Tuesday, September 29, 2026

26 September 2026 Santander: The Maritime Museum's Aquarium and the Full Moon

 


The basement had a pretty good aquarium.  Soft corals, local fish, seahorses and one very large tank that has sharks rays and an octopus.  We almost missed the octopus but then we saw him start to walk across the sand and toss some fish parts up above its head and the larger fish rushed in to eat them.  Later the guide told us it is getting older and does not eat much anymore.  We left and ate our lunch on a bench outside watching the boats and swimmers.  Driving back along a new route we stopped for gar and then watched the world from our balcony


Soft corals


Cousin It


The colors wer amazing


Hey ray!


The big tank


Pink fish photobomb


Brightly colored


Look who is becoming active


Walking on its tentecles 


A very different way of moving


Seahorse


Jelly tanks


The whale bones from below


A local scientific illustrator's desk from the 1800's 


At 15 pounds this big beast could be lunch and dinner


Turtles


Puff the magic fishy


The castle off in the distance


A great location


Swirling water and a kite surfer


Off he goes


The harbor master has a nice office


This beach is very secluded


Sailing sailing


We drove over by the castle but no parking spaces and it did not open for an hour


While getting gas


Back to our balcony


Another lineup


Thinking of Julie and the waves


50th Birthday


Full moon and king tides


Whispy clouds


Moody moon


The seal ia lit up


Good night moon




    It has been 4 years and 113 days since we began our Migration

Monday, September 28, 2026

26 September 2026 Santander: Beach Watching and The Maritime Museum


We got breakfast downstairs and then took a quick walk.  We headed to the left from the hotel but  there was only 50 feet or so to walk in that direction so we turned it around and walked back along the beach.  We got to see some cute dogs up and down the beach.  We also saw what looked like a large group of kids getting surfing lessons.    After the walk we headed to the Nautical Museum for four floors of delightful ship models and dioramas!



Outside out hotel lurking in the foliage


Long rock dykes


A fox terrier!


Good girl


 A pink sasquatch


Patina in green


We thought it might be a surfing lesson and then we saw the boards


Practice makes perfect


I liked this one, a snail or two rocks?


The thwock thwock of paddle ball or Kadima as some call it


Palm trees


Floral bunch


Fungal bunch


His mustache is asymmetric


We have reached the Nautical Museum


Located at the narrowest point of the inlet


Sailboats are trying to tack into the wind


One long boat, made for open ocean races!


A four person kayak out of teak


Water taxi


Hmmmmm...


How to catch a fish


Trawling nets displayed in a very neat diorama


A gill net also shown perfectly


Tiny guys drying tiny fish


An old time fish auction


The next generation fish auction.  The price starts out high and goes down until someone picks that prize.  By pushing the button first that person gets the allotment


Women drying fish


Tiny folks hauling tiny amphora on a Ronam dock


Pay respect to the demi-god


So many ship models 


Sailing boats


Roman era artifacts


Another mystery


A big chunk of stone


Navigational tools


All the trade routes 


A stone jaguar from meso-america


One big hunk of curved wood


15 feet of diorama, how to buidl a ship


First the logs


Saw them up and make the frame


Fill in the middle


Plank the exterior


Ta da the ship is finished!


A great display of cannon


Powder and shot


The Captain of the ship needs many drawers


A silver horn fr barking out orders to the crew


A gimballed compass 


Deep sea diving


This was made from the nautical alphabet


ABC, as easy as 123



This narrow opening is where the castle is and the museum resides


A whale of a skeleton




 

    It has been 4 years and 113 days since we began our Migration