We got up at 10:30 pm, showered, and met Abel outside Enrique's apartment. We hopped in Abel's blue Seat car (Seat is a Spanish car company), and started driving north to Santander. We stopped at several small villages along the way. These villages were places that time had forgotten, and they were better off for it. We also saw the beautiful mountains and canyons along the way.

Photo: A little village north of Burgos

Photo: The mountains of north Spain

We arrived in Santander, and it was freezing. Great day to wear shorts, huh? There was a storm south of England blowing cold air all over northern Spain. If that's what the weather in England is like, then no wonder they decided to come to America.. The temperature was high 50's if you figure in "wind chill".

We drove around to meet Enrique's parents. It was a "Hello, I must be going" kind of meeting, because they were leaving on a Mediterranean cruise the next day and they were rushing about packing. Enrique, Abel and I went on down to the ocean, parked beside the Casino, and walked to the Palace on the peninsula. There's a small "zoo" at the neck of the peninsula where they have penguins, seals, and polar bears, and boy, they must have felt at home that day. According to Enrique, I just happened to visit on a record cold day.

We continued on to the castle. There were some demonstrators out protesting globalization, and there were some police sitting there trying to figure out what to do about it. The castle itself was very beautiful, and was used by the current King of Spain until recently. It had a heck of a view. Unfortunately, it started raining when we were as far away from our car as possible, so we turned around and started jogging to the car.

Photo: Enrique's parents

Photo: Santander

Of course, by the time we got back to the car, it had stopped raining, so we stopped back at the restaurant across the street from the casino for some chocolate con chorizo. It was absolutely delicious. I saw the smallest car I've ever seen in my life parked across the street. Tiny, ain't it?

Photo: Spanish stretch limo

Then we drove around the bay for a little while, and then dropped off Enrique near the bus station. Said goodbyes, and then Abel and I left for Burgos, stopping for directions every few minutes. Abel showed me how well his car would handle by going around an extremely sharp roundabout very quickly and almost running someone else off the road.

Eventually reached Abel's parent's apartment in Burgos. I met his mother, father, and brother. His father works at Micheline, his mother is a housewife, and his brother is a mechanical engineer. His mother made some delicious chorizo (Spanish sausage) and cheese, and I ate them till I was stuffed. I was determined to stay up all night so I would sleep on the airplane, so naturally I fell asleep sometime after 4 am.