Monday, April 7, 2014

San Sebastian Donastia

I took a trip this last weekend to the Basque Country, specifically to San Sebastian (or Donastia as it's called in Basque). If you've never seen the Basque Country, I imagine it looks a lot like Ireland- Green and mountainous. There's a different feel up there, as if you really are crossing into another country. The cities have a more open feel, the buildings are a little bit brighter. Small villages are scattered in the hills and mountains, and livestock wander the pastures. I could see why the Basque immigrated to Idaho, because, although our mountains are quite dry and our weather basically the opposite, the mountains reminded me a lot of home.

And of course, there's the language. I fell asleep on my way, and when I woke up, I wasn't sure where I was (turned out I was in Vitoria). But one glance at the signs tells you where you are. Basque comes first in the Basque Country, and the street signs, restaurants, and businesses are all first in Basque, and maybe in Spanish later. (At least in this part of the Basque Country. Not all of the provinces are the same with their treatment of Basque language and culture.) I can say, goodbye and welcome in Basque (not super helpful) but everyone does speak Spanish if they must.

San Sebastian is a beach town, and a gorgeous one at that. I stayed at a nice surfer hostel, which was reasonably priced- for now. But if you go after Semana Santa, it was more than double the rate for each night. Yikes. I met a nice woman from Canada, and we later hung out some during the weekend.
The first day I spent at the beach. It wasn't quite warm enough to swim, so I people watched and walked up and down the beach a few times. It was really lovely. The water is clear and the beach is fairly clean. And the views could not be beat.

I ate some wonderful pintxos for dinner, Basque style. Basically, they make a bunch and set them out on plates. You grab your own plate, load up, eat, and pay at the end. (Paying at the end, even in bars, is common in Spain.) I was surprised to learn that they no longer use the different sized toothpick method. The Basque Market in Boise uses that to measure your pintxo consumption, but in the Basque Country, they've digitized. It was Friday, so I skipped the ham I wanted to eat (truly a penance) and went with bacalao, tuna, octopus, and non meat based pintxos.

I went to visit the two main churches in SS. The first was Santa María del Coro, the patron of the city (supposedly brought up from Latin America, I can't remember which country). It's a very nice church, and the guy at the door let me in for free, when he saw that I only had a twenty. Super nice guy. The other church was Buen Pastor Cathedral, the Good Sheppard. While small, (compared to other Spanish Cathedrals), it's built in a Gothic Style, without a lot of chapels along the sides. But the really neat thing is the stained glass. Because of the way the church faces (exactly in line with del Coro, by the way) the sun streams in through the glass and casts colored shadows on the walls. It's really beautiful, and unfortunately, did not get captured on my camera.

The second day my main goal was to hike up Monte Urgull, which is right behind del Coro and was supposed to have a fantastic view of Playa de las conchas. It's a terrific hike up, and not too strenuous. It's mostly paved at the bottom, though about half way up you run into cobbled path, which is uneven and can be a little difficult. With each turn, the view gets more and more stunning. It's green and humid, more humid the higher you go. It wasn't raining while I was there, but the frequent rain has left everything moss covered and almost magical looking. (If you've been to Multnomah Falls near Portland and climbed up to the top, it reminded me of that, though that's a more intense hike than this one). I wandered up a set of stone stairs, some worn down and some completely missing, and found myself at an old tunnel. The tunnel led up to another hiking trail, and no matter which way you go, you find yourself at an old castle/fort. The first castle I've been in, despite living in Castilla y León. There's also an English cemetery along the way, and though I saw it from above, I couldn't find it on my way down.

Going into the castle gives you an even better view of the surrounding area. There are several different layers to the castle, and the best part is that it's free! If you continue to the top, you'll find a museum dedicated to life in San Sebastian throughout the ages, and it's also free. The museum is quite interesting. The most fascinating thing for me is what is called "The Sack of Donostia". Essentially, in the late 18th Century, Napoleon used San Sebastian as a way to get to Portugal, and there was very little resistance. SS had these massive walls built up around the city, including the fort and the island. It was actually referred to as The Rock on some English maps. And let's just say that having Napoleon's troops in the city, well, it wasn't great. In 1813, the English and Portuguese teamed up to 'liberate' SS. It took a while, but they finally managed it on 31 August. The people were thrilled, and greeted the soldiers with flags and cheers. However, they immediately started to sack the city, stealing, raping, and burning the buildings to the ground. Only one street was spared, because that's where they were collecting all their riches. 1600 people died in the city, and everything was destroyed. This was supposedly revenge for allowing Napoleon to come through without resistance, though the English general would later deny the claim. In the 1800s, SS had to rebuild, and became something of a vacation spot, with a large casino, water activities, and other carnival activities. It still has some of those characteristics, though the casino is now the town hall.

After going through the museum, your reward is the best view in the city. You get to go all the way to the top, right next to the statue of Jesus. It's breathtaking, and so worth the hike. I've posted them on my facebook page, but if you're not friends with me there, you can send me an email and I'll send you some of my best shots.

It's a great city and definitely worth the visit, even if it's still too cold to swim. If you like to surf, sail, or paddle board, you're in good company.


Next week, I've got my biggest trip yet, seven days around Andalucía. Since a weekend trip ran me ragged, I can't imagine what seven days will do to me. But I will be spending Easter weekend (Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday) in Aranda, and so I'll get to experience Holy Week here as well (and there are some pretty interesting traditions here as well, more on that later). I'll try to bring my computer and update as I go, but if I can't, have a joyous rest of Lent and a Happy Easter!   

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