September 23, 2023 Lunch - Surf Cafe. Dinner - Steak and foie gras sandwiches in our room
Our last day of the trip before we head home on an early flight from Santander to Madrid and then Dallas tomorrow.
We had a leisurely breakfast at the Hotel. I ordered a ham and cheese omelet, which I have been craving for weeks while only getting scrambled eggs or fried eggs.
I also took a bowl of fruit with yogurt and two slices on lacon and several slices of bread for our dinner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacón#:~:text=Dried%20meat%20(pork%20shoulder)
The lacon they serve at breakfast at the hotel is soft and very digestible.
After breakfast we walked in the park adjoining the hotel that had been left natural in large part, probably to protect the water shed of the spring that produces the mineral water for which the spa is famous.
We then decided to go get gas out at the gas station at the entrance to the autovia.
I then suggested that we should not leave Spain without trying one more time to find a fresh oyster, so Suzette found a seafood restaurant at Playa Somos, which is on the northern point of the bay across from Santander.
We drove to the beach and parked at around 1:30.
We walked the long block from the parking lot to the beach and discovered that Playa Somos is a surfing Mecca.
There were lots of surf shops and surfers in the water and hanging out on the beach and in a cafe sitting up on the dunes just behind the beach named the Surf Cafe. We decided to grab a beer and a snack.
Sculpture of surfer at parking lot
There was a crowd at the Surf Cafe but it turned over quickly and by the time I returned from the WC Suzette had found us a table. There was a line forming to order food, so I joined it. I ordered two draft beers, which were Aquila pilsners, a marinated mussels and a special of the day, Russe Salad, that turned out to be potato salad with a basket of bread.
Salad Russe or Potato Salad
We liked both especially when the excess chopped red and green bell peppers and diced onion from the mussels were added to the potato salad.
After we finished our snack we walked around the block to the recommended seafood restaurant that may have had oysters, but 5hry did not.
So we returned to our car and drove back to the hotel.
There was a wedding tonight and so I had to park across the street at the bus station.
We rested until 5:30 when we went for a one hour soak in the mineral pool.
It is the largest indoor mineral spa I have seen and the most elaborate with all types of configurations of jets of water.
My favorite by far was a jet that sprayed tiny bubbles at your hips that created a shower of tiny droplets from the water that made me feel like I was in a glass of champagne.
After an hour we returned to the room and packed two grips.
Since the wedding goers had taken all the usually available spaces we went to the front desk and asked if we could park in the underground parking garage. For €6 we validated our room key to access the garage.
We then walked to the bus station around the corner at 8:30 after watching the Friday edition of PBS Newshour on You Tube, which was now filled with wedding guests’ cars and saw many streaming toward the hiotel.
We drove to the garage and again the waitress who I have befriended came to our rescue because we did get through the door quickly enough and it closed.
She took our door key and ran up and keyed the door open and ran back to give us the key.
We parked and took the elevator to the 3rd floor where our room is located and fetched the two grips and took them to the car.
It was around 9:00 when we returned to the room and the wedding was in high gear with music blaring.
We made steak and foie gras sandwiches with the entrecôte left from last night’s dinner on bread smeared with mayonnaise and mustard or butter and drank the rest of last night’s 2017 Margues de Vargas Rioja Reserva rated 4.2 by Vivino that was still a really lovely smooth drinking wine.
Suzette sliced a pear and we had a simple but lovely meal with music.
After dinner we packed the other three grips and went to bed.
We have enjoyed our trip and all the amazing discoveries, such as finding a beautiful surfing beach full of lots of tanned young people that reminded me of the summer of 1969 when I lived and clerked at a law firm in LA and spent a lot of time at the beach.
We are ready to return to our responsibilities and home in Albuquerque.
And miraculously, the camper van was towed to our house yesterday after Suzette spent six weeks arguing with her insurance company.
Bon Appetit
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