Bill Arney

Left the beach town of Islares with the sun still behind the rocky hills across the street.  Down to the beach, then turning away from the water, under the large highway, and down the N-634 for a ways. Finally spotted the beach/surf town of Laredo. Beautiful. But once we wound our way through the little burgh before the actual beach (where a woman asked our help carrying her groceries a few blocks to her house) and then got down to the beach, Laredo turned out to be two miles of ghost town.  No one on the long promenade, all windows shuttered,  some heavy machinery trying to move sand dunes around. A dispiriting walk. But a short ferry ride dropped us in Santoña, a lively town known for its anchovies.  We had some on salads last night and may do the same here tonight. The town is also known for building one of Columbus’ s ships.