San Sebastian (Donostia)

For the last weekend in January I traveled with twelve other students to San Sebastian. The city is also known by its Basque name Donostia. Located off the Bay of Biscay, San Sebastian is famous for its beaches and food. The Basque Country or el pais vasco is a region in Spain which has retained many rights as an autonomous region. Most natives speak both Euskara or Castellano (Spanish). Many signs were in Euskara, Castellano, French and English because it is such a popular tourist destination, though high season tends to be a bit later in the year when it's warmer;)

On Friday morning we met at the aqueduct at 7:20 to catch a 7:30 city bus to the train station. By Renfe train the trip from Segovia to San Sebastian was about four hours. We were able to leave on Friday because Jan. 28 is the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of universities. To honor him, Spaniards have a free day.

We were so excited on the train at the various landscapes. Snowy mountains reminded us of home, but the green Basque country couldn't be topped. There were plenty of sheep (ovejas), cows (vacas), and a few horses (caballos) in addition to the cities we passed through.

Graffiti from the train window

 Once we arrived in San Sebastian, we made our way to the hostel (albergue) Umore Ona Bi. It was a 15 minute walk from the train station and between my google maps directions and Amy's tiny map of the city we arrived quickly. Once at the hostel, we discovered that we had a problem booking the rooms.

The website we had used to book hostel rooms would only book 9 people under one name, so we divided reservations between two names. The owner said that one group had booked for Friday and Saturday nights while the other group was booked for Saturday and Sunday nights. Thankfully, he was very accommodating and helped us fit everyone. A few people had to share beds Friday night, but on Saturday we all got our own beds.

After unpacking we decided to venture out into the city. Our first stop was at the dock overlooking Playa a la concha (Shell Beach), named for its shape.

First view of Monte Urgull



Monte Igueldo

Roommate picture

The dock by playa la concha



Boats, in green, red and white;the traditional colors of the Basque region


Next, we headed over to the aquarium. The first part of the exhibit related to nautical history, whaling, fishing, and San Sebastian's history as a port. The second half had all of the cool fish. There were jelly fish, huge starfish, sharks, clown fish, anemones, and a sea turtle. Our favorite tank was the touch tank. At first we were having fun trying to touch the fish after petting a sea cucumber, but then the octopus emerged. He startled me as he slid out from under one of the rocks in the tank. I did eventually get to touch him. His tentacle had a pull stronger than I expected, but he let go quickly.

Multi-llingual signs

From the underbelly of a whale (ballena)

Lots of horns or tusks: swordfish, narwhal, etc.

Jellies!!

Twinkle twinkle little star!

My new friend! He startled me at first, but we shook hands later.

By the huge tank.

He wishes! But really, a very cooperative fish.

Dory and Marlin...lots of quoting.

More jellies called medusas in Spanish.

After the aquarium we continued to walk around. Some of the girls wanted ice cream, but we couldn't find an open ice cream shop. So we stopped by a cafe/bakery. I split a pastel vasco with a friend. It was a small almond tart that was sweet, but not overly so. We then headed back to the hostel for a nap. Around 8:00 we went out for pintxos (pEEn-chos) or tapas. The first place we headed to was just around the corner and as it was pretty early, the place was nearly empty. A few of our group ordered a caña (small beer) and all of us tried some pintxos. There was a tortilla with pescado (Spanish omlette with fish), tortilla con pimiento (which I LOVED), some bocadillos, fried cheese balls (nothing like what we have in the states), and various other options.

We each got a plate, served ourselves from the bar, and when we left we told the bartender what we had eaten/drank and he told us our bill. According to my guidebook honesty when going out for pintxos is a long-standing tradition. We went on to the next place where my friend Jenny and I decided to share two pintxos and a coke (we needed the caffeine). One of our picks had two artichoke hearts, a shrimp and an anchovy covered with a pico de gallo-esque dressing. Jenny wanted the shrimp at this point I decided to be bold and tried the anchovy. It wasn't too bad (not that I really tasted it with the artichoke, onions, and peppers). Our other pintxo was bread with some soft cheese and some meat (I think, I can't really remember). Later, we went to a grocery store for some crackers and fruit to fill up a bit more. We found some really good trufas (truffles) on sale for 1.25e.

Saturday morning exploration led us to the outdoor produce market.

Saturday morning Heidi, Jenny and I headed out to explore and ir de compras. After awhile we tried to speak only in Spanish. It's much harder to speak in Spanish with others from school because English is easier and we know we understand each other. Still, it must have paid off to some degree, because a group of teenagers asked us if we could give them directions to a fast food place. While we were out we bought some postcards and I found a shirt I liked. Thankfully, we're in Spain during rebajas season (I'll explain that in another post).

For lunch we met up with the rest of the group at the hostel and made our way to a restaurant down the street. From the menu del día we were able to choose two dishes, a drink and a dessert. I got spaghetti bolognaise and chicken with patatas along with flan. To drink, Jenny and I got sidre, which is a specialty of the region. Jenny got Austurian beans and fish. I ended up eating her beans and she ate my spaghetti because she thought it was something else when she ordered it. I really liked the beans, just navy beans with a sauce and some vegetables. We shared our second plates, both of which were delicious. The flan was too eggy for me. I don’t remember it being so eggy when I made it before. But I liked the sidre, unlike everyone else who ordered it. Eating takes a long time in Spain, especially during comida. We started around 2:00 and didn’t finish until close to 5:00.

A street view of Donostia.

A statue of San Sebastian at Isglesia de Santa Maria where we attended mass on Sunday. We got to sing in Euskara.

By the tourist shops near the bay.

Casa consistorial -  a government building. They must have wonderful views, which would be distracting for me.

We went back to the hostel to quickly change and grab bags before we headed up Mount Igueldo. From the hostel we walked along the coast of the beach towards the mountain. When planning the trip one of the girls found an amusement park with a log ride at the top of Mount Igueldo. We all wanted to go on the log ride and see some amazing views of San Sebastian. Pictures were a definite must, so we stopped along the beach to frolic and pose.

As we got closer we saw signs directing us to the funicular. One of the guys thought it must be a combination of the words ‘fun’ and ‘spectacular’ but actually it was a cable car that took us to the top of the mountain. We all got ida y vuelta tickets (round trip) and headed onto the car. We faced front and had bit of a freak out once we realized there was an identical car headed straight at us. The track split so the cars could pass each other, so it was an intentional design. The views were SPECTACULAR!! We got to see the city as it got darker once the sun went down.

The amusement park was very small; it was reminiscent of county fair rides but with far more stability. We walked around a lot. Sadly, our log ride was not open as they were doing some construction work. So a few girls went to jump on the giant trampolines and the rest of us headed over to the bumper cars. What do you get when you put ten twenty-somethings in mini cars and tell them to crash? A serious competition and lots of laughs amid many bruises. We paired off to get in bumper cars ‘cause we’re cheap like that and had a blast trying to chase each other around. Alexa got a short video and Heidi got a few pictures – the rest of us got TONS of bruises on our legs from the high impact and lack of legroom.

We headed back down in the now beloved funicular and started walking towards the beach to finish off our day. Along the way it started to rain. Then it poured. Only a few people remembered their umbrellas/raincoats so we were soaked before we were halfway home. But that was okay since we were planning to get wet anyways. Yes, we changed into swimsuits back at the hostel after lunch in anticipation of an Atlantic dip. A select few decided to abstain, but the rest of us ran down the whole beach to jump into the icy water. The local kids thought we were nuts and we definitely got some interesting reactions as we walked back to the hostel in towels and suits. Bar patrons whistled and lottery ticket vendors stared as we ran back to the hostel so we could jump into hot showers.

After we had warmed up we sent people out to the grocery store for dinner and hung around the hostel as we dined. Only four people wanted to go out again and the rest of us went to sleep dreaming of ocean waves and café con leche.

Sunday morning dawned brightly and we headed out to grab some breakfast after we checked out of the hostel. I went to mass with a couple of girls at la Iglesia de Santa María. We actually got to sing at this mass! Normally the mass is really short, probably due to a lack of songs. We met up with the rest of the group about 45 minutes later and headed to Monte Urgull to see the big statue of Jesus.

The hike wasn’t very bad; it would have been much easier if we didn’t have all of our luggage with us. Most of it was paved although some was done in small stones which were very slippery. We made it to the top, took pictures, and realized we could go up further. There was a museum at the base of the Jesus statue and we walked inside to look around. As the girls with backpacking packs walked in they asked us to check our bags. We really didn’t want to leave our bags and deal with the hassle so we headed out. To our surprise, museum employee followed us out and explained that the only way to get to the top was through the museum. They ended up letting us keep our bags with us and we headed up to take more pictures and relax before heading back down.

English cemetary half way up the mountain.

A view of San Sebastian from Monte Urgull.

As we walked down someone brought up pizza so that was the consensus for a good last meal in San Sebastian. We walked in and headed down to the basement where there was room for all of us. Heidi, Jenny and I decided to split a vegetable pizza. I was the last person to head up to the counter to place an order and our order was written down on a different piece of paper. I also got a café con leche (I didn’t have time before mass earlier). Thankfully, he was willing to let me pay ahead (you’ll understand why this is important in a minute).

We were downstairs playing “I’m going on a picnic” for about 40 minutes before the pizza started to come out. The guy who took our orders was also making our pizza – and the oven was only big enough for one pie at a time. Everyone else got their orders and Heidi, Jenny, and I were still waiting.

Our order had been forgotten!! The cook apologized and gave us some chips and a small margarita pizza ‘gratis’ for the mistake. Our train was leaving at 4:30 and we still hadn’t eaten by 3:45! By 3:50 we had a huge pizza sitting in front of us, steaming and full of mushrooms, peppers and olives. We finished it in less than 7 minutes despite the fact that the cheese was way too hot and falling off the dough. We then ran to the train station (we told the rest of our group to head over earlier). What had been a leisurely 20 minute stroll when we walked into town became a 9 minute power walk/run. Thankfully, we arrived with plenty of time to spare.

The trip back to Segovia was fairly uneventful. We watched Shrek 4 (I think; the one with Rumplestiltskin) in Spanish until the movie randomly shut off. I did some reading for my mitos class on Monday. We go into Segovia at 9:25 and we booked it out to catch the first bus headed back to the aqueduct. Good thing too, because there were still 50 or so people waiting to catch a bus when ours pulled out. Imagine our surprise when we saw snow on the ground! I know, SNOW! It’s a novel thing during the winter. Really, until that Sunday it hadn’t seemed like winter for the lack of snow (not that I’m complaining by any means). We made it back from our first unsupervised excursion tired, slightly sick (a cold made its way through our group), but mostly excited to be back home.

¡Eso es!

Jesus watched over us all weekend long.