‘You aren’t in Spain, you aren’t in Portugal, you are in Basque Country’. That’s what the posters and the locals tell you around here. They even have their own language, and are quite proud of that. Just walking around the city, it has quite a different feel to what we have experienced elsewhere in Spain. It somehow feels more … civilized and nice.
We have planned on having a couple of quiet days here just to ‘chill out’. So we spent most of this time just walking around the city. We started at the far end of the beach searching out a sculpture that we had read about. The name of this is the ‘Wind Comb’, combining wind, sea and steel. Albeit very cool, we found the natural environment stole the show today. Although the sea (the Atlantic we are looking at now) seems to be quite calm, there is a big swell coming in, and this is just crashing against the rock shoreline with incredible force. The swell just seems to build and build and build, so that by the time it hits the rocks it just climbs straight into the air above you like a huge salt water geyser wall, and then slams down on any unsuspecting passers by. And then a few seconds later, in comes the next one. Created inside the stone walkway that goes out to the point, there are a few manmade blowholes that regularly surprise pedestrians when they suddenly gush, salt air and seawater, vertically upwards from 100mm holes in the pavement. Very funny to watch.
After seeing how calm the sea was, we were wondering just how rough it got when the sea got up. Then in the evening we saw that San Sebastian made it to the national TV news, so although we didn’t understand a word of it, we wondered if it was a freak occurrence due to a cyclone somewhere. But then we found out that this is an annual occurrence. Every year about this time they get big waves here, and we managed to be here to greet it. Where they normally have a swell of about 1-2 metres, for a couple of weeks they get swells of about 6-8 metres, which is what we are having today. They call it the ‘Sea of Life’. Evidently a few years ago, someone was killed by the force of the water coming down on them, so the police monitor it pretty closely and close roads when necessary. Very exciting to watch and witness.
Just to show the effectiveness of the natural breakwaters around this harbour, the inside of the harbour was very calm and there were even people going for a swim in the sunshine. Also inside this harbour is the local fishing fleet, obviously still a strong industry in this city.
When we were out at the point of the harbour we were surprised to that the rocks that they had used for the breakwater were large black granite slabs, about two metres square by about four metres long. These are all piled up along the length of the wall. It is the same black granite that is used throughout the old part of the city for the cobblestones on the roads and footpaths. It is enough to make any kitchen designer weep. There must be a plentiful supply around here somewhere. We wondered how hard it would be to flog one, put it on the back of a truck and ship back to NZ? All this beautiful stone seemingly just tossed around like it is worthless. Incredible.
This whole city is very cool with old buildings, fantastic little narrow streets, an amazing array of little tapas bars. We started the day with a visit to the church, and we finished in the cathedral, before indulging in the tapas and wine that this country is known for. Fantastic.
We have planned on having a couple of quiet days here just to ‘chill out’. So we spent most of this time just walking around the city. We started at the far end of the beach searching out a sculpture that we had read about. The name of this is the ‘Wind Comb’, combining wind, sea and steel. Albeit very cool, we found the natural environment stole the show today. Although the sea (the Atlantic we are looking at now) seems to be quite calm, there is a big swell coming in, and this is just crashing against the rock shoreline with incredible force. The swell just seems to build and build and build, so that by the time it hits the rocks it just climbs straight into the air above you like a huge salt water geyser wall, and then slams down on any unsuspecting passers by. And then a few seconds later, in comes the next one. Created inside the stone walkway that goes out to the point, there are a few manmade blowholes that regularly surprise pedestrians when they suddenly gush, salt air and seawater, vertically upwards from 100mm holes in the pavement. Very funny to watch.
After seeing how calm the sea was, we were wondering just how rough it got when the sea got up. Then in the evening we saw that San Sebastian made it to the national TV news, so although we didn’t understand a word of it, we wondered if it was a freak occurrence due to a cyclone somewhere. But then we found out that this is an annual occurrence. Every year about this time they get big waves here, and we managed to be here to greet it. Where they normally have a swell of about 1-2 metres, for a couple of weeks they get swells of about 6-8 metres, which is what we are having today. They call it the ‘Sea of Life’. Evidently a few years ago, someone was killed by the force of the water coming down on them, so the police monitor it pretty closely and close roads when necessary. Very exciting to watch and witness.
Just to show the effectiveness of the natural breakwaters around this harbour, the inside of the harbour was very calm and there were even people going for a swim in the sunshine. Also inside this harbour is the local fishing fleet, obviously still a strong industry in this city.
When we were out at the point of the harbour we were surprised to that the rocks that they had used for the breakwater were large black granite slabs, about two metres square by about four metres long. These are all piled up along the length of the wall. It is the same black granite that is used throughout the old part of the city for the cobblestones on the roads and footpaths. It is enough to make any kitchen designer weep. There must be a plentiful supply around here somewhere. We wondered how hard it would be to flog one, put it on the back of a truck and ship back to NZ? All this beautiful stone seemingly just tossed around like it is worthless. Incredible.
This whole city is very cool with old buildings, fantastic little narrow streets, an amazing array of little tapas bars. We started the day with a visit to the church, and we finished in the cathedral, before indulging in the tapas and wine that this country is known for. Fantastic.
Thursday, we did more of the same, only this time in the rain. How can one day be so brilliant, and the next, so much rain. Perhaps the weather gods are preparing us for the UK. Justine treated herself to a hot chocolate to help combat the cold, only the hot chocolate here isn’t quite what you would expect. It is hot chocolate. 100% chocolate, melted in a cup. Mmmmmmm.
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