Cafe con leche y salmon pate

After two pretty great flights (surprisingly bearable), a great deal on a rental car (Mercedes Benz, really?) and some pretty easy navigating on the beautiful highways of Spain, we find ourselves in stunning Santander this morning:
But let's backtrack to our adventures yesterday: 36 hours of no sleep, amazing coffee and learning all about how Spaniards drive (they tailgate but no offense, are you surprised?). Here is a story in pictures:
After arriving at Barajas airport, we hit the road for Santander. Along the highway we were accompanied by several giant bulls on the side of the road - 5 in all before we arrived in Burgos:

Knowing that we would be passing closely by the home of El Cid: Burgos, we couldn't pass up stopping there for lunch and a peek at their incredible cathedral. Upon seeing this amazing facade with colorful flowers, we knew we had arrived in Spain:

The Burgos Cathedral:

Breathtaking inside:

We had an amazing lunch in Burgos - Nana really enjoyed her first glass of Spanish wine and the tapas were amazing. Bonito (Spanish tuna) with boquerones (anchovy) and piquillo pepper, plus the most delicious Spanish tortilla (omelette with potatoes) - why can't mine turn out that yummy? I had a refreshing glass of cerveza (beer) and let's not forget the smoked salmon with goat cheese and caramelized onions. First meal was a huge success.

After leaving Burgos we continued on to the coast, but not before passing the most incredible landscape. We left the dry meseta and entered into a world of bizarre rock formations - natural caves and arches formed by the wind. Here is a picture taken from the car:

From there, we crossed into the Cantabria region with rolling green hills that could have been mistaken for Ireland:

The towns smashed right up against the highway cracked us up (or rather, the little dirt road that became a highway cutting through their towns).

We found our way to the Cantabrian Sea and the beautiful city of Santander. We can see and hear the ocean from our hotel room, which was a welcome reward after a busy first day in Espana.

The name of the beach where we are staying is El Sardinero #2 (yes, there are two of them). After several headaches posting this, we are heading out to Potes and the Picos de Europa today. More later!