cheap coffee at last! :-)
The centre of Santander is about 30 minutes away by car/bus along a fast and very busy road so catching the bus is necessary.
From our previous experiences of catching buses we've had one or two hiccups so needless to say we were very keen to break the routine.
Our map isn't to scale so we weren't really sure how long it would take to walk to the bus station located at the far end of the airport so we decided to allow ourselves plenty of time... 3/4 hour to be precise. After just 20 minutes we had arrived at the bus shelter but it was another 40 minutes before it finally arrived (the bus was late!). At least we didn't miss it this time but we were cold waiting around.
Santander is a major industrial and commercial city spread along the sea front and uphill. We noticed immediately how busy the town was mainly from traffic. Apartment blocks and high rise flats dominate the city and there appeared to be a branch of Santander bank on every street corner we turned.
Santander Bank
Tabac kiosks are plentiful along with lottery booths, cafes and bars. Historically, the town is pretty new as a fire broke out in the 1940's that destroyed most of the medieval buildings. We did manage to find a few 'grand' buildings though.
Traffic lights were quite entertaining (sad, I know) as the neon-green man actually moves in slow motion along with a numerical display that counts down the time left for you to cross the road. When on red, another count-down commences to tell you how long you have to wait until you can cross the road. Additionally the timing differs based on how busy the road is.
We decided to stop for a coffee in one of the many men-orientated cafe bars just outside one of the ports. What a pleasant surprise as the cup size was decent and tasted good too. Even better we only paid €2.40 - looks like we may be able to have coffee more frequently whilst here in Spain. :-).
From our previous experiences of catching buses we've had one or two hiccups so needless to say we were very keen to break the routine.
Our map isn't to scale so we weren't really sure how long it would take to walk to the bus station located at the far end of the airport so we decided to allow ourselves plenty of time... 3/4 hour to be precise. After just 20 minutes we had arrived at the bus shelter but it was another 40 minutes before it finally arrived (the bus was late!). At least we didn't miss it this time but we were cold waiting around.
Santander is a major industrial and commercial city spread along the sea front and uphill. We noticed immediately how busy the town was mainly from traffic. Apartment blocks and high rise flats dominate the city and there appeared to be a branch of Santander bank on every street corner we turned.
Santander Bank
Tabac kiosks are plentiful along with lottery booths, cafes and bars. Historically, the town is pretty new as a fire broke out in the 1940's that destroyed most of the medieval buildings. We did manage to find a few 'grand' buildings though.
Traffic lights were quite entertaining (sad, I know) as the neon-green man actually moves in slow motion along with a numerical display that counts down the time left for you to cross the road. When on red, another count-down commences to tell you how long you have to wait until you can cross the road. Additionally the timing differs based on how busy the road is.
We decided to stop for a coffee in one of the many men-orientated cafe bars just outside one of the ports. What a pleasant surprise as the cup size was decent and tasted good too. Even better we only paid €2.40 - looks like we may be able to have coffee more frequently whilst here in Spain. :-).
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