Donostia Basque Culture

Every night we were in Donostia we went to the Basque cultural performances at the Constitucion Plaza. Of course we understood little of what was going on, in Spanish and/or Basque, but enjoyed the singing, dancing, and costumery. Often, the audience would join in singing the song that was going on on-stage, and there were more than a few symbols and statements of Basque solidarity and nationalism. Constitucion Plaza is where the bull-fights took place in the good old days. Interestingly, the balconies were rented separately from the apartments they adjoined.

Donostia Tapas

So we went tapas* in Donostia every night we were there, sampling a variety of bars and other establishments (purveyors of gelatos, churros, etc.). Initially we followed the guidebooks, then we just followed the crowds, boldly venturing into those places that seemed most popular. ("Nobody goes to the Silver Slipper anymore; it's too crowded"). We settled finally on Baztan and were regulars there for three nights. Nothing was particularly remarkable, IMHO, but the gazpacho, served in little cocktail glasses, which was exceptional. I think the tapas thing is more about the experience, socially, than the food. Costco has better tapas, and they're free. Nonetheless...

Our favorite street

Our favorite place

A typical plate for us

Typical fare; Spain probably cuts down as many trees for
toothpicks as China does for chopsticks; well, maybe not
that many

Ditto

The octopus is doubtlessly worried about when they will
start in with the toothpicks

One of the more dubious offerings; reminded me of the
french-friend potatoes-topped pizza we saw in Rome

Pouring the cidre; we did the cider, and beer, and wine, and
then finally settled on the sangria

At the churreria afterwards; note to self: one order of
churros will amply feed two; or four, or six

For a an extended video of Baztan and the street outside, go to http://youtu.be/cJ0KVv808gw

*family joke

Donostia Scenes

We got to Donostia/San Sebastian early the next morning and, much to our surprise, found a spot at the small municipal aire out by the university, perhaps a kilometer from the beach. The aire holds about 40 rigs, but there were perhaps a hundred more parked in all the surrounding campus parking lots, paying a daily parking fee. We spent a couple nights at the Unibersitatea aire, enjoying San Sebastian even more than we had in 2009, then moved on to St. Vincent de la Barquera and the Picos and then Comillas and Bilbao before returning to Donostia for yet another night and two days. There's nothing of surpassing interest in San Sebastian, no world-class museums, no battles nor coronations nor other great historic events—it's just likely the most beautiful small city in Europe, possibly the world, has great climate this time of year, and is Spain's gastronomic center. Plus it was Basque Culture Week, and the harbor area and old town were filled every night with residents and tourists taking in the various performances and then watching what has to be the world's largest week-long pyrotechnic display. Much more of that in due course. In any case, I'll restrain myself and do just four posts from Donostia/San Sebastian: city scenes, tapas bars, culture week, and the fireworks.

Donostia has the most street performers, per capita, of all
the places we've been; well, except Edinburgh, during the
Festival there

Best one-person band ever, so far

Best Sebastian, too, nearly in ecstasy

The place was more than usually mobbed

Ditto

Then things really picked up with the arrival of the old
geezers' band

And then we noticed that everyone was drifting toward the
beach...at 9:30 at night

Sunset over the harbor, half an hour before the fireworks
began (the subject of another post)

Next morning

I am out at the beach, checking out the locals' reading habits

Next night, more mobs, more culture, more tapas, more
fireworks; there would be another night too

Double-decker merry-go-round; one sees these in cities all
over Europe

Another late night out; here we are returning to the aire
after midnight, noticing the scores of RVs parked on the
streets all around

Real-Time Update

We are back in Menlo Park, having parked the camper with Jane and Gordon and flown from Toulouse to Paris and Paris to San Francisco on August 24^th. It is good to be back “home,” to be with Penelope and her parents, and to look forward to somewhat more settled living in the next several months. Moving back in takes time, however, and we didn't get wifi at home until Tuesday, but more posts from our summer trip will continue.

Grandma's favorite reading companion

Kindness Of Strangers In Bidart

We drove on from Lourdes, stopping for a wifi session at one of the McDonald's near Pau,and then headed for Biarritz and the coast, hoping to get as far as old friend San Sebastian and its Unibersitatea autocaravanna stop. But, as we were passing through Bidart, Vicki spotted a lavanderia and we stopped to do the wash and have dinner. In the course of all this, a French couple stopped by to ask about our rig and what we were doing and, ultimately, showed us a nice, safe place to park in Bidart, in front of his mother's house, just across the highway from the cliffs and beach. With the wash and dinner done and our camp thus established, we walked down to the beach for a sunset stroll. 

Looking down toward the beach at Bidart

Showers at sea

Family beach party; grandma (in black) serving; others
fishing, surfing; we are deep in Basque country here

The sixteen mile beach/cliff walkway between Bidart and
Heydane starts here; we might have done a bit of it, but
were beginning to feel there was already enough for our
days left this summer

Lourdes Drive-By Shooting

We tired of the Pyrenees. They certainly are popular with the French and Spanish and others, but are not nearly as impressive as other mountain ranges we have visited, even in Europe. Besides, it was very hot and dry and crowded and there is always much, much more to see in these parts. We proceeded on, and our path took us through Lourdes, one of the world's great religious centers (even the guidebooks say this is the Catholic version of Disney), which we drove through very respectfully and slowly since it was market day and there was no bypass. We took a few pix along the way. We visited Lourdes in 1989, and once was more than enough.

Does Vatican City have a wax museum?

Hotel de Ville

Market day

Important building

Parthian shot of important hilltop castle

Gavarnie, Cirque and Cascade

Next stop was Gavarnie, site of a great cirque and Europe's highest waterfall. We have now seen all of the 3 big Gs: Giverny, Gavrinus, and Gavarnie, representing our interests in arts and humanities, archaeology and history, and mountains.

One of the aires at Gavarnie; not a place for solitude

Environs; very dry, warm, reminiscent of the southern
Rockies, except not so high

We decided to brave the heat and hike out
for views of the cirque and cascade; here is
randonneur Vicki

Looking down at the town of Gavarnie

The cirque

The cascade

Today's flower, with bonus bug

Another flower

More environs

Part of the hike was on the Santiago trail, so we hope to get
another plenary dispensation or at least some time off for
good behavior in Purgatory...

The view from town