Day One, Santander, Spain

Well, we made it! Arrived 530PM local time in Santander, Spain, after a 4-hour train ride north from Madrid. Slept poorly on the overnight from Newark, and so was pretty tired when I got here. Didn't have a hotel lined up for the first night, but it took us all of 5 minutes to find a free wi-fi network outside the train station and start looking up local places.

It didn't take me long to realize that I missed Europe...the great, old architecture, bustling streets, outdoor cafés, little motor-scooters everywhere. I felt right at home :-)

Walked 5 minutes towards to shore (Santander in on the Atlantic coast) and found a gorgeous places only two blocks away. It was affordable enough given the location, but they wanted a 7 Euro surcharge for wi-fi on a per device basis, for every 45 minutes!

With a laptop and iPhone in tow, that would've been an expensive situation....so a couple more minutes of Googling resulted in a great find...the Hotel Centrale in the heart of town. 70 Euros for the night got a quaint, clean room with free wi-fi (that worked on & off). The building was at least 100 years old, but well taken-care of. 

A quick shower and then dinner at a great little bistro, filled with hams hanging from the ceiling, and a few hundred bottles of wine adorning every nook & cranny in the walls. John & I first shared an appetizer of chorizo, grilled peppers, "croquetas", papas fritas, and morcilla (blood sausage).

John Tonner had a traditional filet for an entree and I enjoyed the "Pescado Del Dia" (catch of the day), a grilled Dorado (kind of a Mahi Mahi) with head and tail still attached...yum!

Bed at midnight local time - my head was spinning with jet lag (harder at age 47 than it was years ago?) and the cycling starts tomorrow. 

More later....photos are here