San Sebastian, Spain
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2006
1
18
26
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
San Sebastian,
Spain
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
It has lots of great things going for it, with a big exclamation point for its natural bay and fantastic urban beach, basically right in the heart of town. The bay almost closes in on itself, and the city has grown up around it on all sides, leaving the beautiful beach as San Sebastian's biggest asset for both citizens and tourists. Another great natural feature is the park/natural area consuming most of the town's large hill, which also features a very well preserved historic fort at the top. This really offers great views of the town, which is very pretty from above and within
00 Donostia (San Sebastian in Basque) from Above
. Donostia's architecture is consistently astounding. Four-to-six (or more) storey residential buildings with ground floor retail have been designed and constructed with clear elegance, beautiful craftsmanship, and some of the most beautiful detail-work I've ever seen. Really, "consistent" and "elegant" are the best I can do here. The churches are another story - simplicity seems to have been left out of all discussions of preparation and planning, and ornate, intricate, and elaborate surely won out. Government buildings, public plazas, and even sidewalks are all built appropriately, with regard to surroundings, and none seem to be done hastily or cheaply.
In a way, some parts of San Sebastian really remind me of Rio de Janeiro. Of course, the gorgeous urban beach, the intricate sidewalk pavers/tiles, the topography abruptly giving way to the ocean, even the sidewalk café/relaxed culture; these are all commonalities, but what really got me was the big statue of Jesus. If you've ever heard my accounts of my month in Rio, you'll know that the massive Corcovado statue was the only way my classmate and I could find our way back to our homestay apartment building some nights. Just under the well-lit Jesus' right armpit. Or was it the left?
Anyway, back to Spain. We really didn't spend so much time in San Sebastian; just about four hours or so. The thing I'll take away from our half-day here is the architecture and urban design. After living in Europe for several months, you get used to some of the things that seem to impress people in the States so much: the historic structures, the pastoral life, and everything else that makes us come over here. But I can really say that the streetscapes and plazas in San Sebastian are some of the nicest I've seen anywhere in the world, and that looking back at photos really makes me want to go back on a nice warm, sunny day, let the sun heat me up while walking around and taking it all in, and then hit the beach.
