When I ask the shopkeeper about them, her face goes blank. When the fishing is poor for a long time, people whisper about hexes. Special herbs can be had from certain people who know how to cure. Sometimes they're good omens, sometimes not. A main port of Spain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Santander retains much of its period architecture, despite several fires in this century that forced extensive rebuilding.
Darkness falls, and buildings glow under floodlights.
I stop in a bar open to the sea. A white-haired man, his mouth full of olives, is talking to the bartender. They both listen patiently as I explain that I've forgotten the name of the restaurant where I'm to meet my group for dinner. I have an X marked on my map, but I can't figure out where I am. Obviously I misunderstood Natalia's instructions.