I didn’t mean for there to be so many lighthouses. I don’t want to be redundant, boring, predictable (lighthouses, waves, churches) but there sure are a lot of them out here. Perhaps it’s subconscious. I seek them out so that I will always be able to find my way…my way back to you.

In Spanish, lighthouse is faro. And we won’t be going to faro today. We will be winding around the coast from Bilbao to Santander and at the same time, going from Basque Country to Cantabria. 

It’s just a short drive to Castro Urdiales. The entire northern coast of Spain is like this – mountains and rivers and cliffs and bluffs interrupted every once in a while by a ridiculous sandy beach or a windy river inlet. There’s usually a medieval fishing village occupying those spots in between the geography. And each little village usually has a seawall, a lighthouse, a church or cathedral, maybe a fort, a lot of boats, too much good food to consider and beautiful, passionate, kind people. It’s all so adorable it makes you just a little sick, but in a good way.

After peeling ourselves away from the seemingly inescapable cuteness of Castro Urdiales, it’s a short drive to Santona and the Caballo peninsula. Our kayaks are waiting as we arrive. We just need to hop in at the Fuerta San Martin and start paddling around the gum drop shaped peninsula. 

There are not enough words to describe Spain’s north coast. I could open up the dictionary, shake all the words out onto the page and it still would not be good enough. Here are a few pictures that are also inadequate but do a much better job than words could do.

We’ll finally end our day in Santander. We’ll walk the town and eat a stunningly good meal at a restaurant that’s probably existed for 400 hundred years. 

We notice Andre has been a little lonely at night so we decide to drive to the bluffs above town, find a good, secluded spot at a campground. There, the rumble of the waves wander up from below and the mist rolls in and through the windows. Above us, sounding it’s deep bellow and spinning it’s never-tiring eye, the Faro de Cabo Mayor keeps watch for us the whole night.