American in Spain

Carnival 2012 - Santoña

February 19, 2012
Sunset Dock

We've heard from past years that the nearby town of Santoña puts on a good Carnival festival. We were a little disappointed, however, to see that the parade starts at dusk rather than during the day when it's warmer and easier to see costumes. But we decided to give it a chance anyway, so we left at around lunchtime to go have some tapas and spend a lazy afternoon in Santoña awaiting the parade. Nora, of course, was delighted to get a chance to get more milage out of her Sevillana dress. Meat and Bread

A street vendor was selling freshly grilled chorizo and morcilla (blood sausage).

Chorizo and Morcilla

My wife and I shared a piece of chorizo.

Nora in Santoña

Looking for the next bar.

Tapas in Santoña

This bar was tiny and absolutely packed. And for good reason.

Tapas in Santoña

The skewing of these tapas photos was a complete accident, but I like it.

Ham and Cheese, and Meat and Tomato Sauce

Our choice. Serrano ham with goat cheese with Modena vinegar, and a meat and tomato stew with a pheasant egg on top. With a beer and a wine, of course.

Chalk Art - Carnival Santoña

Apparently this bear drew some chalk art on the street. The sardine escaping its can to eat a dangling worm was the official logo of the 2012 festival.

I scream for Ice Cream

Ice cream with my girls.

Ice cream by the sea

Eating ice cream down by the water.

Boats and Colindres

Just as we can see Santoña from Colindres, you can see Colindres from Santoña. My house is over there somewhere.

Dog Monument

One of my favorite things about Santoña is that they have several monuments to canines, I assume to the dogs that keep fishermen company on long fishing voyages.

Juan de la Cosa Monument, Santoña

A monument to Juan de la Cosa, a native of Santoña who was the captain of the Santa Maria and sailed with Columbus on that infamous 1492 voyage.

Sunset, Santoña

The sunset was lovely, over Santoña's little beach.

Bollard and Boats

Bollard and boats.

Nora, with Mommy and Abuelos

Nora's Spanish grandparents showed up late in the day.

Climbing Benches

Nora had fun climbing these granite benches.

Jumping Off Benches

And jumping off them. See all those benches vanishing off into the distance? She climbed up and jumped off every single one. That'll burn off a scoop of ice cream in no time.

Sailboat

A lone sailboat.

Sailboat in Santoña

The same boat, coming into harbor, with Colindres in the background.

Big Sardine

The giant sardine that initiated the costume parade. It got pretty cold, and I was underdressed, and the music was too loud, so I didn't enjoy the actual parade all that much. I much preferred seeing all the people dressed up walking around the street earlier in the day.

Bullfighters on Shoulders, Carnival Costume, Santoña

This was the very last of 24 groups dressed up for the costume competition, and it was the only one that inspired me to take a photograph. It was men carrying faux bullfighters on their shoulders like what happens after a successful bullfight.

Bullfighters  (and bulls) on Shoulders, Carnival Costume, Santoña

And the bulls followed after. Ha!

Sunset Dock

Overall, it was a very successful day out. Nora wore high heels (willingly!) for six hours and several ambulatory kilometers. She took them off for a couple hours after a bit of an ankle twist, but then demanded to put them back on.

Carnival 2012 - Sevillana

My little Sevillana. ¡Olé!