Stroud to Stansted to Santander

 

Long day, today! L, the cat sitter, drove us down to Stroud station, and we caught the train to London Paddington, and on to Stansted airport.  Not many carriers fly to Santander airport, which is why we couldn’t fly from anywhere nearer.
 
The wait at Stansted was long, and I had to have my cracked-shell suitcase  noted, and sign a damage disclaimer, as well as being x rayed at security,  and falling foul of the bag scanning machine!  When we finally got on the plane, which seemed a little like a 1970s bus  in décor, and all strapped in, ready to fly to Northern Spain,  our ears were greeted with the unwelcome announcement that the airspace over the South of France was congested, and that we would not be able to take off for at least an hour and a half! Our plane was then towed away to RyanAir limbo, until some complicated negotiations could be carried out, which resulted in us leaving not terribly late, after all!
 
By the time we’d landed, cleared passport control, and picked up our hire car at the very un-busy Seve Ballesteros airport, Santander, the staff were ready to lock up the entire airport! An earlier panic about credit cards needed for the hire car had been resolved (none of them would work in the ATMS at Stansted, until I tried using them in an actual shop), so by now all that remained to work out how to use the electronic card for the car, and the SatNav!
 

With great skill and aptitude, we found our way to Comillas, some 65km away along a deserted motorway, and found it a pleasant, hilly town with cobbled streets and plenty of nightlife. Our hotel hosts greeted us warmly and when we asked for a beer, they brought us a huge plate of jamon Serrano and chorizo to go with it. It must have been at least one in the morning, and I was relieved to discover that our hotel room was a decent size, in a building full of character, close to the centre of town. The building opposite, which announces itself as a physiotherapy centre, appears to be a club, and was thrumming with life, but I unpacked my earplugs, adjusted my eyemask, and slept through the Spanish night.


PS Excuse the naff captions, but PhotoDirector has unchangeable templates