I've ever seen
Totally surrounded by rocks this pool must fill at high tide then slowly drain.
A natural infants and baby pool. Certainly a granny had her grandchildren with her.
We would walk on from Islares and get a taxi into town from Pontarron. I'll be honest, the stretches on the beach are some of the most breathtaking and by the roads some of the worst parts of the Camino. I will go back with bus timetable in hand and do the stretch from Cerdigo to Islares, then Pontarron through the mountains, but gives me a break from the motorway.
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