Breakfast at the Peppermill

Back in Reno, Hotwire special for the Peppermill, looking for something more "permanent" ... one advantage of still being on a somewhat screwy schedule here is that you can take advantage of the early morning (before 6 am) breakfast special at the coffee shop, anything on the menu for $6.99. Joe's San Francisco omelet would feed at least 4 Europeans!

Where we spent our last night in Spain

With a great view of the Picos de Europa in Western Cantabria.

Gaudi building in Cantabria

In the cool town of Comillas on the Atlantic coast. Next door there were great gargoyles on a gothic church.

Road trip again

We've left San Sebastián, we rented a car planning to do day trips until Saturday, but due to the problems of parking it, and the urge to fit as much travel in as we could during the remaining few days, we moved out Friday morning, and we're now back in Santillano del Mar, after exploring the Basque Coast on the way. Tomorrow we'll probably head into the mountains of Cantabria and Asturias, maybe get to Galicia, before coming back to Santander on Sunday to fly to London for 2 days. We'll arrive in San Francisco Tuesday evening and probably take the train to Reno on Wednesday. E-mail and w-fi access will be spotty, so I'm not sure how many more blog entries there will be! But I'll post when I can.

Mt. Urgull

Last week we explored the central mountain of San Sebastian that is above the oldest part of town and offers great views of the city from the reconstructed ruins of a church/ fort/ castle. The other mountain in the background is Mt. Ulia, where there is an interesting hidden fort, Monpas, that was built during the Spanish American War to protect the coast.

On the ocean side of Mt. Urgull is an "English Cemetery" with statues honoring the volunteers who died fighting in the first Carlist War in 1833.
One interesting feature was the guide to Graffiti.

One more fiesta parade photo

Fiesta parade

There was a fiesta in our part of town over the past few days, amplified music, parades, mariachis, drummers, street fairs ... and this is a parade on our street. Our apartment building can be seen in the far distance.

Update

Let´s see ... Ellen was here for 10 days, and we did some exploring around town and she came along on a USAC field trip to the French Basque Country, and she tried surfing and stayed up all night at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona and saw the running of the bulls, and we went to Bilbao, she visited the Guggenheim and I visited a friend, and I also took care of a little bit of library business ... and now this is my last week here :-( so I´ll be busy. Tonight the USAC group is going on a boat ride along the shore to a fishing village.

Evening in San Sebastián

Walks in the evening are the best!

A Basque fishing boat

A window along the harbor

San Sebastián sunset

Hey, family members

How about an email? You all seem so far away ... I´m missing you.

Basque witches

I noticed this bar because witches (or rather witchHUNTS to the extreme) were a gruesome part of Basque history.

Supermercado en Gros

Despite its unappetizing name (to Americanos), this is our favorite grocery store so far. Marimar agrees that food tastes better in Donostia (San Sebastián) than in Reno, especially tomatoes.

The beach at Biarritz

Ellen in San Sebastián

Back in the routine

Went to Bayonne and Biarritz on Saturday with the USAC group and Ellen. Then she went to the San Fermin festival in Pamplona and stayed up all Saturday night. I was a little nervous until she got back at noon on Sunday. She had a great time. I was happy to skip that experience ...

Fashionista dog

Lunch with Marimar!

I met up with Marimar today, it was so good to see a familiar face and to compare impressions of her home town that she is seeing with somewhat fresh eyes after more than a year in Reno. We ran into someone else she knows from Reno -- who worked at Starbucks in the student union and is a student in the USAC program along with me.

 

I´ve been meeting with an "intercambio" (conversation partner), someone of my generation (approximately) on the faculty in the university, whose English is much better than my Spanish ... she´s polishing her English for a vacation in Scotland next week, while I´m still trying to learn a little more survival vocabulary (not much hope for complete sentences). She has helped me learn a few new things about being in San Sebastian. Ellen arrives tomorrow! We´re signed up for a Saturday excursion to the French Basque coastal towns Biarritz and Bayonne.

 

Nobody who lives here believes that we can hear a donkey in the mornings in our apartment, but it is true -- and we saw it up on the hill above Gros (Mt. Ullia).

Bimbo bread

Bilbao Guggenheim

Me at the Guggenheim

Young Gernika oak tree

This young and well-tended tree is the current ceremonial tree in Gernika, of huge importance to the Basques. It is a grandson of the original ceremonial tree (somehow they are all considered to be boy trees). Prior to the time that the old grandfather tree was used to shade decision-making and oath-taking, important Basques met under oak trees in the forest that was there before the parliamentary buildings were built. Since the 1500s, kings and queens of Spain would go there to take an oath that they would respect traditional Basque laws.

Lightbulb halo

An ornate building along the east bank of the river near the train station in San Sebastián.

Ornate bridge

The third bridge from the ocean crossing the Urumea River in San Sebastián

Too much!

I went to a lecture on Basque nationalism by Cameron Watson (who wrote the textbook for the class I´m taking) on Friday and on a field trip to Gernika and Bilbao on Saturday and we wandered around town a bit today. It´s a little cooler now, still comfortable. In Bilbao we took a boat up the river to a great restaurant and spent the afternoon on a guided tour of the Guggenheim. Fantastic exhibits and of course the building itself is worth the trip. It´s getting easier to be here, we´re finding the good grocery stores and a running trail ... we´re not only near the beach but also two blocks from a steep and wooded hill with great views of the city and a rural forest feel. Lots of places to explore up there.

Abandoned kitties on the jetty

Unfortunately, there were a lot of them :-(

Area where we live

In the evening, when the beach is almost deserted, looking towards the Gros area, our apartment building is in there somewhere. Bermingham St. #7.

Apartment

A view of the dining room, kitchen and bathroom from the bedroom. There is also a living room next to the bedroom.

Yikes, I´m a student!

I have to get to class on time, read stuff, and I have a paper due tomorrow. But at least it´s interesting, and it will be useful to me in my job. And there is still some time for wandering around and shopping and going to the beach ... I´m going to try uploading photos from my camera since I haven´t been able to find free w-fi.