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Arrival in Donostia-San Sebastián

Two plane flights and a bus ride got me to the town. A cab ride got me to the neighborhood. Hoofing it three blocks with 80 kilos of luggage got me to the front door. Google Earth satellite shots had become Spanish reality. I scared the neighbors to death by trying to key into their apartment instead of mine, but after getting that smoothed over I had a glass of rosa and took in the scene.

And a beautiful scene it is.

The photo immediately below shows the view off our large balcony. The street you see is called Juan de Bilbao, and in the distance you see Monte Ulía, one of the verdant hills that surround Donostia-San Sebastian. At the foot of Ulía—hidden in the shot—is the Urumea, the river along whose banks you can stroll and almost be convinced you’re in Paris. But even Paris doesn't have what this city does—three big, clean beaches, the closest just three blocks from our flat.

The second shot looks north, the third south. We are hard against a hill called Monte Urgull, which you see in the northward photo. In Catholic countries there’s always a big Jesus somewhere, and in Donostia-San Sebastian, it is atop Urgull. As Christian idols go, this one compares poorly to others I’ve seen in person, particularly so to Brazil’s towering Cristo Redemptor. But I guess all idols look weak compared to that one.

I mentioned before that Donostia-San Sebastian contains the highest concentration of bars in the world. While there are indeed many, many bars here, so far I’ve seen little of the insanity I remember from other beach towns like Rio or Puerto Vallarta or West End, Roatán. In those places anything goes. Here, well let’s just say nobody has gotten naked (as long as you don’t count the sunbathers).

In the shot below you see Lady Miss Di gazing out over the sunset tableau on Juan de Bilbao, and in the final shot you see the action on our street Kalea San Jerónimo at about 3 a.m. Sunday morning. Our apartment is on the top floor six stories up—high enough that the constant roar of crowds is not a problem. It’s like soft radio static.


As soon as my Spanish resurrects itself I’ll venture farther afield and see what sorts of characters are lurking in this wonderful place. We chose Donostia-San Sebastian based on one brief recommen-dation and a few scans through travel books, but so far our impulsive decision to move feels like a good one. We’ll see if that feeling continues. The yin in Donostia-San Sebastian is that the town is as beautiful as something from a dream, the energy is off the charts, and our miraculous apartment is three times the size of our Stateside place. Stay tuned for the yang. There’s always a yang.

Labels: Donostia-San Sebastian

posted by Egan Ehlers @ 3:02 AM