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Published: April 8th 2015
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Welcome to sunny La Concha Bay The drive down from Bordeaux was much quicker than expected, thanks to the fabulous highways and 130km/h speed limits. Well worth the tolls. First experience driving on the left - glad for the quiet Easter weekend roads.
Donostia San Sebastian is a fun city. We’ve hit the Pintxos bars in the old town straight up and found everyone to be relaxed and helpful and very patient with the fact that we don’t speak Spanish, let alone Basque.
We are staying in the Londres Hotel, a fabulous beachfront hotel with views on to La Concha Bay, it takes a leaf out of English holiday making style, fantastic friendly service with a great conservatory style bar well stocked with gin and GH Mumm on ice, perfect for elevenses and every hour there after... This town has become a European seaside destination since the Spanish Queen Isabell II made it popular to come here and 'bathe' in the sea water - for her complexion or some other ailment, so the King built her the Miramar Palace and a sea spa and it became the fashionable place to be - still is!!
The weather has been much warmer here, and sunny. People
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Going to the beach, 11 degrees, people swimming and everyone else in jeans and coats. are out in their droves promenading along the esplanade and the beach. Incredibly there are even people swimming most hours of the day. There is the definite siesta period in the afternoon and then a resurgence in numbers from about 6pm until well after midnight.
Pintxos bars in the old part of town are a definite highlight, at first glance it is a crush of people with food and wine that any where else in the world would become a riot of excess. Here it is a mixture of families and friends catching up on the day's activities and enjoying each other's company. There is an order of things and an honour system of self service that everyone respects. And then there is the food, an eclectic mix of colours, aromas and tastes.
I note there have been questions of my fitness in the approach to the Paris Roubaix bike ride. Well founded questions but there has been an enormous amount of walking and a limited amount of running (running after buses counts??). In San Sebastian alone there has been two trips up Mt Urgull and hours of walking along La Concha Bay and the town.
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Pintxos time! Urgull deserves a special mention, it was the obvious defensive position for the King of Navarre from the 12th century and then through the height of the Spanish power when they built their Armada here in the 16th century, tried to protect the area from Napoleon (but failed) until more modern times when they erected an enormous statue of Jesus on top to look over the bay.
All this military attention means this city has been razed to the ground a number of times and rebuilt, the most recent incarnation being a Belle Epoque style heavily influenced by French design.
So I'm sitting here now in the Londres dining room over breakfast of strong black coffee and delightful pastries overlooking La Concha Bay watching the morning fishing boats put to sea through the calm waters, the increasing number of walkers and runners along the esplanade and wondering how Tess and I might be able to stay. Perhaps we can seek diplomatic refuge from working life, must check if there is such a thing.
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Glyn
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Looks like your having a great time. The plague continues to be part of our household, so glad we didn't pass it on. Keep posting really enjoying following your wonderful trip.