Please remember this review is part of a 28 day Tour of Europe.
We left Madrid and were one hour out of the City when our Coach broke down. Luckily there was an old gas station across the street. We had to wait for an hour for the Tour Company to send the parts for ’Hans’ to fix the Coach. We were a bit late arriving in San Sebastian.
San Sebastian is on the border with northern France. This is the home of the Basque separatists, (who blew up the building near our hotel in Madrid).
SOME HISTORY, (from my encyclopedia):
’The Basque speak a language that is so old the origins are not known. The people feel that they are not Spanish, (although Castilian Spanish is an official language), and want to separate from Spain. To do this they have followed the example of some other people who want a homeland and decided that instead of negotiating they would get they want by doing terrorist acts’. * Please note I am sure that not all Basques are terrorist.
SAN SEBASTIAN:
San Sebastian is a small town, (about 180, 000 people), Resort Town that is on the northern coast of Spain. As we were driving up to this walled city it reminded me of the ’old city’ in Jerusalem, Israel.
We stayed at the Hotel Londres on the Playa de la Concha Beach. The weather was so hot we wanted to go for a swim but ’Chico’ insisted we had to have a short tour of the town.
A local Guide showed us the port, (Barrio de la Marina in the area of the fishermen), that is in a sheltered bay and then we drove to Monte Urgull Parque. This is a mound of bluffs and forests above the north end of the bay.
We climbed a steep path to the top to see an old Fort. It was in ruins and they let us walk around the ramparts so we could get a view of the sea and the Isla de Santa Clara.
We drove through the old quarter called the Parte Vieja that was built in the late 1100’s.
Our next stop was at a Gothic styled Church, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción y del Manzano, to see the displays at their ecclesiastical Museum. The Church has three naves and a small collection of artifacts. My Mother’s Birthday was today, (she was alive then), and MM and I lit a candle to wish her many long years ahead, (had I know she was going to have Alzheimer’s disease I never would have wished her that).
Our last stop was at the Naval Museum to see the archives that showed carpentry tools, navigational instruments and some models of some Basque ships. We had a look at the Library and I would have loved to rummage through the old books but it was time for the tour to end so I was not able to see everything I wanted to.
We were dropped off at the Town Square and given our half-an-hour shopping time. I bought painters berets & t-shirts for everyone and an apron for me.
Our friend wanted to skip the meal at the hotel and go to a cafe that served pintxos, (small portions of food). We were told that we weren’t going to be severed beef of chicken but the hotel’s chief was preparing the popular local cuisine is called, (a large bowl of rice with seafood and vegetables). I had been warned about eating paella because it must be served hot from the oven. I took one smell and knew it was not and told everyone not to eat it. No one listened to me and later that night ‘Chico’, ‘Hans’, (who had beefsteak for dinner), and I were the only people not throwing up all night.
After dinner we walked back to the square to have a drink at a bar. It was so crowded and fights began to break out after one drink we went back to the hotel.
MM didn’t sleep all night. In the morning the Canadian-Philippine Man had to carry her 3 carryon pieces of luggage and 2 shopping bags down to the lobby. His wife was not happy and I could see ’fire’ in her eyes.
After breakfast that very few people ate we left for France.
SOME THOUGHTS:
I don’t know if we missed seeing much during our short time here. It was interesting to see a Culture I had never seen before.
©LL