Life in "Intelligent Lockdown" in the Netherlands

April 16, 2020 David Mendez

What’s Happened Here

As you can imagine it is very strange being in a different country during these unprecedented times … being so far away from family and friends, living in a much smaller space with everyone being home, not being able to read all of the new procedure signs in stores, roads or navigate shopping online in Dutch!

The good news is being able to ride bikes to an endless number of new destinations throughout this beautiful country. It is truly amazing how the entire Netherlands is networked by bike paths through a stunningly beautiful countryside. I am sharing not only some of our experiences, but how the Netherlands has handled the pandemic.

COVID-19 Timeline in the Netherlands

March 12th: Sporting clubs, gatherings over 30/40 banned, gyms all closed

March 15th: Restaurants, clubs, bars, schools closed until April 6th

March 23rd: Services including direct contact (hairdressers, nails) closed until April 6th

March 31st: All restrictions above extended until at least April 28th

As of April 15th: In this country of 17.5 million there have been 27,419 cases, the largest percentage in the southern provinces. However, the number of new cases have been on a steady decline and the number of positive tests is the lowest since March 23rd. Sadly, there have been 3,134 deaths.

At present: Approximately 40% of non-essential shops are open and more are opening each day. Shops must maintain protocol to control distancing and numbers of people inside. We can walk, ride bikes, have a snack to go, get takeout or delivery. We can explore the dunes, flower fields etc., however, while respecting social distancing. Over Easter weekend some popular beaches, scenic roads, and tourist destinations were closed. There are no plans to recommend wearing face masks and there are discussions of relaxing some measures soon Province by Province.

Right Before it Started

On Saturday, March 7th, my childhood friend Julie and her son, William, came for a visit. At the time of Julie’s flight departure from the US, there were 82 confirmed cases in the Netherlands. We had a fun 2 days exploring Haarlem and the beach followed by a visit to Bruges, Belgium. We returned to Amsterdam on Wednesday, March 11th, Julie and William headed to their hotel in Amsterdam and I back to the family in Haarlem. On Thursday, March 12, I awoke to text messages from Julie saying her husband had called in the middle of the night to tell her to go to the airport … Trump was closing the borders. Julie, a travel agent, was able to get them on a flight home. On March 12th, 5 days since Julie had arrived, there were 421 more cases in the NL and one case in Haarlem … and the closings began. I am so grateful for having this time with Julie and William … it was wonderful to hang out with William as a young adult and to have a getaway before the world stopped.

Bruges, of course, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and it was so nice to visit again to see even more of it. Highlights include the chocolates, waffle and canals; Belgian Beer at Half Moon Brewery; Basilica of the Holy Blood where it is believed there is a vial containing the actual blood of Christ that was brought back from a Jerusalem crusade in the 12th century; the Belfry and Carillon date back to the 13th century where climbing the 400 steps offers stunning views of the city.

Historic de Tuilerieën hotel

Easter chocolate shopping

Exploring around Haarlem by bike

Vogelenzang is a little village in the bulb region about 6 miles from our house. Unfortunately, the Kuekenhof (famous botanical garden) is closed but the nearby fields are still blooming in the neighboring villages such as Hillegom.

(click on any image to enlarge)

Nearby Parks

National Park Zuid Kennermerland is one of 21 national parks in the Netherlands and is approximately 9390 acres between the Randstad (metro areas of Utrecht, The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam) and The North Sea. The Visitors Center is 4 miles from our house and from there … miles of bike trails, dunes, lakes, Bison and beaches!

Elswout Estate (part of the National Park) dates back to the 17th century and is 2 miles from our home. Little remains of the Golden Age today, only the gate house and carriage houses with the current Great House and grounds dating to the late 1800’s.

Other areas surrounding Haarlem include small old villages, historic windmills and ancient farms.

Easter Weekend Road Trips

We asked the kids to research and plan 2 road trips over the long weekend. We couldn’t do everything, but we really saw some amazing places … including many that were researched and planned by Ellerbe. Here is the presentation Ellerbe put together including many of her and Sebastian’s choices.

Blokzijl is a small town founded in the 1580’s as a trading post for peat.

A first for us!, a self-service store!

Geithoorn “Dutch Venice” is a beautiful small village of 2,620 residents known for thatched roofs, canals, mostly car free and serenity.

Hunebeds in Drenthe “Dutch Stonehenge” are the oldest monuments in the Netherlands. They are prehistoric tombstones built by the Funnelbeaker people during the Ice Age. The province of Drenthe has 52 hunebeds in a 30 kilometer radius.

Broek in Waterland is another beautiful Village of 2,350 residents just 5 miles from Amsterdam. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the town was a popular residence for merchants and seafarers from Amsterdam. The homes are painted in high gloss, almost like shellac!

The former island of Marken is located on Markermeer Lake and is connected to the mainland by a 1 mile long causeway you can cross by bicycle or car. The unique green wooden houses alongside the harbor are built on stilts or poles, or clustered on man-made hills to provide protection from fluctuating tides.

Greenjoy boat rental is a self-service company here in Haarlem where you book your electric boat online and your access and use is activated through your phone. Amazing! We rode on one of the main canals from Haarlem that leads to the North Sea.

St. Bavo Cathedral

Haarlem City Gate, 1355

EASTER and Masses in Europe

While we were watching the Pope stream Easter mass from the Vatican in Italian and Latin, it reminded us of all the masses we’ve been to throughout Europe:

Our church here in Haarlem (Picture of Elle and I reading on International Women’s Day) in Dutch language, where we attended weekly before the recent closures.

San Sebastian, Spain in Basque language

Amsterdam, where we attend periodically their English mass

Mass with the Pope in Italian and other languages

Hamburg, Germany in German

The Easter Bunny did find us!

We hope that all of you had a nice Easter or Passover celebration amongst family and friends, and that you are staying safe, healthy and positive during this time of change. We feel fortunate to be together, safe and healthy here in the Netherlands, but do sincerely miss our family and friends.

Now to conclude this post, please enjoy the following images taken by David during this Easter season:

Big hugs and love to all!

The Halfway Point!

February 12, 2020 David Mendez

It’s hard to believe that we have been here six months … we have now definitely settled into a daily routine, and Spring is approaching, so the days are getting longer, and the sun is shining more! We are having such a wonderful experience living in the Netherlands and exploring Europe, and are so pleased with Haarlem, where we decided to live. Haarlem is a beautiful city of approximately 350,000 people and has EVERYTHING one needs with shopping, restaurants, entertainment and culture. It’s actually the first city available from Amsterdam via train centuries ago, and has its own amazing history! And it’s of course, what Harlem, NY is named after (since New York was first settled by the Dutch as “New Amsterdam”!). We continue to bike and use public transit for transportation … even when it is raining and 40 degrees! The kids are thriving at school and in their after-school activities. Sebastian plays on an all-Dutch basketball team outside of school and Ellerbe is taking speed skating lessons!

London Before Brexit:

Beyond the usual sites, the highlight for Sebastian (and me) was going to the Texans/Jaguars game at Wembley Stadium in London where we got to see one of our all-time favorite Tigers, Deshaun Watson! And of course, a visit to London wouldn’t be complete without a tour of the Tower of London, and visiting other spots where David used to frequent when he lived there twice before!

Luxembourg, Leuven and Trier, Germany

What a great trip to Luxembourg, not only to visit one of David’s long time French friend he worked with in London in the 1990s, who now lives there with his family, but also to explore this city and its gorge, making us think that it’s the source of the word “gorgeous”! The Christmas market season had kicked in, and Luxembourg had some of the most nostalgic and festive markets, with plenty of Glühwein! On the way to Luxembourg we had to stop in Leuven, Belgium, where David spent a year in graduate school, and on the way back we stopped in the oldest city in Germany, Trier, to see it’s Roman ruins and to have some yummy German food!

CHRISTMAS

Funny to be writing now about Christmas, but here goes! Many cities in Europe put up Christmas lights even before we do in the USA … late October/early November! And here in Haarlem, they just took down the white lights in the City Center!

Sinterklaas: Our holiday season began in the Netherlands with the arrival of Sinterklaas from Spain. On November 17th, Sinterklaas and his helper, Piet, arrive by steamboat from Spain and then parade down the streets on his white horse. Sinterklaas stays in the Netherlands until December 6th , watching all the kids’ behavior. December 6th is a family holiday where in the evening families gather after dinner awaiting the arrival of Sinterklaas and a sack of gifts at the door. There are many traditions that go along with the celebration, special cakes and pastries, letter candies, songs, games and surprises (elaborately wrapped gifts representing one’s hobbies). Sinterklaas was super fun and I could write so much about the traditions, but I must leave room for the rest of the season! We did break the Dutch rules, though, and got our Christmas tree before Sinterklaas, but we were redeemed by the fact that David rode his bike to get the tree, and carried the tree on his bike to the house!!!!

Christmas Markets: We went to Christmas markets for 7 weeks in 4 countries and 5 cities: Luxembourg City, Haarlem NL, Leiden NL, Hamburg DE and Annecy FR! Although each market has its own special flare, they all had the wooden chalets, twinkling lights, crafts, Glühwein (mulled spices), special treats and yummy street food: Salmon sandwiches in Luxembourg, warm stroopwaffels in the NL and German bratwurst and our favorite, currywurst!

Hamburg: Hamburg is an amazing and bigger city than we anticipated, with such a diversity of architecture and neighborhoods. And, of course, we continued to enjoy the yummy “comfort food” of German cuisine! One of our goals while in Europe was to visit long time friends who are back home, or others who have moved here. What a pleasure it was to visit with our friend from NYC, Nike Clausing, who now lives back in her native country Germany.

Our Christmas: Although we missed our traditions and family in the USA, we carried out a few here! We had a wonderful two weeks with Mom visiting us here, had a Christmas Party with our new friends, and walked on the beach on Christmas Day! With Mom, we went to Leiden (Rembrandt’s birthplace), Hamburg and toured all around Amsterdam.

NEW YEARS IN FRANCE: We were very sad to see Mom leave, but our Charleston friends the McCormack’s arrival made it easier! After showing them our life here in Haarlem, we traveled to Courchevel, France with them for a week of skiing in the French Alps. A popular accommodation in many French Alpine villages is a Catered Chalet, where you have a host who cooks breakfast, a fresh cake for tea and a yummy French dinner. For me, it was beyond luxury to not go to the market or cook for a week and have an amazing 3 course dinner with delicious French wine! Some of our favorite dinners: Beef Bourguignon, Tartiflette, and Morrocan Lamb Tagine.

Courchevel is part of the Three Valleys of France which is one of the world’s largest ski areas. We had a week of great conditions, blue bird days and so much fun skiing to different villages! The Alps were simply amazing and strikingly beautiful, skiing with a view of Mont Blanc was just spectacular!

After skiing, we drove to Annecy, France. Annecy is an alpine town known for its cobbled street old town situated on the beautiful crystal clear lake Lac D’ Annecy. The lake is one of the largest in France, also known as the cleanest, and sits amongst the snow-capped mountains. We enjoyed the last day of the Annecy Christmas Market on Jan 5th, Cheese Fondue and a couple of down days before heading to Paris!

PARIS: Being in Paris just after the holidays was a great week to be there, with very few tourists while Christmas decorations were still up! Due to a city-wide transit strike, we were able to witness very busy and crowded public demonstrations, as well as put our walking shoes into exponential practice, walking 8-9 miles per day! Seeing the Mona Lisa with maybe 20 other people ... that’s it!

HIGHLIGHTS OF PARIS: Climbing the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre at Night, Ice Skating at the Grand Palais, exploring the Catacombes, Sainte Chapelle, Opera Garnier, Sacre’ Coeur and taking a local food tour in the Marais in one of the oldest markets, Marche’ d’Algire.

BERLIN: The teachers in the Netherlands go on strike…so the kids and I strike Berlin with two other lovely Moms and their fantastic kids! For three days we had a packed agenda seeing this history filled interesting city.

Trabant Tour … we actually drove the Trabant car, the symbolic car of Eastern Germany, all around the sights in Berlin while following our guide.

Berlin’s Fernsehturm (TV Tower): We arrived at the tower at 4:30 so we were able to experience the expansive views in the day and night. We enjoyed very much having dinner in the revolving restaurant and I especially loved the retro décor.

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Of course we enjoyed coffee and cake at the Reichstag’s Dome.

Our visit to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews was very moving and informative. I highly recommend visiting along with a tour.

On the last day, we took a 4 hour bike tour in a solid rainfall … uggh! Not a highlight, but the content was so great! We experienced things off the beaten path like riding our bikes on the runway of the historic Tempelhof, Hitler’s Airport.

We continue to enjoy life here in the Netherlands as Spring approaches, and look forward to even more adventures throughout Europe (and maybe another continent?) in the months to come!

2019 Holiday Card

December 24, 2019 David Mendez

Wishing all of our family and friends a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year!

ITALY IN OCTOBER

October 28, 2019 David Mendez

First of all, please know how incredibly grateful we are to have this amazing year abroad ... not only having the experience of living in Europe, but also being able to travel so easily all over! We do have a normal life of work, school, cooking, running errands … the daily grind … just more holidays and closer proximity to other countries! Also, I am “blogging” our European adventure not only to share with you in hopes that you will experience some of this but also as a journal for our family.

I highly recommend Italy in October ... there are still crowds, but the weather is delightful ... mid 70’s in the day and 60’s at night! The sunny skies and perfect weather came at a great time after 3-4 weeks of rain in Haarlem! But beware, the rainy season starts in late October in Italy!

ROME

Experiencing St. Peter’s Basilica by attending a mass with Pope Francis was for me beyond amazing. I have wanted to attend mass in St. Peter’s all of my adult life and it was everything I imagined and more! Even picking up the tickets was an experience, with instructions to “Go to the Bronze Door at the right-hand colonnade,” and not mentioning it would involve the pomp and ceremony of changing of the “jester-dressed” guards and an announcement of a guest! I would love for the kids to have experienced this, but only one of us could go. Sorry, no pictures either! If you would like to attend a Papal Mass, you can look at the Papal calendar and request tickets by writing to Prefecture of the Papal Household.

The Mass was the Worldwide Missionary Mass and different parts of the mass were spoken in mulitiple languages. I “saw” Pope John Paul II in Madrid in the early 90’s with probably a million people standing in the same spot for 8 hours, but never really seeing him ... it too was amazing, but to have a seat 70 yards from the Pope, sitting in the holiest Catholic church, in his presence for over an hour was glorious! Then to walk out of St. Peter’s and see the thousands of people in the square waiting for the Pope to address the crowd from the window … wow!

Two days later, we visited the rest of the Vatican, including the Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s “Skip the Line Tour”. Although it is a must to see all of the above, know that “skip the line” doesn’t mean you will skip every line, you will still wait in the tour group line. The whole process of security and lines takes about 45 minutes before you are even in the Vatican! Sebastian thought it was really cool to “walk” from the hotel and arrive in another country in about a mile (well, 2 kilometers)! I really enjoyed seeing the Vatican Museum after the Forum and Palatine Hill, knowing many of the sculptures and artifacts came from there. Or perhaps for some, it may help to visualize what the Forum and Palatine Hill looked like by seeing the artifacts first? Either way, it is so amazing walking through 2000 years of history, but know it is CROWDED!

ROMAN AROUND

We visited the Colosseum (historically known as the Flavian Amphitheater), Palatine Hill and the Forum with a Walks Tour group. I highly recommend the Gladiator Gate and arena floor tour. It allows you access to the lower level which isn’t part of the normal entry ticket and to “skip the line” for real! The big takeaway for the kids was that Ancient Roman life was somewhat similar to life today … although slightly more brutal. Ladies met their friends at the spa and baths, men and woman (although they couldn’t sit together) enjoyed going to the Colosseum for a day filled with various games and entertainment. They activities ranging from announcements of “news”, hunting exotic animals with props creating various natural scene, prisoners fed to the lions, public executions, and, of course, the Gladiators.

On the way home in the evening, we walked past a pub, and they had the Clemson game playing, with Clemson fans in the bar! What fun to get a little TIGER moment during our trip!

SPERLONGA

In the small coastal village of Sperlonga, between Rome and Naples, is the Villa di Tiberio and Grotto … the subject of Ellerbe’s project last year in her Classics class.

Getting there was part of the adventure, with an 11-hour travel time via Italian trains and buses! We arrived in the small town of Fondi where we assumed we could get a taxi to Sperlonga. There was a sign for the Taxi and a number, but when David called it, it is a one man show and he wasn’t in town … so, on the local bus we went! We dropped our bags at a small beach hotel, walked a mile on the beach to the museum and experienced the ruins of the villa and grotto.

VILLA DI TIBERIO, by Ellerbe

Visiting the Villa di Tiberio was definitely a highlight of my trip, along with the forum and colosseum tour. It was amazing to see these ancient ruins, and I think that studying the sites last year made them even more fascinating for me. It was amazing to see these artifacts I had only seen in pictures and knew so much about in person. Although I knew what the grotto and statues looked like, and I knew the statues were amazing and life-size, it was still amazing to see it all in person and it exceeded my expectations. The statues include The Blinding of Polyphemus, The Theft of the Palladium, The Pasquino Group, and An Encounter with Scylla. I enjoyed seeing the statues and artifacts before seeing the grotto because it helps to imagine how amazing the site must have been. The statues were amazing to see in person, but the seeing the grotto was my favorite part of the experience.

We walked out of the museum down to the grotto. First, we walked through ruins of the house itself. Then we walked in and around the grotto. My dad said that he wishes they had the statues inside the grotto, so we could see what it used to look like instead of on display in the museum. I agree that it would be amazing to see the site how it was during Tiberius’ reign, but I was glad they displayed the statues in the museum. I’m glad the statues are in the museum because if not we wouldn’t be able to wander the grotto the same way we can without the statues being there. My favorite part of the experience was that the grotto seemed untouched and we were allowed to walk in the grotto, walk on the thin brick walls lining the pool outside the grotto, walk wherever we wanted to on the site instead of it being protected because of the art inside. Overall it was a great experience to visit a small town in Italy and walk the beach to the grotto. It was especially fascinating because of how much time I’d spent learning about it and because we were able to wander all over the site.

HAPPRI IN CAPRI

We took an all-day boat excursion around Capri as well as spending 4 hours enjoying the shopping and restaurants. The dramatic coastline of Capri is like no other I’ve seen. Capri is a must see in my opinion and I highly recommend taking a private boat or small group tour. We saw the white, green and blue grottos, Faraglioni, swam in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and loved the shopping.

SORRENTO & THE AMALFI COAST

Thanks to our great friend and NYC restauranteur Rocco for recommending his hometown of Sorrento as our base for the Amalfi Coast! From there we took a private driving tour of Positano, Amalfi and Ravello.

Sorrento is the “gateway” to the Amalfi Coast with the first town a short 20 minute drive to the opposite side of the peninsula. Our first stop was the lovely cliff hanging town of the Positano. I could easily have spent a day in Positano … charming, great shopping and great food. The town of Amalfi is the most touristy of the three and honestly, I recommend skipping it and moving on to Ravello, which is on the top of the mountain overlooking the Amalfi Coast.

Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast has hands down the best tomatoes, lemons and oranges ever! We loved all of the food here……the Caprese and tomato bruschetta, the lemon cakes, lemon candies and pies, the fresh orange juice, seafood and of course the limoncello!

A DEII IN POMPEII

Pompeii was the biggest surprise of the trip for me……truly remarkable! After a “tour filled” vacation, the kids really did not want to have a tour of Pompeii, but instead preferred the audio guide. The audio guide was fine, but if I had it to do over again, I would definitely have a tour. It is far more massive and interesting than I had imagined and I left really wanting to understand more! It is just so fascinating to see the planned city from over 2200 years ago with a city grid, Forum, shops, basilica, temples, an arena and more!

That concludes my blog for Italy! Looking forward to sharing more with you about our life in Europe!

First European Blog Entry from Phoebe & fam!

September 21, 2019 David Mendez

Hello All: Welcome to my blog! I’m not a blogger nor a writer, but this blog is to share our wonderful experiences with you! I hope you enjoy it! (FYI, this is published under the CapA website privately, so disregard the navigation links above).

Our First Month of Haarlem: LOVING IT!

Our wonderful street in a perfect location: Scheepmakersdijk

Our house is on the 2nd & 3rd floor of the 2nd brick building from the white building on the corner!

Sebastian peeking out of his bedroom window to Zuidam Cafe down below

Our home is great ... lots of light, charming, cozy, overlooking the Spaarne River and main Cathedral! We have about 1300 square feet, 2 bathrooms and very high ceilings so it feels bigger and it is all we need! The kids have a 5-8 min bike ride to school, the City Center and train station are both a 5 min ride. My gym is a 4 min bike ride and all the grocery stores are from 4- 10 min ride. No need for a CAR!

First day of school, kids cycling from our garage in the back alley

Daily Life: We went 3 weeks without being in a car before taking a road trip to the north coast of NL to a province called Freisland. So, most days we are cycling and walking 5-10 miles! The kids have so much independence riding to/from school, meeting friends in the city center and even going to the store for me! I go grocery shopping everyday ... due to the small refrigerator and carrying everything home in my bike basket and on my back! The markets are great and there is quite a variety so usually I go to a couple per day depending on what I am purchasing.

International School Haarlem: The kids’ school day is 8:50-3:50 and with a short commute, do not have to get up until 7:30am and get home around 4:00 unless they have their clubs after school. Every Wednesday is early dismissal at 12:50! Ellerbe’s grade is the oldest class and she is one of ten students from all over the world. Sebastian’s grade has about 30 students split into 2 classes, again with kids from all over. Both kids really like the school, their teachers and friends. Ellerbe was elected Class president and is in the Debate and Math Club….Math is called Maths here:). Sebastian is in the basketball club and is also a member of a local basketball club where he is the ONLY non-Dutch kid! We are so proud of him for being on a team where he didn’t know anyone or the language! The team players, coaches and parents have been so welcoming and nice to us!

Haarlem: Pronounced “Haaaaaarlem” in Dutch is BEAUTIFUL! A mini Amsterdam surrounded by canals with all of the shopping, international restaurants and services you could need. AND, it literally takes less than 30 minutes to leave my house, bike to the train station and take a train to Amsterdam. We have gone for dinner, church, brunch and a Sunday Museum visit…David goes about everyday when in town. Note: he has traveled about 50 % of the time we have been here!

Beach: Bloemendaal aan Zee is a beautiful beach 5 miles from our home! We biked out there the first 2 weekends we were here…which for the first time was terrifying….not knowing all of the cycling rules and motor scooters sharing the same biking lanes. But, once there you can enjoy restaurants literally on the beach, rent chairs and even have open beverages if you like…And, leave your top at home if you like!

Other than the dunes in the background and restaurants right on the beach, it’s just like Isle of Palms!!!

Our First Trip Living in Europe …. Spain!!!

San Sebastian … In Basque Country

First, know in advance if you are going during ‘Semana Grande’, a week long celebration with thousands of people! We landed during that week, which we did not realize! I would say there are pros and cons … Pros: parades, concerts, and the best fireworks I have ever seen, all choreographed to music! Cons: the crowds and waiting in very long lines for “pintxos” ( Basgue word for tapas).

Highlights of San Sebastian:

Being surrounded by the beauty of the Bay of Biscay
Pinxtos in the Old Quarter
The hike up Monte Urgull to its summit at the Castilla de la Mota
Playa de la Concha where I have never seen so many people on the beach and the sun is full blast until 8:00:30
Watching the Finale Firework contest while having wine (legally) on the beach.

One of the many beautiful views from the beaches of San Sebastian

Zaroutz…..a surfing town 15 min from San Sebastian

Ellerbe surfed and Sebastian and I loved the awesome waves in the very cool, but refreshing water!

Ellerbe surfing!! Even in August, wetsuit required!

Chillida-Leku … Reminds us of Storm King, one of my favorite places in NY. Chillada-Leku is on open space where one can walk amongst the sculptures of Eduardo Chillida and visit the restored farmhouse which houses some of his other works.

Onati and Arantzazu Sanctuary……Onati is a small town dating back to the Medieval period which lies in a valley in the middle of Basque Country. Above the town is Arantzazu Sanctuary perched atop a mountain. The drive is approximately a one hour gorgeous ride from San Sebastian.

Oma Forest ... An enchanted pine forest created by the famous artist Augustin Ibarrola in 1984. The walk is beautiful but steep at times…taking you through a little village to reach a unique setting of land art where shapes, lines and colors form different figures depending on how you look through the forest.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe ...This idyllic place is in the middle of the Basque Coast joined to the coast by a stone bridge and a huge staircase leading to a chapel at the top. The chapel today is not the original one, however it is believed the first hermitage was built in the same spot in the 9th century. At the beginning of the steps, is a footprint said to have been left by John the Baptist.

Santander

Santander is also on the Bay of Biscay, but not in Basgue country. So we had Tapas there! While here, we really didn’t see any other Americans or hear much English really at all. We learned that while San Sebastain is very International, Santander is mainly a Spanish destination. We stayed at a lovely hotel, Eurostars Hotel Real, sitting high on a hill overlooking the bay.

Highlights of Santander:

Walking the grounds of the Royal Palace
The shopping and food
The beaches

We are looking forward to our next adventures and excited to share them all with you!