Día de los Reyes and Carnaval, Two Holidays with One Stone

This post is long overdue, months overdue, back in January overdue...I am hiding this behind my "students have their English exam next week" excuse.  But seriously.  Apologies for Trinity exams consuming my life for the past few months.

La Cabalgata in Santander

Anyway, now to bore you with an informational post, my "B".  One of the greatest parts of living in Spain with a native Spaniard, and working at a Spanish school is that I get to experience many Spanish holidays quite authentically.  Two such holidays this year were: Día de los Reyes and Carnaval.

Día de los Reyes

Our "USA meets Spain" Reyes presents

Día de los Reyes, or Day of the Kings, is celebrated January 6th in honor of the day the Three Wise Men are thought to have 'beheld' baby Jesus after he was born.  In Spain this holiday is in many ways quite similar to how Christmas is celebrated for children in the USA, as it is traditionally the Magi that bring them holiday presents and not Santa Claus.  They're incredibly popular and if you ask many Spaniards they always had a favorite growing up (Balthasar is in particular quite popular among my friends).

To celebrate the arrival of the kings to Spain on January 5th, most cities hold a typical parade known as the Cabalgata de Reyes Magos that welcomes them into the city.  The parade I saw in Santander had different floats, trucks, and even sheep (who doesn't love a herd of sheep wandering through a city)!

Near the end of the parade the kings finally arrived on their own floats and are followed by different fire trucks and delivery trucks that "help bring the children their presents".  Later the Magi walked around the city distributing candy to any little children, which was absolutely adorable to see...and I maybe asked for candy too...maybe...

Our Roscón de Reyes

As it's celebrated on the 6th, this is the day where most Spanish children receive most (if not all) of their holiday presents.  For their breakfast celebration it's typical to have a special cake called a roscón (similiar to a fruitcake, but tastier!), which can even be filled with different things like cream or chocolate.

What makes the roscón so special is that inside there's often a small toy that's been hidden inside, sometimes even a bean.  If you find the toy you are proclaimed the 'king/queen of the day' but if you find the bean in your piece then you're supposed to pay for next year's cake.  This year in the cake the BF and I bought for ourselves I found the prize, which was a tiny turtle!  Though it did help that I devoured most of it...

Carnaval

Carnaval is a great holiday for Auxiliares because we get to celebrate it with our students.  It celebrates the time before lent with a hugeee party (think Río and Mardi Gras), but in Spain there's more child-friendly activities than 'earning' beads.

In my schools the children got to do a lot of fun activities preparing themselves for a big parade at the end of the week.  The theme for the year was art so all the students made costumes depicting different artists and aspects of art like: crayons, colored pencils, paintbrushes, and even the melting clocks of Dalí.  The teachers even had their own costumes to parade around with the students.  As you can see I was a beautiful painting.

At the school they had El Entierro de la Sardina or "The Burial of the Sardine" which is a Spanish tradition that one of our teachers explained as symbolizing the end of Carnaval by burying the past in hopes of a better future after fasting during Lent.  The sixth grade students and their teachers all wore black and paraded around 'mourning' as the fun of Carnaval ended and Lent was about to begin.

Celebrating El Greco

Our 'Sardine' was a large, colorful, paper Sardine that was actually burned instead of buried and when that sucker finally went up in smoke everyone cheered for the end of the celebration (or maybe just that it was time to go home for a nice long puente).

Later that weekend there was a parade in Madrid capital that we watched with my BF's parents who were visiting from Santander.  Instead of having a tradition 'Carnaval' theme, the parade was designed to celebrate El Greco (as this year marks since the artist's death) along other important, particularly Spanish, artists.

Las Meninas

The various floats and displays featured works ranging from El Greco himself, to Bosch, Velázquez, Picasso, Goya, and even Andy Warhol.  Between the floats there were also various performances of cultural groups from different areas of Central and South America.  Even though I've celebrated Carnaval once before in Spain (read as going out with friends in costumes), this was the first time I had seen any kind of parade.  Even though it wasn't "traditional" Carnaval, the art nerd in me was still impressed by a lot of the floats.

It's definitely a unique feeling to be a part of another culture's holidays, but I've also found that experiencing these holidays now that I'm living and working here has helped me learn a lot about Spain and its history, and also feel a little bit less like the "token guiri".

What experience have you had with Día de los Reyes or Carnaval?

Nochevieja, Celebrating Like a Spaniard

A little late in the year for talks of New Year celebrations, but never too late to learn some new traditions!

New Year's Eve throughout the world is quite the spectacle, but never have I seen a spectacle as large as in Spain.  This year was my first New Year's Eve away from home, and I got to spend it with my boyfriend's family and friends in Santander learning how to ring in the new year like a Spaniard.

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I was first most surprised by how family oriented this holiday was compared to the United States.  Unlike in the USA where I either celebrate at my house with my mom and a few friends or at a friend's party, my boyfriend's whole family got together for a huge family dinner (very similar to their Christmas Eve here).

We arrived at their grandfather's house for around 9:00 pm, perfect timing for a Spanish dinner, and spent the time playing games and planning on how my hair would be done for later that night.  Yes, you heard that, how my hair was going to be done...but more on that later.

Bringing two cultures together with pie!

As the clock struck 10:00 we all gathered around the table for a huge dinner of langostinos, pâté, anchovies, cured lomo, salad,  piles of bread, cochinillo (suckling pig/piglet), and cordero (lamb).  Finished off with dessert of torrijas (like a very sweet french toast) and apple pie I made to share some of traditional USA culture.  As usual everything was delicious and I rolled away from the table with a stomach too full for my own good, my typical state after big Spanish family dinners.

Now with an hour to spare before the twelve chimes from Puerta del Sol, the hour of the peinados (hairstyles) began.  In Spain once midnight strikes it's very common for teenagers/young adults, who are of drinking age or atleast pretend to be, meet with their friends to go out.  One of the ways to do this on New Year's Eve is to have a cotillón, a party where a group of people rent out a bar for one pre-paid entrance fee (normally anywhere from 35-70€) and stay and drink there until the bar closes around 6:00 am.  In Santander everyone is dressed to the nines for these cotillones, the men in suits and the women in nice dresses, some even with their hair styled.

My fabulous hair-do

As it was my first, and maybe last cotillón as many of our friends aren't feeling cotillones anymore, we wanted to go all out.  The BF's aunt used to be a hairdresser and she fabulously styled my hair and his sister's.  While we were being "beautified" he was on grape duty.  Counting out grapes for all the family members and making sure everyone had the twelve grapes in time for the twelve chimes, probably the most well known Spanish New Year's tradition.

Unlike watching a giant crystal ball drop in Time's Square, well they have a small ball drop, everyone gathers around the TV, with grapes in hand, to watch the center of Madrid and wait for the clock to strike.  Once the clock strikes numbers appear on the screen with each chime, telling when each grape should be eaten.  I'm proud to say I ate all twelve grapes in time, good luck and prosperity for the new year!, though it did help that we had seedless grapes...  Regardless, we toasted the new year with cava, gave besos to the whole family, and enjoyed all the fireworks being set off near the house.

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Now that it was after midnight we were in a time crunch to finish getting ready to meet our friends in the center for 1:00 am.  We were dropped off by their father who agreed to pick us all up the next morning in the center around 7:00 am, a reasonable party end in Spain.

Altogether the cotillón was fun, not the greatest music unfortunately, but after being in Madrid it was great going out with all our friends from Santander.  And like any great Spanish party, we ended the night (began the day?) with chocolate con churros.

When we woke up later that day we went back to their grandfather's house for a New Year's Day family lunch of delicious home-made Paella.  A few games later, more like the same game of Risk for a few hours, we all went to the cinema to catch a movie (Keanu Reeves's 47 Ronin) together.  The perfect way to relax after a long night, and to remember how much I love the Spanish importance of family.  There's nothing better than family time!

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How was your New Year's Eve?  Have you ever celebrated it as part of another culture?

Living On a Budget: Auxiliar Style

A lovely day in Madrid to talk budgets.

I've had a lot of people back home, as well as people interested in teaching abroad in Spain, wonder how I'm able to live abroad and make ends meet.  Many who are not in the program have wondered if I get paid on time, how much I spend per month, and if the money I make is sufficient to live abroad in Spain.

In the Auxiliares government program you get paid  based on the location you work.  In Madrid you work 16 hours per week and make 1000€, while in the rest of Spain you work only 12 hours per week and make 700€.    As the capital, and largest city in Spain, Madrid is one of the most expensive cities to live here and with the Auxiliares you make more money to cover the extra living costs.

Though many may not believe it, in this program you can make more than enough money to live comfortably in Spain.  Especially if you find any of the abundant Private English classes.

To help give you an idea of how I live on my budget abroad, here's a breakdown of my monthly expenses:

Transportation:

My school isn't in the center of Madrid where I live, instead it's a city just outside of the city limits so I have to buy a monthly Abono/Transportation pass.  You can buy these Madrid monthly abonos in based on what zone you need to travel between (A, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, E1, E2) and your age: Joven, Normal, and Tercera Edad. Because my school is in the B1 zone I buy the monthly B1 Abono, and unfortunately (for me) because I'm over 23 I have to buy the Normal B1 abono.  The card costs me 63.70€ a month but covers any (trains, metro, or bus) travel in zones A and B1.

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Housing:

As I said before, I live in the center of Madrid.  And when I say center, I mean center, as in three minutes from Puerta del Sol.  My boyfriend and I share a one bedroom apartment together, and obviously the rent and utilities that come with it.  Since it's only a one bedroom apartment it's very cheap for us: 280€ (for each of us) per month for just the rent.As for utilities, we don't pay for our water only for electricity and internet.

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For internet and phone we each pay 17€, but this also includes a few hours of international calling to the USA per month.  [Hear that stateside friends!].  And for electricity it depends on the month and the amount we use.  In September and October it was around 11€ for each of us per month, in November and December it was closer to 25€ for each of us per month, and now that the cost of electricity has risen starting this month...we shall see...

Point being that my cost for housing in Madrid's center has ranged monthly from 308-322€.  Definitely not too shabby for living in the Country's capital.

Groceries:

Groceries in this household depends a lot on how much my boyfriend feels like eating in a sitting, which is usually a lot more than I do!  We still split all food costs 50/50 and usually the monthly cost is 300€ for the two of us, so around 150€ each one.  If you're wondering what grocery stores that we shop at, we generally go to the Hipercor of Cortes Ingles (which I've found far less expensive than everyone claims it to be) though sometimes I also go to the Ahorra Mas across the street from my school, or the Carrefour Express that's also near our apartment.

How can you not love the fresh food in Spain? source

Phone:

In Spain this doesn't have to be you! source

Paying for my cell phone here is so cheap that it's something I rarely think (and never worry) about it.  The thing about cell phone service in Spain compared to the USA is that purchasing the actual phone is generally much more expensive (even with a contract and you don't get free upgrades!) but the plans are usually way cheaper.

The cheapest unlocked smartphone I could find was 79€ but my monthly plan with Tuenti is only 10.89€ (now changing to 10.75€!).  I chose Tuenti because of this plan of 1GB of data and 75 minutes of calls per month, so far I haven't gone over either since being here since September.  The only thing is that when I pay monthly on my account they only accept payments in increments of 5€ so sometimes I only have to pay 10€ while others I pay 15€, so I always budget a full 15€.

Savings:

Like many other auxiliares in this program I'm a recent College graduate with student loans to pay off.  I didn't want to defer them but also didn't want to have to pay them while I was here, so I saved up enough money to pay for my loans for two years (seriously spent all last year saving) to prepare for if I was renewing.  In case I do want to stay in Spain for a third year, I have been saving 80€ a month that is for my loans to be transfered to my American bank account at some point this year.

Save those euros! source

General Spending:

This category is for all the general spending in a month, whether it be for: drinks, clothes shopping, having dinner out, or general miscellaneous purchases.  On average per month I spend around 200€ for all of the above, rarely going over my budget.  While Madrid may be more expensive than other cities in Spain, I've found that it's much cheaper to go out here than where I live (beers and wine for 1€, yes please).

You just have to know the different options and know the ofertas, for example: if you like shopping, know when the rebajas (sales) are during the year.  In the current post-Christmas rebajas for only 115€ I've bought a winter coat, a dress, two pairs of jeans, two blouses, and 1 t-shirt.  Score!


For those who want a clearer break-down, these are my monthly costs and the amount I have leftover:
My Average Monthly Income: (1000€ + private lessons)
63.70€ Abono
308-322€ Rent/Utilities
150€ Groceries
15€ Cell Phone
80€ Saving
200€ General Spending
816.70-830.70€ Total Expenses

Every month I clearly have plenty of euros leftover.  This money  is what I've been saving to use for future European travels, like when my Dad is coming to visit me (and Europe for the first time) in April!

If you want advice on any of the above processes like housing, abonos, and phones; read my post:

 "How-To's" for Moving to Spain: Advice from the First Year

And for those who what more ideas on budgets in Spain check out these helpful posts:

Young Adventuress: Spain Budget Breakdown

Oh No She Madridn't: Auxiliares de Conversación Budget in Madrid

How does your budget abroad differ from mine?  Do you have any questions about living costs in Spain with the Auxiliares program?

Nochebuena, Papa Noel, and a Snowless Christmas

I knew one day I wouldn't be able to come home for holidays; after all we all grow up, we all move away from home, and we all start our own lives.  I just never imagined the day would come so soon and that we would be separated by a whole ocean.

When I accepted the position to teach abroad in Madrid I made the conscious decision that I would not be home for Christmas.  Flight prices are so expensive this time of year, I didn't know if I would have my resident card in time, and it just seemed easier to stay in Spain to celebrate.

Christmas morning!

In retrospect, more convenient: yes, easier: no, rewarding and worth the experience: definitely.

While it was at times really hard being away from my family (a.k.a. on Christmas Eve I might have cried the whole bus ride home from the downtown area...), I was extremely lucky to be invited to spend the holidays with my boyfriend's family in Santander and had a home away from home.  Plus the added bonus that I got to see what Christmas was like as part of a Spanish family.

One of the things that pleasantly surprised me the most was the extent of the public Christmas decorations.  In both Madrid and Santander there were Christmas lights on all over the main streets and plazas; I was amazed when December hit and the streets were lit up every night.  While Madrid, as the capital, certainly had more lights I still found those in Santander impressive.

Town Hall of Santander

The plaza of the Ayuntamiento of Santander was lit up with tree lights, the reyes magos (wise men), and reindeer; not to mention the carousel and Mercado de Navidad in the Plaza de Pombo.  I guess I found all the holiday decorations strange becauses of all the controversy at home about decorating for Christmas and excluding other holidays.  It's become such a taboo subject in some public places like schools that I was not used to so much "Christmas", but being away from home I loved all the extra holiday spirit!

One tradition that was definitely new for me was Tardbuena. When December 24th roles around all the young (drinking age) people, at least in Santander, celebrate Tardebuena.  Before having dinner and spending the evening with their families, they spend the afternoon drinking at different bars with their friends.  And when I say the afternoon I literally mean from noon to seven bar hopping decked out with noisemakers and santa claus hats.

When I asked my friends about this tradition they said it's something that is a relatively recent addition to their holiday celebrations, maybe five or so years old.  While it may just seem like typical Spain going out and partying, it's more than just getting drunk before your family dinner.  It's about including your friends in your holiday celebration and celebrating being a "family" with them.

I found on my first Tardebuena that it was the perfect way to fit in 'friend-time' during the busy family holiday season.  Unfortunately for us though, and in true Santander fashion, Tardebuena ended in a rain-out as we tried to run to the bus stop without being soaked.  I failed and made the bus looking like a wet dog...

My second Spanish family

After everyone goes home, or is picked up, the real Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) celebrations began.  Finally, with dry hair, I got dressed for the night and we all went to my BF's grandfather's house in a village just outside of Santander.  Unlike most holiday celebrations at home there were not appetizers served while everyone was waiting around for dinner to be cooked, you just have to be patient and wait for food (very un-Spanish!)  This wait is even more noticeable by the fact that dinner was not served until 10:00 pm, an ungodly dinner hour for most Americans.  But absolutely worth all the delicious Spanish foods!

[If you want to learn about some of the traditional Spanish Christmas treats read this post by blogger Cat from Sunshine and Siestas: A Field Guide to Spanish Christmas Treats, I particularly like marzipan and turrón the most.]

A little piece of home!

When we did finally commence eating, our first plates were: langostinos (prawns/large shrimp), pâté, anchovies, cured lomo, salad, and of course piles of bread.  I'm not a huge fan of pâté or anchovies, but I love langostinos and I had a super Spanish lesson on how to peel them with a knife and fork.  I'm proud to say that I was mostly successful!  After the first plates came the meats: cochinillo (suckling pig/piglet) and cordero (lamb).  And finally dinner was followed by New York style Blueberry Cheesecake from the BF's cousin, assorted Christmas cookies I made with the family, and drinking and games until four in the morning...  I kid you not.  Let's just say this grandma started to fall asleep after midnight.

Christmas morning after waking up, not so bright and early, we gathered around the Christmas tree to open our presents from Papa Noel.  Papa Noel is very similar our 'American' Santa Claus and is a relatively new part of the Spanish holiday traditions.  In fact, many of my students and friends still receive most (if not all) of their presents from the Three Wise Men on the Epiphany on January 6th.  Nowadays in the BF's house they give most of the presents on Christmas and only a few on the Epiphany.

Christmas boxer sharing the spoils

Our piles of presents were all sorted and marked by our respective slippers, and like at home, we each took turns opening the gifts.  The BF's family was super sweet and even had some presents for me!  It was really thoughtful because I thought I was only going to have the gifts that I had gotten when my mom put Christmas money in my account for presents.

After the present extravaganza was finished we got ready to head back to their grandfather's house for Christmas day lunch.  We all filled up on more langostino, baked pasta, more meat, and leftover desserts from the night before.  Part of the family's holiday tradition was that after every Christmas day lunch the cousins all go out to the cinema to catch a movie, so while we digested we caught a showing of the second part of The Hobbit.

But even though "Christmas" was technically over, the celebrations were not.

Every year the BF and his friends have a Christmas dinner where they get dressed up, go to a nice restaurant for a special menu, and participate in Secret Santa.  Since this was my first Christmas here it was also my first year to be a part of the festivities.  Luckily I was given a good friend and I surprised her with a hand-knitted hat and jewelry.

This year we had the dinner on the 28th, the holiday of 'Día de los Inocentes,' the Spanish equivalent of April Fool's Day.  Let's just say the waiters' had a lot of fun making jokes when they were serving us...  The food was good, the wine was flowing, and it really meant a lot to feel like a part of the group.  As the 'foreigner' in a group it can be easy to feel left out even if no one means it: someone tells an inside cultural joke that you don't get because you didn't group up there, a song from the 80's comes on and the whole bar starts rocking out without you, etc.  

But my point is, that it's days like that Christmas dinner when you see the effort someone took trying to buy you the perfect present (an assortment of baking supplies, cupcakes for everyone!), that you realize just how much you're loved.  And that's when I realized everything.  

I was home for Christmas.  It just took a while to realize you can have more than one.

How was your Christmas?  Do you have any special holiday traditions?

Día de Acción de Gracias: Thanksgiving Abroad

Thanksgiving.  A huge American tradition where you gather with your family to remember all the things you have to be thankful for, supposedly like the pilgrims of Plymouth hundreds of years ago.

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The problem is though, what happens when you're an American in another country over 3,000 miles away from your family?  Well that's when the big girl pants come on and you pretend like you know how to cook a roast bird in a teeny tiny oven and invite everyone you know over to judge your cooking abilities.  Forget last Thanksgiving where I thought it was a big deal to cook with a fully prepared kitchen and ample seating.  I'm talking about how you find cranberry sauce and make pumpkin pie happen when you can't find the key ingredients?

But I digress.

Barely a week before Thanksgiving I thought: "Hey.  Wouldn't it be a great idea to invite squeeze ten people into our 40 m² apartment some of our friends over to celebrate?"

And it was great, but not always easy.  Especially finding all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings.  I took care of the desserts and meat (and a few random things like green beans and baked brie) which overall wasn't too bad finding most of the foods.  I had some serious difficulty acquiring ingredients for the pumpkin pie and cranberries though.  Luckily Madrid is a huge city and has plenty of American stores and managed to snag the last can of cranberry sauce in the store near my house. (Muahahaha)  And on the subject of the meat... I honestly gave up entirely on a huge roasted turkey and settled for a close-enough roasted chicken and turkey filets (with a delicious vinegar reduction sauce I might add).

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Thankfully it was potluck style so different friends were helping with different foods.  One friend made absolutely delicious squash and mashed potatoes, another supplied appetizers, and the rest supplied the beverages.  As per typical American tradition we had way too much food for all in attendance and all left completely stuffed.  And we even ended the day watching a little bit of good ol' American football.

And even though it was great, it was (for lack of a better word) different.  It was the first time I was away from my family for the holiday, the first time I was in charge of the meat, the first time I independently hosted it, and the first time celebrating in a place where Thanksgiving doesn't exist.  As an American abroad, not only are you missing the family and traditions you grew up with but you realize exactly how foreign you, and your culture, are.

But most importantly celebrating a holiday like Thanksgiving abroad reminds you why it was so special in the first place.  Too often we're so used to how things have always been done that we just go through the motions.  Celebrating, and teaching about, Thanksgiving here reminded me why I love this holiday and why this holiday is so important to us: to celebrate all the things we have to be thankful for.  And living abroad here in Madrid, how can I not be thankful for this experience and for all the great people I've met so far along the way.  An experience like this comes once in a lifetime and I'm truly grateful for everything, the good and the bad, that comes from living in a new country.

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And just to everybody else to be thankful, I'll leave you all with an adorable anecdote of teaching my students about Thanksgiving.  

On the actual day of Thanksgiving I helped teach the children about the history of the holiday and what it means "to be thankful."  In one of my first grade classes they got to thank each other for the nice things they do and many of them also wanted to thank me: "Thank you for loving me, thank you for helping me, and thank you for being in my class." THEN when some of my fourth graders realized that I wouldn't be able to celebrate with my family they told me they were sorry, gave me hugs, and wished me a Happy Thanksgiving anyway. Leave it to a bunch of sweet Spanish students to remind me of the meaning of Thanksgiving.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving too, whether near or far from your loved ones.  I'm thankful for all of you!

My Favorite Things in Cantabria

Cantabria is a small autonomous community, as well as its own province, in northern Spain.  It's border to the north is the rugged coastline along the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay) while it's bordered to the south by Burgos, east by Basque Country, and west by Asturias.  It is a little known, but beautiful region of Spain that falls within the strip of land known as 'Green Spain;' a wonderfully lush and green region trapped between the mountains and ocean.

Besides being beautiful, Cantabria has a long and rich history dating far back into the Stone Age.  There is so much spirit here; the people are very proud of their region, heritage, and culture.  I've been lucky enough that the past two summers I have been able to call Cantabria my home and have had the opportunity to explore it with native Cantabrians as my guides.  It's truly a beautiful region and has become my home away from home, and quite possibly my favorite part in Spain.  With Auxiliares placements starting I thought I would share some of my favorite things in Cantabria:

Santander 

Palacio de la Magdalena

Santander is the capital of Cantabria and has a population of around 180,000 citizens.  It's a harbor town right on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea.  Santander is also very bike friendly with Tusbic.  Around different areas of the city you'll see a row of bikes for rent, it's very cheap and you can return the bike at any of the bike stations around the city.  Santander has a beautiful coastline and is known for its many beaches: Mataleñas, El Sardinero (Primera and Segunda), Peligros, Bikinis, Magdalena, and Camello.  The Sardinero beaches are the most popular, and central, of all the beaches in Santander with Second beach being the largest.  They are named First (for royal use) and Second (citizen use) from when the royal family vacationed at the Palacio de Magdalena nearby.

On the peninsula of Magdalena there is a small zoo, home to penguins, sea lions, and seals.  It's free to visit and there are also plenty of places in the park to walk around or picnic.  If you walk around the paths of the peninsula you will come to the palace at the top of the hill.  It was once the royal summer home and as I mentioned before, the outdoor location for the TV series Gran Hotel.  During the summer it hosts classes with the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP), but in the winter months it is often open for visitors.

Iglesia del Santísimo Cristo, source

While Santander's main cathedral may not seem like much to look, the small lower 12th century church (Iglesia del Santísimo Cristo), has become one of my favorite churches.  I love how low the ceiling is, how it's lit by just dim lights, and how it sounds when there is a service and the music reverberates off the stone; I adore it.  It also is important to the history of Santander as this church houses the relics of Santander's patron saints, San Emeterio and San Celedonio, and a portion of the floor is comprised of glass panels showing excavated Roman remains.

Cuevas 

View from Monte Castillo

Cantabria is also a region famous for it's many caves and cave paintings; the most famous of these caves being Altamira.  It is located only about 20 minutes west of Santander and while it has been closed to the public since the early 2000s to protect the fragile cave paintings, there is a replica museum you can visit (that in my opinion as a history major, shows painstaking efforts to recreate it).  While Altamira is the most famous of the Cantabrian caves, there are still plenty of caves in Cantabria where you can actually go inside to see the cave paintings first hand.


In the village of Puente Viesgo are the caves of Monte Castillo.  This past summer, my boyfriend took me to visit two of the caves in this complex, Las Monedas and El Castillo.  Las Monedas was discovered in 1952 and is named for coins that were found within dating to the era of the Catholic Monarchs (Isabel and Ferdinand).  While it does have some cave paintings, it is more famous for its rock formations.  El Castillo is the main, and largest, cave of the Monte Castillo complex.  As you enter it, you are met by a dig site that shows all the levels of excavation of El Castillo over the years.  It has many cave paintings, the oldest dating back to the early stone age; long before the first paintings of Altamira.


El Soplao is another famous cave in the Cantabria region located near San Vicente de la Baquera.  This cave has no cave paintings, but is known for its amazing rock formations.  It was accidentally discovered in the early 20th century while drilling for mining and after years of mining use it was abandoned for decades.  To enter the cave you take a typical mine train that brings you inside like the original miners would have.  El Soplao is most well known for its helictites, stalactites that seem to defy gravity by turning upwards instead of growing down as well as its rock 'curtains'.  Soplao also has the basic tourist visit or you can take the 'adventure' tourist visit, where visitors are suited up and get to explore the different tunnels of the cave.

Pueblas 

Santillana del Mar

Another thing I love about Cantabria are all the tiny pueblas, or villages, spread throughout the countryside.  While pueblas are obviously not just a Cantabrian thing, I still list them because I find these small villages so quaint and unlike anything back at home.  One of my favorites is Santillana Del Mar.  It's a historic little town right near Altamira known as the 'Town of Three Lies,' because it's not a saint (santo), flat (llana), or near the sea (mar).  I love it's tiny cobble-stone streets and traditional Spanish homes.  It has a beautiful church and many small museums throughout the village.  I went in early June, and it was beautiful time to visit; not too crowded and not rainy.

San Vicente de la Baquera

Another puebla that I really liked was San Vicente de la Baquera.  This small village is right on the coast, near the border to Asturias and has always had a very important connection to the sea.  More recently it has had an increase in tourism due to its natural beauty, as seen in Oyambre Natural Park that covers a lot of the area around this puebla.  It is also very close to El Soplao, so together they make a nice day trip.  I personally think San Vicente is beautiful; I love the rugged green coastline of Cantabria.  The best time to visit is in the summer, as San Vicente is also known for its beaches.

Comillas

Comillas is another great coastal puebla to visit.  Originally Comillas was a fiefdom for the Marquis of Comillas, a post that is still officially in place.  While known for its coastline, beaches, and seafood (like much of Cantabria) Comillas is also home to the original building for the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, now based in Madrid, and the Palacio Sobrellano, that was built for the first Marquis.  Both buildings are special, outside of the importance of their original purpose, because they are some of the few buildings designed by Catalan architects, outside of Catalonia.  Comillas is known for these Catalan designed buildings, and is also home to one of the few Gaudí buildings outside of Catalonia, the Capricho de Gaudí.

Picos de Europa

Literally just hanging out on the observation deck

Picos de Europa ("Peaks of Europe") is a range of mountains in Asturias, Castilla-Leon, and Cantabria.  To come up into the mountains we took the cable car from Fuente Dé, it brings you right to observation decks and the start of many hiking trails for different levels of hikers.  We didn't hike for very long, only an hour or two, but you could see that the trails were fit for hikers of all levels.

The mountains are beautiful and as a protected national park are home to various types of plant and animal life.  Walking around you could also see different groups of livestock grazing.  Traditionally, villagers would come up to live in the mountains during the warmer seasons to feed their livestock and to make the well-known cheese of the area.  A few still live like this today, bringing up livestock and making the famous Liébana cheese, but with the cable car and other technologies they do not need to live up there isolated for long periods.

One of the main paths from the Fuente Dé entrance

Cooling off in the river!

Potes is a small, adorable village located in the valleys near Picos de Europam in the region of Liébana.  Like most of the area of Cantabria, Potes has history dating back to the Romans, and this area is known for its cocido (stew), cheese, and orujo (a type of pomace brandy, though I prefer the crema de orujo). Potes is also the point where the two rivers of the region meet, which was a nice break for us to cool down because the day we visited it was over 100° F; we were dying!  

Nearby Potes is the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana.  This monastery is famous because it claims to have in its possession one of the pieces of the True Cross, and the largest at that.  Because of this relic, it is one of five churches in the world where pilgrims can get the Jubilee.  I'm not Catholic but it was very interesting to visit the monastery and see such a renowned relic for myself.

Hotel del Oso, in Cosgaya near Potes

Ancient History 

Standing inside what once was a Roman house.

In the south of Cantabria (near Reinosa) lies the remains of Julióbriga, one of the most important cities during ancient Roman control of Cantabria.  It was founded around 29-19 B.C. and was named after the family name of Augustus (Julia, from his adopted uncle Julius Caesar), the reigning emperor.  It was abandoned in the 3rd century, and was not later identified as being Julióbriga until the 18th century.  Little remains of this city except for foundations of the structures that once dominated the city's hill.  Along with the museum, you can see the ruins for the poorer ('humble') houses, the wealthier houses, the city's temple, and the city's forum.    It's by far one of my favorite places I've visited in Cantabria; there's nothing to get a history major going like walking through some Roman ruins!

View of the forum's remains.

Closer to Santander, is the town of los Corrales de Buelna.  At the end of summer, they have a reenactment for the famous battles that took place in this area between the Romans and the Celtic tribe of the area, the Cantabris.  This reenactment is a weekend-long festival called La Fiesta de las Guerras Cántabras (Cantabrian War Celebration).  One of our friends partakes in it and I was lucky enough to get to visit before I had to return home last summer.  Almost 2,000 people participate and they are divided into the Romans and the Cantabris (our friend is on the Roman side, I think it's fitting since he really is half-Italian!)  They recreate both Roman and Cantabrian structures, dress in their sides outfits, and even have a reenactment battle!   I thought the outfits and structures were amazing, and all the people involved are so proud of taking part in this event that commemorates their heritage.  I've never been to anything like it, and hope I can visit again in the future to see the actual battle.

Replica ancient Cantabrian hut.

Iglesias Rupestres

Arroyuelos

In southern Cantabria, near Reinosa and Julióbriga, in the region of Valderredible are multiple Iglesias Rupestres (rock churches).  These churches date back to the early middle ages, and are literally churches that were carved out of the surrounding stone.  While most of these churches no longer hold services, you can still visit them.  We researched the path of where these churches were located and spent the afternoon driving from one to the other.  All together we visited three that day, and the most impressive was Arroyuelos.  Unlike the other Iglesias Rupestres that we visited that were closed, we were actually able to go inside Arroyuelos!

Inside Arroyuelos

When we visited, there was a little old man sitting outside his house on the steep road up to the church.  As we pulled over to ask which path of the road we should take he actually explained that he takes care of the key and would let us use it to go inside.   He only  asked that we give him whatever money we deemed acceptable (we only had 5€, but gladly gave it to him for this experience).  It was quite large inside, with very high ceilings.  The church even had a second floor that you could reach by some well-worn stairs off to the left side.  Never have I had the opportunity to personally hold in my hands the key to a church, let alone one as unique as a church carved into the surrounding rocks!  Visiting the Iglesias Rupestres was quite an adventure!  There were many more in the area that we did not see, and some that even were across the border in Burgos.  If you take a day trip to the south of Cantabria I definitely recommend visiting some of these unique rock churches.

One of the smaller churches: Caldalso

Summer Festivals

Like a lot of northern Spain, summer is the time for parties, and Cantabria is no exception.  While there are parties throughout Cantabria, most of my experience is with the ones that take place around Santander.  The first Sunday in June is Cantabrian Children's Day; celebrated on the peninsula of la Magdalena.  It celebrates the culture of Cantabria and there is traditional music, traditional dress, traditional food, and traditional goods.  I went my first summer and was blown away by how intricate these traditional outfits are, and how each style can tell you what region of Cantabria these people originally came from.  On the 23th of June they celebrate the festival for the eve of San Juan.  This festival is celebrated by lighting bonfires on the beach, traditionally for people to jump over (though now most choose to drink around the fires instead).

Around the middle of the July is Baños de Ola.  It celebrates the history of seaside recreation in Santander starting from the 1800s, and made even more popular when the royal family made Santander their summer home.  This festival includes movies, music, vendors, and activities from this time period and some of the people participating even dress in swimsuits and outfits from the 1800s!  The last two weeks of July are probably the biggest party of Santander though, it is their Semana Grande.  These two weeks are marked by casetas throughout the city (tiny buildings from different bars/restaurants serving delicious tapas and drinks), a fun fair, tents from different regions in Spain, fireworks, and bullfights.  Everyone goes out to celebrate and share their love for their city.  Another festival specific to Santander is the day of the Santos Mártires, the celebration of the two patron saints of Santander in August.  It celebrate the 'founding' of the city by these two saints. 

Also in August is the Medieval fair that takes places along the Paseo de Pereda and the Festival Intercultural near the soccer stadium.  In the Medieval Festival, vendors from throughout Spain are dressed in Medieval style clothes and selling their food and goods.  The Festival Intercultural celebrates the food, goods, music, and dance from different cultures around the world; we had crepes from France, beer from Germany, shark from South America, and kangaroo burgers from Australia.  Both festivals were quite something to see, and there was so much to look at and buy; I particularly liked the intercultural festival but I'm always partial to new food.   Not to mention the multiple music festivals that take place in the city throughout the summer, like Amstel.  With all these festivals and parties going on, it's hard not to love Cantabria in the summertime!


If you want to know more about my favorite region of Spain, visit the official tourism website of Cantabria.

Have you visited Cantabria before?  What was your favorite part?