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Published: October 19th 2011
What a Pearler
View of La Perla through the wrought iron railings along the La Concha promenadeSix hours in a bus takes us through landscape that changes from the flat dryness of Madrid, to jagged and rocky (and still dry), and then dry and undulating around Lerma, a little less dry looking around Burgos (the three hour mark), then industrial and industrious looking at Vitoria, and into countryside that is more undulating and getting greener by the moment. These undulations change into substantial hills and deeper river gorges with the highways snaking their ways around the edges and through a series of substantial tunnels. At the five hour mark we get our first glimpse of the ocean, and an hour later we roll into San Sebastian. My start here is not good as I have one of those pathetic tourist moments with the taxi driver that results in me holding out my hand and letting the driver sort through the coins in my palm to extract the fare. Oh the shame! Nothing like long distance bus travel to dull the senses.
Soon however our senses are enlivened as we walk the 50 metres from our two star pension (not as roomy as our Madrid apartment but kept ship shape by a lively senora who ensures everything
Bella Vista
View of La Perla from the elegant high ground is working just fine including my wifi - pronounced whiffy; I initially thought the senora was referring to me after the long bus trip – connection) to the ocean front promenade of the tightly curved beach, known locally as La Concha (the shell) with the small off shore island of La Perla (the pearl) completing the pair. We breathe the mild humid air in deeply – a relief after the dryness of Madrid – and realise what coastal creatures most Australians are. This feels good and we have a week ahead of us in the charming place with its grand seaside resort look, belle epoque buildings curving around the sweep of the beach, and the promenade along the seafront a major feature and thoroughfare of the town. Walkers, joggers, bikes, baby strollers, wheelchairs (both standard and motorised), young, old and in between constantly ply along the promenade just as we remember. And now the promenade has an extension – the neuvo paseo – that connects all the three beaches in San Sebastian; pedestrian bliss. And the extension is not all that is nuevo since we were here last time – the then derelict fish market near the old town is
Pintxos to the Max
Nothing succeeds like excess now a fancy shopping centre, and the San Martin market across the road from our pension has also received a face lift, as have a number of parts of the town. The grand old dame is certainly keeping up appearances.
Needless to say we have spent quite an amount of time on foot around the town, reacquainting ourselves with the old quarter where most of the pintxo (basque for tapas) bars are to be found, locating some old favourites – the zucchini timbale filled with a mix of fresh white cheese and crabmeat at Casa Martinez is still heaven on a stick – as well as making new finds like Astelena with its asian-inspired numbers that include prawn brochettes wrapped in fine rice vermicelli that are quickly fried off and served with a soy dressing. Anyway enough of the food description here, as you all know that there is bound to be a posting from me in the very near future about the food and wine – why.....because there always is!
Our wanderings have also taken us around the town and up and down (any reference to the
Go Betweens is purely co-incidental, although 70's and 80's soundtracks are
Chillida's Wind Comb
Steel, sea, sky and twisted rock sing in perfect harmony on high rotation in the bars and cafes of San Sebastian – everything old is new again) to explore the hills that create the beach headlands with their remnants of old fortifications and superb views of La Concha and La Perla, and the sea walls that protect the beach and river mouth. At one end of the promenade are placed four massive steel sculptures by local hero Chillida, collectively known as the Wind Comb. While we saw an early version of one of them at the Reina Sophia in Marid (it was about 30cm high) seeing them here weighing in at 16 tonnes apiece, with their rusty (corten steel always stirs a metallurgist's heart, even a lapsed metallurgist like me) forms mixed with the blue sea, a stunning blue sky and tortured rock strata to frame them is absolutely stunning. They were here when last we visited however they still have the power to impress. On the downside, I was very keen to see more of Chillida's work at the sculpture park in nearby Hernani created by a foundation to display over 40 of his large scale works. Unfortunately the global financial crisis caused the park to suspend operations at
Pasajes River Crossing
San Juan viewed during the 3 minute ferry crossing from San Pedro. the beginning of 2011 – hopefully it will be open the next time we swing by this way.
And our roamings have not been confined merely to San Sebastian. One took us on a 10 kilometre coastal path through pine and oak forests to end in the area of Pasajes, a place very solidly grounded in the maritime world. If San Sebastian is all genteel and belle epoque – its film festival finished here three weeks ago and there is still an excellent exhibition about the life and work of Fellini in one of the cultural centres here – Pasaia is all about the sea and its commerce. A major fishing cooperative still operates here, as well as a cargo port and ship repair industry. And it has a very charming old town centre with two parts connected by a little ferry boat that shuttles you across the river on demand – a whole 3 minutes is required to make the river crossing. Needless to say the fish in the restaurants here is excellent and when taken with a view of the port and major vessels as well as the cute little ones passing literally within reach, it made
Puppy Love
Jeff Koon's garden sculpture at the entrance to the Bllbao Guggenheim. the 10 kilometre walk to get here seem so very worth it (after lunch we did however go back to San Sebastian on the bus).
Still further afield too – an hour and a quarter down the road to Bilbao – with the main purpose of visiting the Guggenheim. If San Sebastian has spruced up some of its older buildings since our last visit, Bilbao is like a city on development steroids with the Guggenheim being the main driver. An improved metro, a tramway system, the whole precinct around the Guggenheim transformed – we didn't bother going into this area before in June 1997 but merely looked at the soon to be opened gallery from across the river. And in a kind of karmic repayment – the gallery was supposed to be opened around the time we were there in '97 but had been delayed by three months – this time the day we visit turns out to be the gallery's anniversary and so admission is free. And a visit to the Bilbao Guggenheim really is more about the architecture than it is about the art; even the tiles in the toilets are shockingly Op Art in their style.
Steel and Titanium
Bilbao's two eras viewed from the deck of the La Salve bridge. We spend about three hours exploring the nooks and crannies of the museum and its spaces – oh yes and the artworks too. One wing, the so called “fish gallery”, is filled with geometric steel works by Richard Serra (“A Matter of Time”) and is sponsored by a steel company – Arcelor Mittal - after which the gallery was re-named in a grand gesture of product placement. There is even a side gallery with an interpretive section about the history of iron and steel; unlike Chillida's wind comb made of “corten” this did not stir my inner metallurgist. Amid all this newness it was encouraging to climb up to the road deck of the La Salve bridge around which the gallery has been built, and look back to see a mix of the industrial green painted struts of the bridge, complete with some graffiti, slice across the curvy silvery-grey modernity of the gallery. Like the Pasajes area, it is good not to lose sight or appreciation of your origins.
And so it is that our time in San Sebastian is drawing to a close – where did those seven days go? - however there is still a little time
Marchamos a Zaragoza
Time for we two to leave San Sebastian and travel to new adventures in Zaragoza. left for some more of those pintxos and a walk along the promenade, despite the prospect of rain for the first time in three weeks since we arrived in Spain. We then move on to Zaragoza, which unlike our first two destinations, will be entirely new for us. So until our next post we wish you all salud, pesetas y amor.
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Chris Cranswick-Smith
non-member comment
Que bueno!
Looks amazing P & D, good memories!! See you when you're back CCS