Blogs from Basque Country, Spain, Europe - page 51

It was finally time to move on to Spain, and so I took a train from Bayonne to Hendaye -- the last town in France before the Spanish border. From there, I hopped on a commuter train to San Sebastian. It was weird crossing the border the way I did. Every other border in Europe that I've crossed has been on a long distance train. This one just kind of slipped by on the "EuskoTren". It was immediately obvious that I was in Spain -- everyone was suddenly speaking spanish. I took four years of spanish in high school, and as I sat holding my bag in my lap on the packed train, I started picking out words. Small things mostly, but it was a start. It took a few days in Germany before I even ... read more

so yea, i have a huge headache and don't really feel like writing a lot, but at least there's some pictures for you all to see. its funny how as i type this i keep wanting to start typing certain things in spanish, which in reality is awesome and means that i'm going to speak 'de la puta madre' - that is to say, awesomely. so we went to saint sebastian and it was immediately apparent that we were going to like that city the best. getting off to bus we basically followed a sign that said 'centro' and, as luck would have it, the first pension we checked had a room for 5 people for 20 euros a person per night. so yea, that night one of the guys we met in santander joined us, ... read more

Much has been said about the chaotic boarding procedures for Europe’s cheap-flight carriers, but it’s not until I’ve joined the devastating queue for EasyJet Flight 3775 that the rumors seem less than overblown. People are shifting with the deft choreography of an offensive line protecting against the pass rush. There seem to be eye signals at work. I’m holding my boarding pass with a dumb smile while around me, a frothing insurrection is surging toward the gate. By day, these same people kiss their wives and pat their sons’ heads and make stupid gurgling noises at baby carriages. Beside me, a little old lady is using her wide hips for leverage. I take my seat beside a tearful young Spanish girl who’s staring bleakly out the window. Her shoulders heave and convulse; her mood shifts ... read more

San Sebastion is a largely arrogant city that knows it is good. The beaches exude cool and the nightlife is rampant. We hadn´t had time to do our homework on this city - but San Sebastion offered more bars per square metre than anywhere else in Europe... and we thought it was only fair to put that to the test. I learnt two things from visiting this northern part of Spanish coastline. Firstly, that St.Bedes boys, are travel sluts. For the third time in as many countries we shared a hostel with boys that either knew us, our brothers, or one of our former girlfriends. Small world. Secondly, I believe that there is a real market for the sale of bikini tops in this part of the world. It became increasing obvious that women come to ... read more

The Guggenheim is amazing. It´s everything it´s cracked up to be and more. Some people may kill me for saying this but the interior spaces were so much more interesting than the artwork it holds - then again my disclaimer is that I´m looking at it from a different eye to most people. You kinda want to stop people and go, "Do you SEE that? Do you notice this space you're walking in???" :p Stayed in a nice pension here, next to the Cathedral de Santiago, overlooking the plaza. Only drawback was the churchbells ringing every 15 minutes. Thank God they stopped after 10pm. Also got to see the Zubizuri by Calatrava. Bilbao is like an architectural tour for me because I know of these projects through magazines, but seeing them gives a whole new meaning. ... read more