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The next morning after a delicious breakfast we headed across the street to take the teleferico to the top of the mountain peaks. A teleferico is a cable car. About 15 of us could fit in the teleferico. Of course some people were slightly terrified of being in such cramped quarters while we ascended about 10,000 feet upward toward the mountain peaks. I thought the ride was fantastic. I almost felt like a bird getting a view of everything beneath and above me. The teleferico docked at the little hut on top of the mountain and we were all let out to explore the winter wonderland on top of the mountain. The rest of the group came up on the next lift along with some extreme skiers who came with their gear to conquer the snowy slopes.

The mountain range that we were standing on top of is called Picos De Europa, and the highest point in the range, which we had a crystal clear view of, was called Peña Romaña. Before we all set out to explore we took a group picture with the Peña Romaña as the background. The boys all decided they would try and climb up one of snow slopes to get a better view. A couple of girls followed. I watched them make their way toward the top occasionally getting caught in snowdrifts or sliding back down the slope. I went and walked around taking in all the views. I managed to get caught in a snowdrift that went passed my hips! Our time on the mountain ended with a spontaneous snowball fight with a group of Spaniards. It was a full out war. Snow balls were flying left and right. It was JMU against the Spanish!

We took the teleferico back down the mountain, taking a bathroom break before departing for the town of Santillana del Mar. The bus went through more treacherous mountain passes and once again I thought the bus was going to go careening of the side of the cliff. Thank god for our skilled driver. When we arrived in Santillana where we were given free time to get food. Annie had already visited the town, so we went to a restaurant that she had been to with her mom. I had packed a peanut butter sandwich, which turned out to be a good decision considering how many complaints everyone had on the gross food. Mary’s lunch turned out to be a fried hot dog. You never know what you are going to get when you order the menu del dia!

After lunch we walked around the town for a little before heading back to the bus. Our next stop was at the neocueva a Altamira. This was another ancient cave with painting. It was not real cave like the other one we had visited. It was just a recreation, so it lacked some serious authenticity. Our tour guide was a little snooty, but extreme attractive in his Gucci glasses. I thought the museum part of the exhibit was pretty cool. It had a displaying showing how man evolved from a caveman into a homo sapien, sapien.

We left the museum and headed back to Santillana del Mar. Once we were back in the town, Jesus gave a little lesson about the history of the town and the Spanish Inquisition. We learned that the town was an important crossroad for the spread of Christianity and the Spanish Inquisition. Jesus took us to the Museo de Inquisicion after his lesson. This was quite eye opening. We were exposed to some of the most brutal forms of torture. It pretty disgusting to think of the cruelties man can inflict on man. Some of the methods were absolutely horrific; especially the ones that involved slow painful deaths with dull saws.

I was glad to leave the museum. We got an hour or so to walk around the town. Santillana del Mar is known for their chocolate. There were hundreds of different chocolate bars with different ingredients and flavors. One the oddest flavors I saw was chocolate and blue cheese. I am not sure that would be very good. The bars were around 3.50, slightly expensive for a chocolate bar so I decided to pass. After exploring the city everyone got back on the bus and we headed to Santander.

We arrived in Santander after dark, so we did not get to see much of the city. Our hotel was amazing, like always another five star. We had dinner with the group in the hotel. I decided to be vegetarian again, which was a good choice because everyone else was given a large hunk duck. I do like duck, but I wasn’t feeling it. After dinner I went out with a group. I know quite a shocker because I never go out on excursion. I only made it to one bar, but I did chatted with a Spaniard, who happened to be in school for computer science. I let the guy know about how horrible I though the Internet was in Spain. Surprisingly, he agreed with me. I went back to the hotel with a couple of girls after.