Los Úlitmos Días en Santander

For our last excursion with the “Grupo de Denver,” we went to the Santander Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, this was not exactly the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen. To give you a good idea of the level excitement, the Museum’s most famous attraction is a preserved two-headed sardine. Yeah…

However, we did get an amazing meal afterwards in the museum with a great view of the ocean. Spain does this thing for lunch, or “La Comida,” called “Menú del Día.” It usually ranges from 9-15 euros and comes with bread, wine or water, a first course, a second main course, and a dessert. Here is a shot of the first course (“primer plato”) of warm goat cheese, jamón iberico, sautéed mushrooms, and puff pastry:

After lunch we went on a pirate ship and took a boat ride around the peninsulas. Despite the clouds and the wind, it was actually a pretty good time:

 The next day some of us went to the market here in Santander to get lunch. We ended up getting there right before they were closing which was kind of a bummer, but I did manage to snap a few shots of stands and buy a couple slices of goat cheese. Queso de Cabra seems to be a theme for me here…

Sorry for any vegetarians reading this...kind of gross picture. But basically every market, grocery store, or restaurant in Spain has some form of hanging meat displayed for all to see. I love it!

The last day at the UIMP was pretty exciting. We had “class” for two hours, which consisted of our sweet professor telling us between tears how much she appreciated us and loved us, and then all of us heading downstairs for some café so we could write notes to each other, saying goodbye. It was basically like signing a yearbook but in Spanish. Afterwards we went the auditorium for a big presentation. There were poems, slideshows, dances, Japanese tea ceremonies, karaoke songs (“Me Voy” by Julieta Venegas being my favorite obviously), skits, videos, and many other Spanish songs sung by students and professors. It was quite interesting and definitely different from anything I’ve ever experienced at DU.

My professor Raquel

Then us DU chicas went out for our last lunch together. The calamari bocadillo was a great choice. Simple, fresh, and filling!

Shots of my favorite foods (thus far) that have gone unmentioned:

This is a Principe cookie. I hate disgusting amounts of these (or a knock-off brand) when I came to Spain 2 years ago. So obviously it was one of my first purchases. It's basically a chocolate filling sandwiched between two over-sized Ritz-like crackers. You can buy like 15 of them for a euro. Amazing.

This is how they do coffee in Spain: a couple shots of espresso, a little steamed milk, and a spoonful of sugar. It's quick, it puts a surge of caffeine in your system, and tastes delicious! Also, basically every bar or restaurant has fantastic coffee. You don't have to search for quality espresso.

Never have I ever consumed so much ice cream in a one month period. Regma is this incredible ice cream shop in Cantabria. Everyone eats so much ice cream here, it's ridiculous. This picture is my favorite kind: yogurt ice cream in a chocolate cone. But not just any chocolate cone. The cone is complete covered in chocolate, inside and out.

Adios Santander! You will be missed!