Today we had another relaxing day. We went to a flower and flea market in the morning, and then we went to San Sebastian for the rest of the day.
We took a bus to get to San Sebastian, driving through the Basque countryside. I didn’t know exactly what I was expecting, but I didn’t think Spain would have so many hills and to be as green as it is. When I think of Spain, I always think of the color yellow, and for the country to be flat. I don’t know what the rest of Spain looks like, but I do know that the Basque region is nothing like that. It felt really calming to be surrounded by trees and greenery, with hills of either side, and little houses tucked away here and there.
Once we got to San Sebastian, we took a tour of the city, walking through the old town, exploring the beaches, and learning about the history of the city. San Sebastian is a medieval city, founded in 1180 to be a harbor for the Kingdom of Navarre, and it is located only 11 miles away from the French border. Although the city is medieval, because of multiple fires, only 34 building remain from before 1813. The old city is where the medieval town used to be located, and they had a wall built to protect them from invaders, since they are so close to France. Nowadays, there isn’t much of the wall left standing, but they have a red line built into the main boulevard, indicating where the old town ends and the new town begins. An interesting fact that I learnt was that the most important church in San Sebastian, the Basilica of Santa Maria, is located in old town, and its alter lies exactly 1 kilometer away from the Basilica of San Sebastian.
After we finished the tour, we decided to go on a hike and try to get a look at the city from above. We spent an hour climbing Monte Urgull, and we took many photos during the hike. After that, we stopped to get some pintxos, because we’ve heard from everyone that they are better in San Sebastian than they are in Bilbao. I wouldn’t call them better per say, but they do use seafood in their pintxos a lot more than they do in Bilbao.
After pintxos, we headed to the beach, and had a lot of fun playing in the water. Even though we didn’t have a lot of time to explore the whole city, I am very happen with what we were able to accomplish in the time we had, because we were able to see the city from so many different heights, the beach, inside the city itself, and from above.
