My morning started with the ship playing very gentle wake up music over the public address system at around five. It was enough to wake me but not quite enough to get me out of bed and into the shower. It took a while, but I realized I should get up and dressed if I wanted breakfast before we disembarked. I had a cup of coffee and some cereal to get my body and brain started.  Diane, joined me half way through, she initially wasn’t going to have any breakfast. After that, we checked the cabin to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind. Then, we wandered down to deck three to get the van.

The van now has a name by the way. It, or I suppose I should say she, is now known as “Bianca”, because she is white and Italian. White was not my first choice of colour. Diane would not have chosen it either. But, it seemed to be the only colour available, so we went with it.

We spent our first two nights at Camping Playa Arenillas. It is on a beach near the small town of Islares. Islares is halfway between Santander and Bilbao.

We had a self misguided (Google assisted) tour of the area looking for a supermarket. There probably were several in Santander, but we decided to head to the campsite first. From there we went on a tour. We found some things in a small village shop. Then, we ended up in Castro Urdiales. It is the nearest town of any size. It is an attractive fishing port.

After we got back, we went for a walk down to the beach. We met an Irish lady. On her advice, Diane decided that a swim would be a good idea before we left. We debated eating at the campsite restaurant, but decided to cook in the van.

Apart from a small shower on the way along the coast, the rain in Spain stayed mainly on the plain. It is quite hilly around here.

Above the campsite we can see these rather strange structures, any ideas as to what they are? 🤔 Ideas welcome in the comments.