Just to start out of sync straight away I have seen two protest marches since I have been in San Sebastian. The first was a silent march that I think was commemerating the deaths that have occurred due to the Basque conflict (think ETA terrorist group and you will understand) and the second they were chanting something but since my Spanish is non-existent I have no idea what it involved. Makes me want to learn the language but since I only have less than a week to go I will struggle on regardless.
Upon arrival in San Sebastian it was 7am (and I didn´t get a snorer by the way) and I knew I couldn´t drop my bag off until at least 9am so I had to sit around in the dark waiting because there was nothing open since it was a public holiday here. After dumping my bag I asked the pension I was staying at what time could I get into the room since I was feeling particularly tired and was told 11am. I promptly wandered around and found a place for brekkie and after nearly falling asleep at the table gave up and found an internet cafe to pass the time until 11. Once I got in the room I was soooo cold it took me forever to warm up and I didn´t get much sleep anyway. Finally got off my butt and wandered around the town for about three hours (it isn´t that big and I was strolling around not power walking). Ended up going out for some pinxtas (Basque equivalent to tapas and very yummy) with a girl I was sharing the room with.
Back on track yesterday I found my favourite place in Spain so far. It is the Guggenheim art gallery in Bilbao. The architecture of the building has to be seen to be fully understood and the art in the building is again very different to the usual that you get through Europe. The Guggenhiem Bilbao doesn´t have much by way of permanent exhibits so this one had a retrospective on American art over the last three hundred years on two of the floors while the remaining floor displayed local artists. I loved it all and would recommend anyone go and see it just for the architecture alone. To give you an idea on how much I loved it I spent about four hours wandering around (my usual is a maximum of 2.5 hours) and still feel I could have gone back and seen it all again. Now its definitely on my list that I go and visit the other Guggenheim museums but the kicker is that I found that there was one in Berlin and for some reason I didn´t get there. Since Berlin is my favourite city in Europe (so far) it could be an incentive to go back.
Today has been somewhat of a bludge day. I took my time getting ready to check out since I knew I wasn´t getting a shower tonight (am on the overnight train to Barcelona) and I knew from looking out the window that the weather was awful. Finally checked out about ten minutes before the deadline and wandered down to the tourist information office to ask them for suggestions on what to do today. I had already missed the bus to take me to Pamplona (as in running of the bulls) and the next one wasn´t for another 2.5 hours so they suggested Hondarribia instead. I took myself there and wandered around for about three hours and found it to be a lovely little village. I even sat down and watched the surfers ride this tiny little break that took them into a break wall for a good while. That shows dedication that even I would not give to a sport.
Since the village wasn´t big I headed back to San Sebastian and after wandering a bit more found a movie theater. I crossed my fingers and after lining up found out that they were all dubbed in Spanish - was hoping for at least one Spanish sub-titled movie to while away the time since I don´t have to be at the pension to pick up my bag until 9pm. Found a bar after this and had some pinxtas for a late lunch along with a few glasses of red wine. Which brings me to here now updating my blog. I figured I still have another few hours to go so may as well do this and check out a few more new things on my email, facebook, youtube, news sites and so on before I go and have another couple of red wines before going to the train station. Its raining outside so I am not in any hurry to go anywhere.
Hope all is good with everyone.
Toni
xxoo
Upon arrival in San Sebastian it was 7am (and I didn´t get a snorer by the way) and I knew I couldn´t drop my bag off until at least 9am so I had to sit around in the dark waiting because there was nothing open since it was a public holiday here. After dumping my bag I asked the pension I was staying at what time could I get into the room since I was feeling particularly tired and was told 11am. I promptly wandered around and found a place for brekkie and after nearly falling asleep at the table gave up and found an internet cafe to pass the time until 11. Once I got in the room I was soooo cold it took me forever to warm up and I didn´t get much sleep anyway. Finally got off my butt and wandered around the town for about three hours (it isn´t that big and I was strolling around not power walking). Ended up going out for some pinxtas (Basque equivalent to tapas and very yummy) with a girl I was sharing the room with.
Back on track yesterday I found my favourite place in Spain so far. It is the Guggenheim art gallery in Bilbao. The architecture of the building has to be seen to be fully understood and the art in the building is again very different to the usual that you get through Europe. The Guggenhiem Bilbao doesn´t have much by way of permanent exhibits so this one had a retrospective on American art over the last three hundred years on two of the floors while the remaining floor displayed local artists. I loved it all and would recommend anyone go and see it just for the architecture alone. To give you an idea on how much I loved it I spent about four hours wandering around (my usual is a maximum of 2.5 hours) and still feel I could have gone back and seen it all again. Now its definitely on my list that I go and visit the other Guggenheim museums but the kicker is that I found that there was one in Berlin and for some reason I didn´t get there. Since Berlin is my favourite city in Europe (so far) it could be an incentive to go back.
Today has been somewhat of a bludge day. I took my time getting ready to check out since I knew I wasn´t getting a shower tonight (am on the overnight train to Barcelona) and I knew from looking out the window that the weather was awful. Finally checked out about ten minutes before the deadline and wandered down to the tourist information office to ask them for suggestions on what to do today. I had already missed the bus to take me to Pamplona (as in running of the bulls) and the next one wasn´t for another 2.5 hours so they suggested Hondarribia instead. I took myself there and wandered around for about three hours and found it to be a lovely little village. I even sat down and watched the surfers ride this tiny little break that took them into a break wall for a good while. That shows dedication that even I would not give to a sport.
Since the village wasn´t big I headed back to San Sebastian and after wandering a bit more found a movie theater. I crossed my fingers and after lining up found out that they were all dubbed in Spanish - was hoping for at least one Spanish sub-titled movie to while away the time since I don´t have to be at the pension to pick up my bag until 9pm. Found a bar after this and had some pinxtas for a late lunch along with a few glasses of red wine. Which brings me to here now updating my blog. I figured I still have another few hours to go so may as well do this and check out a few more new things on my email, facebook, youtube, news sites and so on before I go and have another couple of red wines before going to the train station. Its raining outside so I am not in any hurry to go anywhere.
Hope all is good with everyone.
Toni
xxoo
posted by Toni Black at 5:07 PM
2 Comments:
Not long to go now! I'll give you a call after the 19th and we'll catch up!
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