When we started with our packed bikes downhill the steep road of Calle Lope de Vega we saw the escalators going up on the right hand again and the Bay of Santander and the Centro Botin in the sunshine in front of us. We expected to reach the ferry easily because we didn’t expect any traffic on a Sunday, but there was a marathon for which they had closed the bay side promenade.
Somehow we had to explain to the policemen that we had to reach the ferry, and they let us pass through against the direction of the sportive marathon runners.
When we reached the check in of the ferry it was mostly caravans, cars, trucks and motor bikers but only one more biker from Great Britain waiting in line. We felt a bit lost among all these big vehicles with our tour bikes. We had to get onto the parking deck ahead of the trucks and caravans and had to fix our bikes to a railing with salty stiff ropes out of hemp and plastic.
The next challenge was the transport of all our bags in one go up the stairs to our cabin. Robert had organized a cabin with a porthole to the sea. The design of our aisle was very nostalgic as it showed images of the way of Saint James. It wouldn’t leave us. Once we had our bags deposited in the cabin we got all the way up to the upper deck to see the ferry leaving the harbour.
We quickly gained speed and the skyline of Santander was passing by while the clouds where moving at the horizon with the same speed due to the upcoming storm. It was a strange optical illusion, the ferry and the clouds travelling parallel through the bay, which made an effect like someone was pulling Santander out of the scene. We reached the cliff where the royal palace appeared before we entered the open sea.
The wind got stronger and stronger and the waves were getting bigger and bigger. Luckily I could find a window seat with a table at the lounge deck so I was able to work on my laptop with a view to the horizon to avoid getting sea sick. It worked perfectly fine until the sun set at the same time like it did that day all over the world as it was the Autumn Equinox, and for everyone the day was as long as the night with exactly 12 hours (as long as you were not placed directly on the North or South poles).
Once the night set in I lost the control of the horizon and working on a laptop started to make me seasick. I needed to go to bed immediately to cope with the movement of the ship. But it was not only the rolling we felt, because sometimes we would face waves of 4 metres and when the hull of the ferry hit this wall of water it felt like it could break each moment, imagining the tons of loads it had inside. It was a rough night and we tried our best to get some sleep.
