Thank you James, a good start.
I should say we won't be going west of Santander on the north coast of
Spain, and will be staying within 50 miles of the coast on our way down the
coast of France.

Jerry Parker


> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Brothers [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 2:59 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Road Trip
>
>
> Although I haven't been there in years I have always enjoyed
> Santillana
> del Mar. The town  remained largely unchanged since the late middle
> ages. It is also near the caves of alta Mira, sadly no longer open to
> the public.  I still remember my visit there years ago.  If you can
> afford it the Parador Natl Gil Blas is quite nice. At one point it was
> touted as King Juan Carlos' favorite hotel, one of mine as well.
>
> I have a soft spot for early romanesque architecture, so the entire
> north coast is full of places that I have been, and others I
> want to go
> to.  There are a number of Asturian (almost Visi-Gothic)
> churches along
> the north coast that date to the 6-7th century AD. If you are
> interested
> I can look up the names and send them along. Of course Santiago de
> Compostella is quite a spot as well. I went there with my
> parents when I
> was a teen and Spain was still inexpensive. We stayed at the Hostal de
> Los Reyes Catolicos (a pilgrim hostal built by Ferdinan and
> Isabel). It
> is on the central square with the cathedral and bishop's palace. The
> bathroom in our room was larger than the house I live in (slight
> exaggeration). But the hand sewn suede bedspread, antiques in
> our room,
> and the fact that the "hotel" has a chapel that rivals many cathedrals
> was impressive.
>
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