Category Architecture
Inside and Out – Renzo Piano’s Centro Botín in Santander
What can I say about Centro Botín? That it is every bit as good as I had hoped and even better? That I was rendered almost speechless after my visit? That I didn’t want to leave? That I am more enraptured by the beauty of great design than ever before? A Golden Ticket As you […]
The Wait is Almost Over – Santander’s Centro Botín by Renzo Piano
In 14 days I get to explore inside Centro Botín for the first time so I thought I’d give one last look at the site beforehand and explain why this patch of land in Santander means so much me. Back in 2007, when I moved to this coastal city in Northern Spain, I described it to […]
Why Renzo Piano’s Botín Centre in Santander is (Not) the New Guggenheim
It happened just before Christmas. El País published a full-length article about Renzo Piano’s Botín Centre in Santander. Around the same time, the Botín Centre was included in an article on the BBC website entitled Buildings to Look Out For in 2017. In a bid to head off the inevitable “Guggenheimification” of Santander, I jotted down “10 Reasons Why […]
A Trip to Gaudi’s Capricho in Comillas
Gaudi is a name we associate with Catalonia but I’m still here in Cantabria – just under 50km from Santander to visit El Capricho de Gaudi in Comillas. This privately-held former holiday home designed by Gaudi is open to the public and welcomes 100,000 visitors every year. It celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2015 and […]
High Hopes for Santander’s Tabacalera
It’s been years since I smoked a Fortuna but the old Tabacalera building in Santander does hold a special place in my heart. It’s been one of my favourites since I first caught a glimpse of it rowing on the bay. When I realised it was designed by the same architect who did the petrol station (now a café) beside […]
Anticipation Building at Renzo Piano’s Botin Centre
My camera and I have spent the last month hanging around park benches in Santander looking suspicious. In addition to helping a woman into an ambulance and wondering why so many kids weren’t back in school when they should be, I did manage to survey the work since I last blogged about the Botin Centre one year […]
The Fish Market of all Fish Markets – Santander’s Lonja in Northern Spain
This is my fifth Christmas in a row in Santander. As you’d expect, ‘Navidad’ is very different here in Spain and nowhere is that more evident than at the dinner table. Fish and fishing are an important part of Cantabrian life and for the next two weeks (Christmas lasts right up until January 6 when the Kings […]
Visiting Ribera Foodmarket in Bilbao
Sometimes you only appreciate what you’ve got when you change your surroundings. A few weeks* ago, I went to Bilbao (just one hour away – no need to change time zones) and it was there I realised I should be careful what I wish for. It was a follow-on trip from my Foodies Tour of Santander when a group of […]
A Walking Tour of Santander’s Gastronomy
One of the joys of writing this blog is that I never know where it will take me. Three weeks ago, thanks to a post back in February, it brought me to a memorial for six Limerick men who died in the Spanish Civil War. Last weekend, I found myself standing in front of a group of 20 […]
Pereda Gardens Park by the Botin Centre
There’s something special about great city parks in the Summer and this year I’ve been more than happy to explore the newly re-opened Pereda Gardens in Santander beside the Botin Centre. The space has been THE topic of discussion with everybody in the city and the subject of much commentary on social media locally. One month […]
A Palace Revisited – Santander’s Palacio de la Magdalena
There are many reasons why I write about places in Santander. Sometimes it’s to find out a little more about a building that isn’t well known. Or to get a few paragraphs out there about a location or an architect that isn’t documented in English. This time it’s a bit different. I’m writing about the Magdalena Palace to develop a […]
1930s Santander Through Irish Eyes
I get my fair share of visits from friends and family – and really enjoy seeing the city of Santander through their eyes. In fact, most of these blogposts are inspired by questions or observations from my out-of-towners. When one such visitor told me that I’d missed a great Kate O’Brien (1897-1974) Literary Weekend last […]
Perfection & Complexity at the Botin Centre
It’s been a tough start to the year in Santander. Not only have the waves been beating the coastline and the wind howling non-stop but those of us who like to follow the progress of the Botin Centre have been trying to do our sums. Is A Project Overrun Likely? We’re combing the usual sources […]
My Twenty Thirteen
This is the time most of us reflect on the past calendar year and I’m no exception. The big difference is this year I have hundreds of photos to jog my memory. It’s been an interesting year. I’ll remember it as the time when I started blogging, got interested in photography, bought a nice camera, […]
Llamas Park in Santander – A Breath of Fresh Air
Parks are complex elements of any city. Not only do they provide recreational space, they also define the shape and feel of a city and its neighbourhoods. The most famous park in Santander, Magdalena Park, was a royal residence one hundred years ago. There’s no denying that the royal connection gives it caché and the […]
Santander’s Cliffside Pantheon – El Panteón del Inglés
It’s been a while since I brought you on a walk around Santander. When I heard about a memorial to an English man who had died by the cliffside near the lighthouse I grabbed my camera and went in search of it. The walk is wild and rough and beautiful. And the story is one […]
The Market of Hope since 1904 – El Mercado de la Esperanza in Santander
One of my favourite places to spend some time and cash in Santander is the city’s main food market. For me, it’s a perfect blend of architecture, history, food & drink all rolled into one. It’s called Mercado de la Esperanza – meaning Market of Hope – and is located immediately behind the town hall in […]
Renzo Piano’s Botín Centre goes from 2D to 3 in Santander
If you know me – you know I am interested in the new Botín Centre by Renzo Piano in Santander. It’s been a few months since I blogged about it so I thought I’d show you some snaps of a model of the building and the actual work in progress. Not just one but two […]
The 1941 fire in Santander and its aftermath
I love the beaches, the art-deco buildings and the whole of Puertochico in Santander but until recently I’ve struggled to understand the city centre. Most of the mediaeval city was burned in the fire of 1941 and I never really liked what was put in its place and tended to avoid the area. This has […]
Isla de la Torre – Tower Island in Santander
I’ve always been drawn to this building and this island. I was on the beach the other day combining the dangerous task of having a coffee and testing my shiny new camera (it’s a LUMIX GX1 for those of you that might be interested) when I set my sights on the island and was trigger […]
Santander’s Funicular on Rio de la Pila
Santander is one hilly city. If you are in town for a day or two you might not notice – but if you live in the city – chances are you have a serious hill or two to climb a few times a week. There are buses, tunnels and escalators to help residents avoid the […]
37 Doors in Santander
Almost every post to date has involved me walking down ‘Paseo de Pereda’ in Santander. It’s the best-known street of the city with spectacular views of the bay. Whilst the buildings themselves are impressive and interesting, I was even more struck by the doors and thought I’d bring them to you here. Numbers 1 – […]
Deserted Villa Catches My Eye
Yesterday, I walked past an old house – of which there are very few – in my neighbourhood. It’s called Villa Luisa and it’s boarded up. How is it possible, I thought – that nobody cares about it? I came home and googled. It’s a sad story. I found out it was built in 1917 […]
Making curvy cool with the humble brick
I’ve started looking around Santander with new eyes recently. In a previous post, I described the ferry building in Santander as seductive. And I spoke about living in a 1960s block and loving it. I didn’t explain why I liked these buildings. The simple answer is good architecture. And my new hero is Ricardo Lorenzo. […]
The new Botin Centre in Santander – what’s it all about?
I’ve been banging on about the new building going up in Santander to friends and family and thought I’d write about it here. I’ve two reasons – one is that the building is a little gem – on the plans at least – and secondly – there isn’t much published in English – so I […]
Urban Spain and why I love living in Santander
So what’s it like – Santander? You’ve been there for a while. What’s it got going for itself? It’s hard to describe why I would choose to live on the seventh floor of a 1960s apartment block in a city of 180,000 people with my three small kids. But all it takes is a visit […]
Pamela Cahill 
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