Blogs from San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain, Europe

Our last stop in Spain before turning back towards home via Paris and London. Is Donostia/San Sebastian. The US traveler would only know it as San Sebastian, the playground of the rich and famous. However, here it is referred to as Donostia/San Sebastian both Basque and Spanish. The Trip to Bilbao was the last journey on the Spanish Renfe, we are now using the Euskatren, a Basque Country commuter line. We were initially thinking it would be like NJ Transit, turns out it is very modern and fairly comfortable with bathrooms on the train. Yesterday, Jerry had mapped out our route from the Hotel to the Metro to the train station that the E1 leaves from. It was very easy. We walked about two blocks to the metro stop, took an elevator to the platform and ... read more

We had a big day yesterday so we sleep in and have a morning (and half an afternoon for that matter) of domestics. We eventually decide that that’s more than enough idleness for one day and set off to climb the mighty Mount Urgull which guards the east side of La Concha Bay. The trail starts off gently enough through wide avenues of tall lush green trees, but we’re still puffing hard by the time we reach the public library, well the sign says it’s the public library, although the lack of anything resembling a book suggests the sign could be slightly out of date. If it was ever a public library its readers must have all been very fit. Anyway, the views over the Bay and across to Mount Igueldo on the opposite shore are ... read more

Our cute little apartment has a washing machine so we decide on a morning of domestics … well that was the plan until we couldn’t find the detergent or the clothes pegs. So it’s off to the supermarket. The detergent is easy, but the pegs, well ….. I think briefly about asking, but surprising as it may seem, “clothes pegs” didn’t make the top 50 or so on my list of important phrases to learn in Spanish. Several supermarkets later I spy some on the shelves, and my long and dangerous (they drive fast here) mission is now complete. But our problems have only just begun. “I don’t know how to work the washing machine”, says Issy. I didn’t do the clothes washing module in either of my engineering degrees, but still all is not lost. ... read more

We land in Lisbon feeling like zombies. We manage to lose Issy’s boarding pass for the next leg not once but twice, but no problem we’re told both times; just go the kiosk and print it again. I wonder what exactly will happen when two pretend Issy’s try to get on the flight. This airport’s just like all its post COVID cousins - queues and more queues, all of them moving at glacial pace. … and officials yelling angrily at everyone; do they really think that passengers are deliberately not understanding the overly complex procedures for getting anywhere at the moment, at least that’s how they feel to us. We land in Bilbao. We’ve spent several frustrating hours over the past few days trying to fill in what we were told was a mandatory health form ... read more

Heute war ich also in San Sebastian. Beim Frühstück hat man das mit spanischem Käse und Schinken gemerkt, die ich beide probiert habe. Dann startete ich meinen Spaziergang. Die größte Sehenswürdigkeit ist die Seepromenade am Playa de la Concha. Mein Hotel ist nur rund 100 Meter davon entfernt und vom Zimmer kann ich die Bucht und dahinter den Berg Monte Urgull gut sehen. Diesen habe ich aber nicht bestiegen. Oben ist eine alte Festung mit einer Christus-Statue und er bildet die zweite große Attraktion der Stadt. Statt dessen bin ich am Rathaus vorbei in die Altstadt (Parte Vieja) mit dem Plaza de la Constitucion und im Anschluss daran zu einem Starbucks und wieder zurück. Anders als in Frankreich wurde dabei meine CovPass-App nicht gefragt, Masken wurden aber in Innenräumen getragen. Im Hotel konnte ich dann gut ... read more