On Friday morning, we woke up early to catch a bus to San Sabastian, a city nestled in the northern coast of Spain in the autonomous region called the Basque Country. If the Basque Country rings a bell, it is probably because they are in the news occasionally as there is a terrorist group from that area known as ETA that was established during the Franco era when the Basque people were the victims of much prejudice and persecution. The group, with the support of many Basque people has been campaigning, often violently, for the independence of the Basque Country from Spain. The Basque people are very proud of their origins and it is very evident, more so than in the other regions that I have seen, that they have a fierce loyalty to their roots. There were Basque flags everywhere and we saw protests and a lot of signs that were pro-Basque separation. Another interesting fact, in addition to Spanish, the Basque people speak a language native to the region called Euskera which is a completely isolated language that has no roots to any other language. All of the signs were in both Euskera and Spanish which was lucky for us, because Euskera looks like total nonsense and I wouldn't even know how to begin to pronounce any of the words much less pronounce them.
Anyway, there is a little background information on the region, just don't bring up politics while you're there and the Basque Country will welcome you with open arms.
The Basque Flag, loud and proud
So, Kenzie, Steph, Liz, and I got to San Sabastian a couple hours before we thought we would which was nice as we had a little extra time on Friday to explore the city before the sun went down. Being on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain is primarily surrounded by water and we were all excited to get out of land-locked Madrid for a little vacation on the beach of the Cantabrian Sea. Unfortunately, the sunniest country in Europe decided to throw us for a loop and the weekend ended up being uncommonly gloomy and rainy. Luckily, it was still pretty warm so with an umbrella and a poncho we managed to still get the most out of this beautiful beach town, if not in the way we anticipated.
La Playa Concha
Friday night, we went out with some friends we made at our Hostel, a big group of Germans who would go in and out of speaking English, German, and Spanish like it was no big deal. The Spanish and English were easy enough to follow but we didn't speak a word of German so we were a little left out when they out-did us with their trilingual-ism. They did, however, teach us a few phrases in German that might come in handy when we go to Germany but found it hilarious when we couldn't make a certain "o" sound that they make.
On Saturday, we went up a hill on this little tram called a Funicular that brought us up to a point where we could view the whole city which was really pretty. Later that day, we went to the opposite side of the bay to climb up another hill at sunset up to where there is a giant statue of Jesus that overlooks the San Sabastian from the highest point in the city. From here we got to take in the ocean air and look down upon the beach and island and the city itself. Aside from taking in all the view from every possible angle, we managed to eat to our hearts content the local delicacies that the city provided us with. San Sabastian, besides being known for its beaches, is famous for its delicious food, especially their pintxos (pinchos) which are basically tapas on steroids and fresh seafood. After spending a weekend there, I can say that this is for good reason as the food was amazing. We tried calamari, pulpo (octopus), mussels, a bunch of other fish that I couldn't name, and multiple really good mushroom dishes all very reasonably priced.
Wind Combs
View from the Funicular
A variety of pintxos, may or may not have accidently ordered a shot with mine at 2pm...
We found the way to Jesus!
Of course, we woke up on Sunday and packed up just to walk outside to a balmy yet sunny day greeting us as we were rolling out of town. Ah well, such is life!
Hi Anna. This is your uncle Mike. I know and old German saying that may or may not help you....just remember too big a waistline ist nicht what interests the frauline!
ResponderEliminar