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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