Sitios

 Oh, how the weather has changed here in Santander! And so, I have been able to fully enjoy my time in a coastal town by napping on the beach, running to different peninsulas with my classmates and professor (which I hope to snap some photos of soon), and visiting surrounding cities and sites.

On Sunday we visited the Picos de Europa, a gorgeous mountain range and national park in Cantabria. After learning about the different wildlife and craftsmen in the area, we snapped a few photos of this incredible cordillera. Reminded me of Denver =)

Then, we headed to Potes, a medieval town similar to Santillana del Mar and equally as gorgeous, if not more so. We ate lunch at little restaurant in the town and although the food wasn’t incredible, the view made up for it:

After wandering through the town a bit, some of us stopped for some ice cream. Here in Spain, or at least in Cantabria, ice cream is more common than Starbucks in the States. And although I may not be a huge fan of what I know Spanish cusine to be, they sure know how to make their ice cream. I had the “yogur griego con miel,” which was basically this fantastic Greek yogurt ice cream with honey and pecans.  No hay palabras.

Our last stop for the day was the Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liebana. This little monastery is a part of the church that houses the “Lignum Crucis.” The “Lignum Crucis” is a supposed piece of the cross of Christ that was brought to Spain by Torbibio de Liebana? I believe it’s also the biggest piece of the cross that was found. People come from all over to touch or kiss this piece of the cross. Whether or not the piece is actually real, it was an extremely cool experience to hear (or attempt to) the priest/tour guide explain the importance of the cross with such fervor! Although I wasn’t allowed to snap any pictures of Lignum Crucis, I did get some cool pictures of the courtyard and the monastery:

 

Tuesday I started my language class at the Universidad Internacional Menedez Pelayo  (or UIMP…which sounds like “wimp” if you’re from Spain) here in Santander. My class consists of 8 other students, all of which speak at least one other language than their own...Hebrew, Greek, Italian, German, Romanian, Luxembourgish, English. You know, the usual. Oh, and there's a kid from Princeton too. What have I been doing for 20 years?