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.

On the way across northern Spain. Next stop was Leon, the capital of Leon and Castile, and is a city with a vast cultural, historical and architectural heritage. The Roman legions conquered this are around 29 BC and called it Legio so the Celts knew who was in charge. The region was dominated by various groups for hundreds of years, and became an autonomous kingdom in 910 AD. In the middle ages power and money drained away to Madrid, but the pilgrimage route to Santiago was boosted, and fine buildings such as the cathedral were embellished. The old city center has been preserved. It has become a university town and the chief city of the region.

Santa Maria de Regia de Leon Cathedral is a Catholic church which was initiated in the 13th century. It is one of the greatest works of the Gothic style, with French influences. It is mostly known form taking the “dematerialization” of gothic art to the extreme, that is, the reduction of the walls to their minimum expression to be replaced by stained glass, constituting one of the largest collections of medieval stained glass in the world.

The City

The Cathedral

Dining and Lodging

We ate at a very nice place called Lumiere, which offered a broad selection of Spanish dishes. Seafood included of course.

We spent the night at Parador de Leon/ Hostal San Marcos. This is situated in the 16th century former monastery built by Fernando (Isabel’s husband} for the order of knights who looked after pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. The building’s plateresque facade is considered a fine example of Spanish Renaissance architecture.

Santiago is the capital of Galicia, the northwestern part of Spain. It is the culmination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, and the alleged burial site of the biblical apostle St. James. His remains reportedly lie within the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela, consecrated in 1211. The city has a well preserved historic center lined with narrow, medieval streets, and has a rich Galician culture and cuisine.

The cathedral, constructed mainly between 19075-1122, has a Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque design. Each facade with its square constitute a large urban square.

The city is alive with trekkers, dressed in casual clothes and normally with backpacks and walking poles. We stayed in an old convent converted to a luxury hotel, the Palacio del Carmen. Dining was enjoyable at this hotel, for both dinner and breakfast, and the rooms were modern and comfortable.

Our next stop was the little town of Pinhao right in the wine country of the Duoro Valley. The whole area is spectacular. Below is a view of the Pinhao River where it meets the Duoro River. Interestingly the Duoro has its beginnings in Spain – where there is a well known wine area called Ribera del Duoro that we visited later in the trip – and continues on the Portugal, eventually meeting the Atlantic at Porto.

The vineyards are located on the steep banks of the river, and are by necessity all managed by hand – prepping, planting, growing and cultivating and harvesting. Typically they are built in horizontal steps, often with slate stairs between levels.

We spent two nights at the Vintage House in Pinhao, a lovely hotel right on the river; every room was on the water side, and there were two bars right on the river. Many day cruise were based in front of the hotel. Our first day started with a private two hour cruise on the Feel Duoro downstream to Folgosa. Our hostess was Carlotta and the captain was Paolo. Carlotta was very informative about the whole region, so the trip was educational as well as scenic.

We debarked at Folgosa and walked about 150 feet to the restaurant D.O.C., owned by the renowned chef Rua Paula. We enjoyed a cheese board with honey and marmalade, grilled prawns, a crisp white wine and a lovely creme brule.

Our next stop, with Nuno our driver/guide, was the winery Pacheco. Here we sampled a white, a red and two ports. We left with two bottles of vintage port.

After a rest, Nuno took us across the street and rail tracks from the hotel to a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant, where we huddled around a small table and dined. The fare was a flaming chorizo, cheese and meat tray and sliced onions in olive oil. What fun!

The next day we began with a nearby visit to Quinta do Bomfin, one of the Duoro Valley’s greatest vineyard and winery. This winery is part of Symington Family Estates. The family is a combination of British and Portugese origins, and the 4th and 5th h=generations are still active in the business. The firm owns several of the big names in port, including Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s. They also produce Douro wines in 26 different quintas in the valley.

We spent some time in the visitor entrance at this quinta, which has a large display of family and business history. We then stepped out onto a lovely terrace overlooking the Douro River, and tasted a variety of wines and ports.

After a delightful tasting – and a port purchase – we headed off in the van downstream to Peso de Regua and a stop at the old train station. An old storage building has been converted to a charming restaurant, where we enjoyed another lovely meal.

We then headed on a drive into Spain and our next stop at Santiago.

Crazy Horse Memorial

On our last day in Rapid City, we headed off to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, a mountain monument under construction in the Black Hills. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

The master plan includes the mountain carving monument, a Native American Museum and a cultural center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Lakota, on land roughly 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture’s final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. The face of Crazy Horse, completed in 1998, is 87 feet high; the Presidents at Mount Rushmore are 60 feet high.

Needles Highway

The Needles Highway is a 14 mile scenic drive within Custer State Park, featuring dramatic granite spires, narrow tunnels, and hairpin turns. Completed in 1922, thee highway is part of the peter Norbeck Scenic Byway and is known for its winding course and the stunning beauty of the Black Hills. Key features include granite formations, tunnels, curves and bridges, wildlife and Sylvan Lake.

On our way from Porto to Pinhao on the Duoro River, we stopped at Casa de Juste for a tour and a cooking class. This estate is located about 60 km northeast of Porto. The manor house dates from the sixteenth century and has been in the Riba Duoro family for 18 generations. The property has a number of buildings and several acres of gardens. It is today considered a historical site by the Portugese Association of Historical Gardens. It is owned and managed today by Ana and Fernando Guedas and their family.

Fernando gave us a wonderful tour of the gardens, the small chapel and the main house. He is currently about to become head of the garden association. Ana helped us prepare a wonderful lunch of tomato soup with a poached egg (very Portugese), baked chicken, rice and tarte tatin for dessert. Cooking and eating was accompanied by a Casa de Juste vineyard green (young) wines – a rose and a white.

After a long visit and a great lunch, we headed over the mountains to Pinhao.

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway

The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is a 19 mile scenic drive through the Black Hills along US Route 14A. It is famous for its towering limestone cliffs, waterfalls like Bridal Veil and Roughlock Falls, and lush forest scenery. The route follows an old railroad grade, offering numerous pull-offs, hiking trails such as one to Devil’s Bathtub, and points of interest. It is a popular route for nature lovers, photographers and motorcycles, Particularly due to its proximity to Sturgis.

Deadwood

Deadwood had its heyday from 1876 to 1879 after gold was discovered there, leading to the Black Hills Gold Rush. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. At its height, the city has a population of 25000, attracting Old West figures such as Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock and Wild Bill Hickok, who was killed there.

The town has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District, for its well preserved Gold Rush-era architecture. The town has five unique history museums. Current population is about 1300. Today it is a busy tourist attraction, offering the museums, shops (western wear, tee shirts, liquor, etc), staged gun fights and staged Hickok killing. The local cemetery is of interest, containing the remains of Hickok, Calamity Jane and many well known Old west figures.