North Spain / France Day 2: San Sebastian – Biarritz – Bilbao

North Spain / France Day 2: San Sebastian – Biarritz – Bilbao

Day 2 of our trip started with a few showers and a walk along the Bay of Biscay and the La Concha. It was amazing to see the waves crashing against the peculiarly shaped rocks along the coast. We then walked through a flower market, a vegetable market and visited a bakery where the sizes and shapes of the breads amazed me. Among the main attractions was the Santa Maria Basilica, with a huge statue of Jesus with several arrows pierced into his body (see pic). Another feature which I saw in various places in Spain was that streets in hilly areas sometimes ended in a flight of stairs (see pic)! The entrance to the Santa Monica was spectacular, with several sculptures of babies, and faces of children and a statue of Mary (see pic).

Directly opposite to the Basilica, several streets away into the newer part of the city was the San Sebastian Cathedral. From the distance, it looked as if the church was under restoration. Upon approaching it, I realized that the architecture was peculiar – the spire of the church was made of a mesh (see pic).

We then left for Biarritz, a small French coastal town near Bayonne, east of San Sebastian. We took a smaller highway to avoid the toll, and we saw on one side the beautiful coast of the Bay of Biscay and on the other side, the Pyrenees, which forms a natural border between the two countries. The road winded up and down the slopes of the Pyrenees and the town Biarritz, which would probably exhibit a very lively atmosphere in summer wore a deserted look.

We then drove to our next destination further west of San Sebastian – Bilbao. This town was similar to San Sebastian in many ways. However, the main reason for our visit was to see the Gugenheim Museum, famous for its modern architectural beauty. The streets of the old city of Bilbao were filled with people eating, drinking and making merry, watching the football match with enthusiasm… well, enthusiasm is a gross understatement. The town seemed completely alive and ‘kicking’ well after midnight!

North Spain - Day 1: Zaragosa, San Sebastian

North Spain – Day 1:

Two green Renault Megane’s, an endorsement on the rental slip that I could drive with my Singapore license, and we were off – 8 of us, mostly exchange students, to North Spain. For probably the first time ever, I dint even know how to pronounce the names of the towns we planned to visit over the next two or even three days. For the first time ever definitely, none of us in the car knew exactly where we were going to halt for the night, and in which hotel. For the first time ever, we did not even know if we might be in the same country the next day! All the same it was a trip I was looking forward to… why I don’t know even today!

Our first halt was Zaragosa, a beautiful town along the river Ebro. Across the bridge from the road leading to the city, we could see the magnificent Basilica of Our Lady, and behind that, the city, which was also called Saragossa, the capital of the Aragon community of Spain. Spain, although a single country, has several internal divisions among its people such as the Catalans, the Aragons, the Basques, etc. The Basilica was a classic example of the Mudejar architecture of the Aragons, a world heritage site. A short walk into the Basilica revealed a design, which I later realized I would be seeing repeatedly in several churches and cathedrals across Spain. There was a central altar, with a hall for conducting mass, with huge ceilings, with either sculptures or paintings or painted glass windows.

Our four-hour drive to San Sebastian proved to be a very interesting one. There was a hill, atop which a huge black hoarding of a bull attracted our attention from more than a kilometer away. For miles and miles thereafter, there were hills with a huge number of windmills for as far as the eye could see. As we got closer to San Sebastian after dusk, the roads got narrow and windy and we drove through several long tunnels before we reached the Basque town, the capital city of the Gipuzkoa province, also known as Donostia. San Sebastian, on the river Urumea, is a coastal town on the northern coast of Spain south of the Bay of Biscay between Spain and the British Isles. The La Concha’s bay and beach soon gave way to a small pier and the Urgull hill, atop which stood a giant statue of Jesus, as if overlooking the bay and the town.

Exploration for a restaurant took us through Parte Vieja, or the ‘old city’, which I later realized was another common feature of any Spanish town with a long history. The old city area of any town is essentially a labyrinth of streets with no specific pattern. It is very easy to get lost in these streets even with a good map. The labyrinths could have several ‘plaça’s in them. A plaça is a square area from which several streets could branch off. The square area would house several bars and restaurants, and have a central pillar with a sculpture, a statue, a church or a cathedral.

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