I'm off the bus in Santander. . .

7:30  am -it's very cold 6*C There's free wifi in the bus station so I stay to touch base with Simon and check my emails - but no couches are offered.  2 German women ask me something in Spanish, I reply "Lo siento, no entiendo, hablo Ingles." They ask me again in English, but I am new here and I don't know the way, they offer  me information to stay at a backpackers where they had just stayed.  That felt like a good start... especially as they'd likely not encountered any bed bug troubles there ... which I dearly hope to completely avoid on these entire travels.
On the bus I had turned my phone off to save its battery - but when I turned it back on my Spanish sim has locked me out of my phone demanding a pin and only 3 tries I didn't even try once because I never even gave it a pin in the first place.  now I was using my NZ sim which works on wifi only.  I decided to walk to the backpackers and leave my heavy pack there - then go find an Orange phone outlet to fix my sim problem.  Walking to the hostel my mind is going through my pack looking for something to throw out. I was directed through a long tunnel it's been blocked off from cars entering and police stand at each end ... looking for trouble.  Inside are stands of books  and clothes and bricker brack and hundreds of people perusing with a few shouting their wares.  One guy picks up a guitar pouring a melody out... he gazes into another guys face with an air of appeal ... They break into song ... a third guy joins keeping beat with cupped hands, I stop to watch. .. at a distance so as not to let them know I am their audience. ... I don't want to break their natural flow. I can't stop the grin on my face, , this is good :-) What characters they are!   Up a steep drab  narrow alley way I found the hostel - closed with a sign in Spanish that read open 15:00 - 22:30,  if you need to collect your bag in off hours go to the bar on so & so street ..... etc So much for leaving my pack some where.  Then as I walked away I realised it's Sunday - no Orange outlets will be open.  Then it came to me why spend €8 to be where I don't really want to be?  I didn't manage to make any couchsurfing connection and there's no Gaudi influence or any other points of interest for me with Santander, it could have been quite a different story if. . . I'd managed to make a people connection,  but never mind. .. I'll put that €8 towards getting to a place where I Do have interests and people connection.