Gran Hotel

If you can get yourself in front of a Spanish TV, or really just a computer with the internet. So, yes - all of you. Actually, more importantly, if you're anything like me, you should try watching Gran Hotel. Well it's in Spanish, so not all of you can but think Downton meets Poirot. It's a period drama set in a hotel for the aristocracy but slightly more violent than you're usual Upstairs Downstairs or the Paradise.

When in Santander I was actually lucky enough to visit el Palacio de la Magdalena which is used for filming the hotel facade. It is magnificent in person and a lot bigger than my rubbish iPhone photo suggests. Definitely worth a visit should you get the chance.

Oh and of course with period drama, there's your typical love story crossing classes but if that's your sort of thing, it's a perfect way to improve your Spanish and wish your boyfriend always wore black tie, or that you looked like Amaia Salamanca. Her lace dresses are to die for.

OREO

This is an advert I came across by chance on a design website. The idea, style and song are perfect. A little bit of inspiration while you're flagging at work on a Thursday afternoon or melting in thirty-degree heat on a sweltering London bus. I can't wait to escape this on Monday when I head across the pond to California!

Architecture - Santander

Walking around the city, one of the features I found most interesting was the architecture, not just looking at what was happening but looking at where.

From terraced houses,

 in hypnotic colours,

and notable buildings or plazas,

to clandestine churches,

and the famous cathedral,

or perhaps it's even the lack of architecture adds to the encanto santanderino.

Find in Santander

I walked past two of these shops when in Santander and immediately fell in love with their dresses. I adore Spanish summer style, with lots of white, delicate, flowing fabrics and lace.  What is more I was there when there were rebajas, couldn't ask for better luck!

If you're in Santander, definitely worth a look.

I looked up the name of the two shops, coincidentally named with the English 'Bus Stop', and found the brand, Belle Bohême. They have a shop online and a blog - that's one to follow!

This dress was a personal favourite.

Horizons - Santander

Again I'm posting some specially selected favourites from a trip. This one to Santander in Cantabria, northern Spain. I was there for a week, as the first official part to my year abroad, doing a course in Gestión Cultural at the Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo. At first a little anxious about being in a university course in a language that isn't my own, I soon realised that understanding every single word wasn't the object and that it was more about the actual experiencia to be had. I met a huge mixture of interesting people and learnt a lot while being able to explore the city in any free time I had.

It begins, an arrow pointing the right direction.

Puerto Chico is the harbour area where everyone goes for a walk, leading from the industrial port (where you can catch a ferry to England) to the yacht club and marina. It's where the society really come together in my opinion, the old snoozing on the benches at siesta time and the young (like me just below) precariously placed on the edge where it is worryingly easy to fall in.

As with the photo above of the Real Club Maritimo, Santander's very changeable weather made for some great 'photo ops'. Here are some of the ones that I took one morning when I accidently missed the bus to the uni. It was at 8am, you can't blame me and whatismore classes only started at 9am, but I did make the most of this hour when Santander was a ghost town to see the Península de la Magdalena and its views towards the horizon.

Most days I went to the beach both in the lunch hour and after class attempting to tan a little bit so as not to look so deathly pale next to the Spaniards. I love the colours you get with the seaside, building layers up until the horizon where the sky takes over.

At the end of the course we had an última cena at Caballerizas on the Península de la Magdalena. I would definitely recommend it if you find yourself in the city. Rabas (de calamar) are the best. The evening light was perfect for one last shot.

Vida de bar en bar

I cannot express how much I love the Spanish way of living outside, in the streets, plazas, from terrace to terrace, bar to bar. That will be my life next year and I am incredibly excited. This summer, Coca Cola's (in my opinion) very original advert focusses on this specific aspect of being Spanish.

I have an obsession with adverts, especially Spanish ones and the ones I like strangely all seem to involve drinks. I will post them in due course to the Inspiration section of the blog but for the moment, here are a couple more good Coca Cola ones.

My first inspiration post

We all love buzz feed for being able to look at our on lives and sometimes laugh a bit at our own ridiculousness like British problems or how life relates to Mean Girls. However, I found this buzz feed video and really like both its style and message.

I haven't done nearly enough of them, but those which I have - road trip, the Himalayas, camping and a last minute week in Paris last summer - were some of the best experiences of my life. I only turned twenty in February so I have just under ten years (and, of course, the rest of my life) to fill with holidays like this...