Category Art & Culture
Currachs in Santander Bay
Many of you will already know I don’t get out on the trainera much these days, but for the past year, I’ve been part of the team behind a new rowing fixture in Santander Bay called Navigatio. Inspired by the hugely successful Ocean to City race which attracts 650 competitors into Cork Harbour each year […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Los Raqueros Bay Sculptures in Santander
I’ve walked past these sculptures quite a bit recently – and the more I see them – the more I like them. They are ‘Los Raqueros’ – and the sculptures pay their respects to the city’s children that worked for a living. In Santander, the raqueros were children who scraped a living from the docks […]
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 […]
Pamela Cahill 
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