Comillas

In our search for a venue for our wedding, we went all the way across the province where we live to western Cantabria, to the coastal town of Comillas. They have a fabulous hotel there called the Hotel Golf Rovacias. Yes, it really looks that good (no snowy peaks this time of year, though).

Here's a little panorama from the side of the hotel taken before we entered. We had an appointment with their wedding chief.

Their café/bar adjacent to the lobby was clean and elegant. Definitely four-star quality.

The café lead out to the patio.

Not a bad little view from the patio. If it was a summer wedding (which it can't be because airfare from the US would be ridiculously expensive), we could spill out onto the patio for drinks.

They were setting up fairway advertising for a tournament or some kind of event. Mercedes was an obvious sponsor. It's just a nine hole course, and some of the greens are even shared. The two flags on this green said "2/11" and "9/18". That'll make sense to you golfers.

The stunningly beautiful Hotel Golf is just where the boss's office is. They host weddings in their sister hotel down the road, the Hotel Mar. There was nothing about the Hotel Mar that we liked, from the facade to the dining room. It was clean, but the location was horrible. The view from the dining room and patio was of a parking lot. I didn't even take any pictures. It was very, very disappointing. We are definitely not going to have our wedding one hour away in a place like that. We can do better in Laredo!

Disheartened, we decided to visit the town center of Comillas. Comillas is a tourist town, and I'm certain that in November, at least 85% of the apartments will be empty. It's a second-home town for the upper class Spanish.

I love flowers hanging from rustic balcony railings.

Some well-placed benches.

The view from where Marga was in the previous picture. I guess the super-posh stay in their backyard pool and don't even venture down to the crowded beach.

This sign was next to a special hostel for religious pilgrims. Only 1820 kilometers (1130 miles) to Rome, 5170 kilometers (3212 miles) to Jerusalem.

Always good at peeling away the tourism facade and finding the heart of a town, Marga leads us down this ancient narrow street.

This passageway probably only gets sun for a matter of minutes every day.

Nice view from that hotel's dining room.

Mediterranean architecture.

The beach was pretty nice. It's nothing like the one we have next door in Laredo, though.

On the way out of town, the view from the highway was so stunning that we decided to pull over and look around a bit.

Another nearby beach.

Comillas has a famous university.

Here is a panorama from where we parked the car. It's a beautiful little part of Spain.

Too bad it's been crossed of the list of possible wedding venues.