We arrived at our new home in Santander on August 23. It was really hot that day apparently (we didn’t arrive until the evening so it wasn’t too bad by the time we got home) but started raining the next day and continued, off and on, for almost a week. Still, we were able to find little respites inside all of the rain to do some exploring and see what our new neighborhood was like.

The Beach

Compared to the majority of people’s homes, our house in El Cajon is pretty close to the beach, but our house here in Santander is really close to the beach. I would estimate we are about 200 meters from the sand! ¹ Much like San Diego, the beach is a central feature of Santander. People come from far away places to enjoy Santander’s nice weather and pristine beaches.

Surfing

The beach that is right down the street from us is call El Sardinero I. (There is an El Sardinero II up the coast a little ways.) Unfortunately for me, neither of these Sardineros are very well situated to receive good surf. Still, on occasional lucky days, I have seen some rideable waves sneak their way into the area. I have been surfing right out front two or three times since we’ve been here, and it’s looking like today might be another one of the lucky days where we’ll get some waves again.

Last week, I saw that the forecast showed big-ish and pretty consistent waves at a nearby beach called Liencres. When we got there, I saw that the forecast was mostly correct; the waves were quite big and pretty powerful. Still, I was able to paddle out, which can often be a challenge on big days.

Since we have been here, in Spain, I have gone surfing four or five times. That’s more often than I would have back home in San Deigo. I suppose this means I am “doing things right” as far as my sabbatical is concerned.

The City

The city of Santander is medium sized. The total population is just under 200,000 but, given the density, it feels significantly bigger to me. This is something that I have noticed about European cities in general; they tend to be much more densely populated than American cities. Even in “rural” areas, houses tend to be pretty close together, with multistory apartment buildings even in areas that are pretty remote.

The thing for which Santander is most famous is the huge bank that has the same name. I guess the original branch and legal headquarters are in town here somewhere, but they don’t make a huge deal out of it; it’s not really a tourist destination or anything.

One of the coolest buildings in the city is the Centro Botín. The Centro Botín is a modern art gallery situated right on the edge of the bay. The building’s main architect was Renzo Piano, who has designed other very modern and important buildings, including the London “Shard,” Paris’s Centre Pompidou, and The New York Times Building. Botín’s collection is small, but nice; you can walk all around the buildings (which are definitely works of great art by themselves) for free.

Like most semi-important European cities, Santander has a cathedral that dates back several centuries. There are portions of the cathedral that were built in the thirteenth century with others built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The cathedral is a pretty obvious candidate for my impulse response project. I am still trying to decide if I want to pursue that or not … I am not sure if I could navigate the language barrier well enough to talk those folks into letting me in after hours.

There are lots of other, smaller, things to highlight about the town, and I hope to go into more detail as we become more familiar with things.

Driving

Part of the deal we made with the house exchange was to also exchange cars; we left a car at home for them and they left one (two, actually!) here for us. Driving around our neighborhood and through the city is a very different experience from doing so in San Diego County. The roads in the city are quite a bit narrower and busier than in most of San Diego. People tend to drive quite a bit more aggressively than I am used to, but I have also noticed that drivers seem a bit more patient with things like someone pulling into a parking space or pedestrians entering a crosswalk. I am learning to do both of these things (drive a bit more aggressively and to be more patient with roadblocks and pedestrians.²

Music

The week we arrived coincided with the end of a big music festival. So, we were able to score last-minute tickets to see Anne-Sophie Mutter and Hillary Hahn perform at the Palacio de Festivales.

We were also able to find a cello to rent and a teacher for my son so he doesn’t go all of this time without at least some attention to his musical training. I think his teacher is really quite good, she seems to be the right kind of teacher for him at this point in his development. She also found a youth orchestra for him to join, which is giving him something social to do and something to look forward to each week.³

I am taking a break from music while we are here. Of course, traveling with a bass is pretty much out of the question, but I am also kind of uninterested in all of that right now. I am going through some sort of weird phase where I am simply uninterested in many of the things that used to take up a huge chunk of my thoughts. Even if we were at home, with all of my instruments right next to me, I think I might still be taking a “sabbatical” from music making.⁴

Language

I don’t speak much Spanish. Neither does my wife or son. We are all pretty Spanish-illiterate. It’s a good thing that

Many (most?) people under the age of 40-ish speak at least a little English, and
That things like Google translate exist to help us understand labels and other written forms of communication.

I feel bad for barging into this country not speaking the language. I have been trying, ever since we learned we were coming here, to teach myself as much Spanish as I could, but there is only so much you can do in four or five months. There have been a few times when I have been able to speak enough Spanish to not look like a total idiot, which was nice. Once someone starts to respond with much more than a “Sí” or a “No,” however, I get pretty lost pretty fast. I think I am getting better, though.

I actually feel a little bad for the family with whom we swapped houses since they are used to being so close to the beach and now they have to drive a whole 30-ish minutes to get there. ↩︎
Though I’d like to think I wasn’t super impatient with pedestrians before. ↩︎
He has only been once, so far, but it seems like it’s going to be good for him. ↩︎
I have a lot more to say about this, hopefully I’ll share it around here, soon. ↩︎