San Sebastian

After spending the New Years holiday in Paris, we were anxious to move on to San Sebastian, the city that we had chosen to try and live in for the rest of our time in Spain. It's got a great location, on the northen coast, and also close to the Pyrenees mountains, where we hoped we would be able to get in at least a few days of snowboarding. Plus the city is not that large, both physically and in the number of people; around 100,000 people, and the farthest walk for something takes around 20 minutes. Other extras are that the people seem very friendly, speak a clear version of Spanish, and there are tons of restaurants and bars with tasty tapas, along with several outdoor activities to do. I really couldn't have thought of a better arrangement for us. Below are some photos of the city and some events that we've been a part of within the 4 weeks that we've been here.

Here's a panoramic of the city, looking east from Monte Ugelda, a small peak overlooking the coast. On the other side of the bay is Monte Urgull, the site of an old military fort and a large statue of Jesus Christ that looms over the old part of the town. The beach shown is one of two beaches that are adjacent to the city, the other one being on the other side of Monte Urgull. Look closely and you can see the snow covered Pyrenees mountains in the background.

	A shot of Jules and I soaking up the views from the top of Monte Ugelda. At the top of this mountain/hill there's a outdated but quaint amusement park which is closed during the winter, however they let people walk all around it for free.
	Another shot of the beach from a slightly different angle.
	A shot of Jules looking for any incoming oil slicks, with the mountains in the background.
	OK this picture is from a hike I took the other day, on the eastern side of the coast of San Sebastian. Monte Ugelda, the site of the previous pictures, can be seen in this picture, it's the second hill jutting out of the coast. The other hill is Monte Urgull, and you can make out the statue of Jesus Christ at the top of the peak.
	Shot of me pausing on the hike.
	After hiking I walked along the beach, and passed by two city workers searching for washed-up oil along the coast. Oil from the tanker that sank off the northwest coast of Spain back in November floats to shore from time to time, depending on the winds and the ocean currents. It comes in the form of small oil clumps, the spanish call them galletas (cookies). As I write this, more oil has washed ashore here in San Sebastian, so much that they've closed the beaches to the public. The world media doesn't report on it any more but the oil spill is a catastrophic and ongoing problem for all of the Atlantic coast of Spain, and even parts of the French coast.
	January 20th was the annual Day of San Sebastian, a huge festival where seemingly every group of any kind within the city dresses up as either a cook, a soldier, or in some sort of colonist outfit. The reasons for the outfits are pretty vague, at least to Jules and me, but it's one of the biggest festivals of the year, and isn't celebrated in any other city (thus the name). It consists of the groups going around the streets beating drums and singing songs for over 24 hours, each group having their chance to repeat the exact songs that the other groups have done. The streets were teeming with people, and the sounds of drums could be heard all night, most spectactors even carry around two drumsticks and a round wooden disc to beat on. Seems like Spaniards love to celebrate anything, and to be as loud as possible doing it. They know how to party! This slightly blurry photo shows the schedule posted in the main town square showing the times that each group is alloted to get on stage and play in the square, from midnight that night to midnight of the next day. Most of the group names are Basque, the local language feverishly held on to by all the locals, although Spanish (called castillian here) is normally spoken. It's a region of two languages, everything is written in both languages everywhere, because the Basque people feel very strongly about keeping their heritage (and many would like to be independent from Spain). It's a long and complicated story, which I could drone on about for several paragraphs, but I'll save that for another time.
	Another slightly blurry photo showing the main square where all the festival action starts, the Plaza de Constitution. On the stage is a group of cooks, beating out yet another tune. The building to the left is old town hall. The building in the center contains apartments, with balconies looking out over the square. Each balcony has a number above it, because a long time ago the city would rent out each balcony, regardless of who lived in the corresponding apartment. Nowadays the tenants have the right to the balcony, so they hang flags and banners, often protesting some political cause, and enjoy the front row seats to 24 hours of music and mayhem.
	At the beginning of the night, children dressed in the same type of outfits march through the streets, with a smile on their face and a drum in their hands. As the night goes on the children are replaced by adults doing the exact same thing. The next day the children return and display their drumming abilities in front of the town hall.
	Some more mini-cooks and colonists marching about the streets.
	And more. This is how the night went on, group after group marching around. As the night went on the streets became more and more packed, and didn't start to die down until well into the next day.
	Here are some seasoned cooks, marching past our window, drumming away, and swigging bottles of wine, all at the same time. At this point we went out to join in and I stopped taking pictures, which I regret because these pictures don't show just how boisterous the crowds were. We had finally seen one of the much talked about Spanish fiestas, and we were not disappointed.
	Yet another festival, this one put on by Australians. January 26th was Australia Day, so a great local Australian woman that we've met who has been living here for 26 years decided to organize a BBQ for all the expatriot Australians she knows who live in the area, very much in the spirit of Australia. I was amazed at the number of Australians living here and the amount of time they have lived here, 4, 10, 25, 40 years, they all had great stories to tell. Some aussie travellers who happened to be in town and staying at a hostel owned by an Australian also came to the BBQ, this is a picture of them. Front row, left to right: Dominique, Alice, Liz, Caitlin, and Nels the yank. Back row: Deb, Jules, and Ben the yank.
	Louie, a translator who's lived here for over 20 years, got up to toast Australia and attempted to sing the national anthem. I was amazed that even Australians who lived here for over 40 years don't loose a bit of their Australian accent, even though their Spanish sounds like a native Spaniard.
	Adam, an Australian surfer who moved here 10 years ago and now teaches English, and his Spanish wife Maika.

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