San Sebastian

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Our first trip by bus saw us cross the Spanish border. We left Biarritz about midday and travelled a winding route close the coast south towards the border. The views of the sea were beautiful.

San Sebastian is a port town with a lot of history. We arrived at the bus station in the newer part of town and walked parallel to the river into the old part, where our hostel was located. The old town, on a peninsula below a mountain with a huge statue of Christ overlooking the whole city, is all narrow lanes arranged in a grid. There is an impressive central square, Constitution Plaza, in the centre. The old harbour is set into the side of the broad bay which has sweeping crescent beaches and a high wall which goes all the way around the bay from headland to headland. Each headland is marked by a piece of modern art; the Wind Comb on one and the Construction of Open Space on the other.

The town is defined by the bay and the Urumea River, which has a number of lovely bridges crossing its narrow span. Despite the age of the town the older part has been rebuilt several times due to fire, so the lady in the Office of Tourism told us. There is a long history of invasion, burning, plague and other historical niceties?

We walked virtually all over the city and around the bay. The broad beach was popular despite the cooler temperature. On the beach people played soccer and a Basque game involving a wooden racquet and ball played like squash against the seawall. A guy was creating a sand sculpture on the beach. On our second day a dense sea mist rolled in across the bay and covered half the city. It was quite a surreal experience to see the transition from sunny to misty conditions in such a short time. The mist persisted into the following day?

Spain is very different from France. The thing we noted first was the washing people hang outside their balconies, we never saw that in France. France is pretty and sophisticated, Spain is more rustic and down to earth. These differences occur over less than 20kms. The Spanish way of living is very different too. Eating times, foods, shop opening times and other things take some getting used to in Spain. People here are active late into the night, restaurants don't open for dinner until 7:30 and stay open until midnight. Our street, San Jeronimo, was the scene of loud celebrations which spilled from the bars into the narrow lanes. Much drinking, singing and cheering when on until very late.

One more thing, prices in Spain are very good. Spirits can be bought for between €5 and €10 a bottle, over the counter medicines are about 20% of Australian prices, coffee is €1:50.

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