This scenic city provides a pleasant introduction to Spain’s Basque Country. It is considered the culinary capital of Spain. It has long been a favorite of the elite as a seaside resort. By the turn of the 20th century, San Sebastian was the toast of the belle epoque, and a leading resort for Europe’s beautiful people.

Shimmering above the breathtaking Concha Bay, the city has a favored location with golden beaches, capped by twin peaks at either end, and with a cute little island in the center. A delightful beachfront promenade runs the length of the bay, with a charismatic Old Town at one end and a smart shopping district in the center. A soaring statue of Christ gazes over the city, giving San Sebastian a mini Rio aura.

We enjoyed a lovely location at Lasala Plaza in the Old Town overlooking the bay and adjacent to the nighttime bustle. The promenade was right in front of us, with the inner harbor full of boats and the aquarium at the end.

The aquarium (aovarivm) was quite interesting, containing a fairly large exhibit area featuring shipping history, and an enormous tank filling three stories filled with sealife.

After our stroll and the aquarium, we settled into our seats at La Rampa Jatetxa for a seafood lunch including mussels, shrimp, fish and anchovies, all with bread and wine.

The Old Town is fun to stroll around during the day, filled with all hinds of interesting shops and narrow streets. This is where San Sebastian was born about 1000 years ago. The grid plan of streets hides heavy Baroque and Gothic churches, surprise plazas and fun little shops. Independence Square used to be the site in town for bull fights. Apartment dwellers had to allow ticket holders to occupy their balconies on such occasions. Old Town comes alive at night; the town highlight is an array of lively tapas bars – here called pintxos (peen-chos).

In the evening we toured the Old Town, visiting several pintxo bars. As the time grew later the streets and bars grew more lively.

We finished our trip with two days in Madrid. While there are tons of things to see, do and eat in this great city, we focused on visiting the Prado – one of the great museums of the world, eating at the world’s oldest restaurant and learning how to make paella the classic way. In this blog there are a collection of images shot during these days, except for Botin, a subject of the next posting.

Prado

The Prado is officially the Museo National del Prado, the main Spanish national art museum. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, and has the single best collection of Spanish art. There re numerous works by Francisco Goya as well as Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Titian and Diego Velasquez. The collection comprises around 8200 drawings, 7000 paintings, 4800 prints and 1000 sculptures.

Cooking Paella

Madrid Images

We arrived in Bilbao mid-day. Unfortunately the Guggenheim museum, world renowned, was closed that day. Bur we found a little cafe in the old town for lunch before we met our guide Xavier.

We then met our guide Xavier, who took us on a tour of the old town.

After a brief van tour along the river, sights including the Guggenheim, we headed off to San Sebastian.

On our way from Leon to Bilbao, we made a stop in Burgos to see the cathedral. Burgos boasts one of the masterpieces of Spanish Gothic, its Cathedral, declared a World Heritage Site. The French Gothic Cathedral of St. Mary, has three main doorways which are flanked by ornamental bell towers. Inside is the Chapel of Candestable, decorated with figures of saints and the tomb of El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar), the 11rth century military commander.

The cathedral is approached via the Arco de Santo Maria, a gateway which once pierced the old city walls and remains a plump and satisfied portal which leads from the river to the old town. The sculptures on the front represent the figures of Carlos V, El Cid and Fernan Gonzalez, the first king of Castile. The cathedral was begun in 1221.