San Sebastian – October 20-24

By Leyla

After our first week in Barcelona, we flew to San Sebastian, carrying small carry-on bags and leaving much of our stuff in the apartment. We were happy to be leaving the noise and dinginess of this apartment, but being to store our things and to walk out without having to pack up everything was a great feeling. We felt confident and light as we navigated the journey to the airport. On the plane, we flew parallel to the Pyrenees and I could not stop looking out the window at the incredible beauty. Not far from Barcelona, I saw an amazing rock formation that could be none other than Monserrat.

Our landing course had us swooping over the Atlantic Ocean, with surfers below in the wave-capped bay, landing alongside a river that marks the border with France. At the end of our 20 minute cab ride to San Sebastian, we had to be let out across the river from the Old Town where our friends were staying because the streets were jammed with thousands of people, blocking our path. We later learned that large political demonstrations are a part of life in San Sebastian. Our friends, Jake, Gillian, Lucia and Zinnia, met us on the bridge and we walked across the river to their beautiful apartment. We were already in love in San Sebastian and wondering how we could stay longer. We all agreed, without even saying it, that we wished we had known about San Sebastian and had booked a month here rather than in Barcelona. After a delicious home cooked meal we went to bed in our cozy, comfy beds, listening to the lively sounds of a Saturday night in the Old Town. In fact, on this first night, it was even louder than in the Gothic but it was more of a constant, loud hum rather than the screams and dramatic outbursts we had not yet grown accustomed to in our Barcelona apartment. Plus we were so happy to be with our friends, sleeping on quality linens in beautifully appointed rooms.

We asked our friends to plan our entire stay and they did, splendidly! It was such a delight not to have to make any plans or decisions and to simply be lead by our expert guides.

The following morning, we walked across La Concha, the bay beach, to a hill on a small peninsula jutting out of the sea, where we boarded a funicular to transport us to an old-time amusement park at the top. Everyone enjoyed the ancient roller coaster that had us hanging off the side of the cliff. The “Casa del Terror”, Gnome Labyrinth, and Bumper Cars were also a big hit. We could have spent many more hours amusing ourselves but we had a date for lunch at the Sociodad – an invitation only Basque Men’s Cooking and Social Club. Jake’s had met his friend, who is a member, last year coming home from a Barcelona Bluegrass Festival, when Jake and his family were traveling in Spain and staying in San Sebastian. It was a huge honor and privilege to be invited and we did not want to be late. The Sociodad was located in the basement of a building off the beach on the other side of the Old Town. There were several groups, including the one we were joining, sharing long communal tables while the male hosts cooked up a storm in the MEN ONLY commercial kitchen. We learned from the wife of Jake’s friend that our group was comprised of old friends from her high school basketball days, along with their spouses, and children. It was a lively (and very tall) group, some of whom still lived in the area, and others who had moved from the area, catching up on their lives, at what I understood was an annual gathering. The young couples all spoke good English and were so kind in including us in conversation by finding common ground…”my boss is from Colorado” or “I visited NY last year”. At the end of countless courses of tasty food, I bid farewell to the group to take our 3 kids (who were fading) out for ice cream and then home.

Our second day, we walked up to, as Gillian says “say hello to Jesus”. A large statue of Jesus stood atop the hill separating the La Concha and the open ocean beach with waves on the other side. The hill directly abutted the old town, where we were staying, so the beginning of the trail was only a couple blocks away. We spiraled up the hill to the old fortress and Jesus, all the while experiencing forever views out across the Atlantic in the direction of England. For lunch, Jake guided us to a local pinxto bar followed by a visit to the surfing beach that involved surfboard and wetsuit rentals for Jake, Mark, Lucia and Emily, while Gillian, Zinnia and I struck up a conversation with an American couple visiting from Vienna with their two kids, who were similar in age to ours. Turns out the husband works for the State department and they were on their last year of 5 year tour of duty covering Austria, Slovenia, Croatia etc. They had also spent 5 years in Istanbul, where one of the kids was born and where the wife learned to speak Turkish fluently. It was interesting hearing their perspective on raising kids abroad and on living in Europe.

The next day our plan was to walk a portion of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage to St. James, that spans the Atlantic Coast from Spain to Portugal. We set off on a local bus to Zarautz, a small village down the coast toward Bilbao, known for its local surfing culture. After about 30 minutes we got off a stop nearest the beach at a playground, where the kids played. We walked west along the beach to the hill that separated this village from Getaria, the fishing village where we were headed and looked for the yellow arrow markers for the Camino. Not finding them, Jake and Gillian set off to the Tourist Information office to inquire while the rest of us played in another park. There was a man at the park with his dog and his young grandson, so we asked Lucia and Emily to inquire of him about the trail. With a good amount of pointing and explanation, Lucia and Emily seemed to understand the directions and when Jake and Gillian returned, confirming what we had learned, we set off up the hill, accompanied by other pilgrims making the journey. We followed a historic path surrounded by olive and grape orchards with stunning views of the sea, arriving in Getaria, directly behind the modern Museum of Fashion dedicated to Balenciaga, who was born in this small fishing village.

Getaria is the birthplace of the navigator, Juan Sebastián Elcano, who accompanied Magellan on his historic exploration to circumvent the globe. Even though Magellan died, and Elcano successfully completed the journey, it is Magellan who gets all the credit. Historically a ship building village, Getaria is where the Santa Maria, one of the fleet of ships that Columbus sailed to the new world, was built.

Everyone was hungry so rather than exploring the town, we went directly to Asador Mayflower, the restaurant where we had a reservation, to inquire if our party of 7 could be served an hour sooner. The restaurant started serving lunch at 1pm. At 12:45 the restaurant was empty and at 1:05 every table was full. The food was simple and delicious: the freshest seafood grilled over wood in the open air, served with olive oil, lemon and sea salt. We shared platefuls of whole fish and octopus salad. Yum! After lunch, we visited the beautiful Iglesia de San Salvador church built by and dedicated to the local sailors and fisherman and wandered the ancient streets before catching a bus back to San Sebastian. A glorious day!

I had a bit of hitch in my step after all the walking we had done throughout Europe and Emily’s back was hurting, so Gillian arranged for a massage for both of us with the husband/wife team that she and Lucia see. It was heavenly. We also had the opportunity to wander around San Sebastian, visiting shops and markets, both inside and outside the old town. We accompanied Jake to the fish market and observed him talking recipes with the fish seller. Gillian showed us her favorite health food store (of which there are many in San Sebastian) and introduced us to the Yellow Deli folks, which I had heard about in Boulder. MORE ON YELLOW DELI….