Crazy Weather in Santander

Our group has been incredibly lucky with weather in Santander.  I can probably count on my fingers the number of days it has rained which is practically unheard of in this city.  Our host families tell us we brought good weather with us (and left behind some pretty crazy weather in NC).  When the weather does take a turn for the worse in Santander, it is unlike anything I have ever seen.

 

The day we were supposed to leave for Barcelona, it rained, sleeted, hailed, and had perfectly clear skies all in a matter of one day.  The winds were really high which created waves up to 30 feet high on the beaches!  In the midst of eating lunch there was a bout of hail so heavy that the streets were blanketed in white.  It appeared as though we had had a snow storm, only a bit more violent.  When the hail stopped and the sun was shining again, I took my host family's advice and met up with my friend Jordan to go take pictures of the surf. 

 

Santander has a really cool program in which anyone with a credit card (to make a hefty deposit with) can rent bicycles from the city (TUS) for free.  The bikes are really funny looking: heavy metal frames, a large basket (big enough to fit my butt comfortably… I know this because I have ridden home in Jordan's basket… not the safest ride but faster than walking), LED lights, and a lock.  I met Jordan at one of the TUS stations (there are ten or more all over the city which you can exchange bikes freely within) and we set off for one of the large parks, Palacio de Magdalena.  

 

When we got to Magdalena it was still really sunny but the wind was terribly strong.  If you stopped pedaling the wind would slow you down to a near stand still.  Amused by ridiculous weather, we laughed and took pictures of the park.  We found a small zoo area with penguins (who were really enjoying the wind) and some seals.  I took a few pictures of the area and then a video to try to capture the intensity of the wind (the video below which doesn't really do justice).

 

We then decided to take some pictures of the even larger surf crashing onto the rocks at the end of the peninsula.  Again we laughed and took pictures of the scene.  Jordan then joked that we should start a video blog of our TUS bike adventures.  I thought this seemed like a great idea and we started filming our first post.  In the video (below) Jordan is explaining how intense the wind and waves are when suddenly a HUGE wave comes out of no where and crashes over top of us.  The last bit of the video is me screaming and turning away from the wall of water as we both ran for cover.  Although we made it a good ways away from the railing, we were still completely soaked through our clothes with sea water.     

 

In good humor we continued our blog (below) and tried to explain what had just occurred.    

When the shock had worn off we made a mad dash back to our bikes before another wave hit.  We then pedaled home cold and wet (and for me partially in the rain).  In one hour we had to leave for Barcelona and both of us were wearing what we had planned to travel in.  Since dryers do not exist in Spain, we were pretty worried about what we were going to do for pants.  When I got home I turned the space heater in my room up to full blast and draped my clothes (ignoring the "DO NOT COVER" warning in four languages) over the vent and hoped for the best.  When I left for the airport my pants were only slightly damp.

 

I am 75% certain that our flight should not have taken off that night.  However, we were flying with RyanAir, a discount airline, who prides itself on the fact that 93% of its flights are on-time or early.  The take off from Santander was really rough and made me pretty nervous.  Through out the flight we experienced turbulence that made me grip my arm rests in fear.  I wore my seat belt out of safety, not habit.  When we began our descent things only got worse.  At first I was just nervous and tried to laugh off the fear.  As we got within minutes of landing the plane was literally bouncing up and down like someone was shaking a cocktail.  I then had the first panic attack of my life.  I had no logical thought process left and was certain that death was only seconds away.  My friends from the group were trying their best to calm me down but I began shrieking and crying.  I can remember thinking I needed to get out of my seat (like this would somehow save me ?) but luckily was unable to ease my death grip on the seat in front of me long enough to unbuckle my seat belt.  My friend Seth was giving me a foot-by-foot update, which though the intention was good, only made my irrationality sky rocket.  I was sharing a row with Jordan who had no idea what to do with me, and tried his best to hold my hand or assure me that we would be okay.  When we finally landed I was shaking and felt like I may faint.

 

I was pretty embarrassed that I had reacted the way I did-- I have never ever had this happen before.  My group doesn’t really know me all that yet well so they also felt pretty awkward about the whole ordeal.  The rest of the night I was completely drained of energy (and we still had an hour and one half bus ride into Barcelona and then had to find our hostel).  When my feet finally hit solid ground I almost cried tears of joy.  Needless to say I was already dreading our return flight.  Looking back on the situation is pretty humorous and it has been the butt of several jokes.  On our bus ride we met several students from the US who are studying in Seville whose flight was also pretty rocky.  I guess you get what you pay for!