Thursday, May 11, 2017

San Sebastián

Today the weather was perfect: warm temperature, soft breeze, and plenty of sun. Our day started out with breakfast in the Oñate Country House, after which we piled into the van and set off for San Sebastián. After arriving, we began our tour of the city.


San Sebastián is part of the País Vasco which is in northern Spain and it is very different from the central part of Spain, where we've been until now (Segovia and Madrid). The País Vasco is much greener, with lots of mountains, valleys, and pines trees. San Sebastián, however is a port city located on the Cantabrian Sea, and therefore fishing was a big part of its economy. Now it is tourism that fuels the economy. The three playas (beaches) in the city make it a popular destination for tourists from all over Spain, Europe, and the rest of the world.




San Sebastián is called Donostia in the Basque language and many of the street signs are only written in Basque. Like other major cities in Spain, San Sebastián has a Plaza Mayor (central square) where traditionally its residents used to gather on balconies and watch bullfights. Today, the Plaza Mayor is used as a place to gather for fiestas (which can last days depending on the fiesta). On our tour, we stopped at the marketplace (La Brecha), several different churches, and other public spaces as our guide talked about some of the traditions of the city's inhabitants. She described, for example, the Tamborrada, which happens every 20th of January, and consists of a 24-hour long drumming, marching and singing celebration with groups dressed up as soldiers or chefs.

After our tour of the casco viejo (historic section) of the city, we enjoyed pintxos, a type of finger food eaten before a main meal and usually accompanied by una copa de vino. They are delicious and consist of small pieces of bread with meat, fish, eggs or vegetables on them. The word “pintxos” is Basque for the Spanish term tapas.

After enjoying the pintxos and the bag lunches our host mothers had lovingly packed for us the day before, some of us headed to the beach called La Concha. The water was cold though we did end up going in for a bit, dipping our toes and splashing around. The beach was not as crowded as some of the beaches I’ve been to in America, like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. There were several families spread out on towels, sunbathing and enjoying themselves. Something that the group of us found a bit surprising is that it is normal for the women to sunbathe topless. It was interesting to see the cultural difference because this is considered a perfectly normal thing to do in San Sebastián. Also, children ran around naked and dogs frolicked in the ocean. When we had had enough of the sun’s rays to tan (or in some cases burn) our skin, we walked around the city of San Sebastián. It was a perfect day to tour a beautiful city and enjoy its coastal setting. That evening, as we headed back to the Country House in Oñate, many of us fell asleep in the van after another busy, eventful day in España.


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