This weekend I went to San Sebastian and Bilbao with the group from my program. This was one of the excursions that is included in the price of the study abroad semester. S. Sebastian and Bilbao are part of the Basque country, which is in northern Spain on the border of France. The Basque country is kind of different from the rest of Spain because they speak a totally different language, Basque. It has nothing in common with any other language so its very difficult for someone to learn it who hasn't grown up there. In Basque, they call this city Donostia. They also speak spanish, which was good for us. Aparently some people in the Baque region want it to be a separate country from Spain, so there are frequent protests for and against that issue. There was one protest when we were there that was illegal so we had to stay away from it. The guardia civil was there and they had these big black guns that looked like they shot rubber balls the size of tennis balls. I wanted to take a picture but didn't think it would be appropriate. This particular picture, above, is still in Madrid when we were getting on the busses. Its kind of blurry cause people were moving, but you get the idea. We left at 8:30 in the morning and it was a 5 hour drive with a 45 minute break. We got there mid afternoon.
These are just some pictures of the mountains, if you can call them that. They are kind of small compared to the Rockies, but they are bigger than what we have in west michigan.
We went through a lot of tunnels and over a lot of bridges because of all the mountains and it was really pretty. Its kind of hard to capture through the window of a bus. Surprisingly the roads are very smooth and new. I wonder what kind of taxes they have for that.
This was the hotel we stayed at. It was really nice and all of our meals were served there. We had roast beef and mashed potatoes one night and chicken the other night. It was very good and the hotel was decorated really cool. You can see the lobby decorations in the picture below.
This was at the beach when we just got there. We had a walking guided tour of the city. Its not that big so it took like 2 hours to walk and see everything. It was probably in the mid to low 70's depending on if you were in the sun or shade. Some people actually went in the water but I think it was too cold still. This beach is called "La Concha" which means, the shell, because it is shaped like a scallop shell. If you say La Concha in Spain, everyone knows that you are talking about this beach.
These are some friends. Two of the girls live in my apartment and the other is in some of my classes. That island behind us is called "Isla de Santa Clara" and it is perfectly situated because it blocks all the heavy waves and makes the water near the beach calm and just like a swimming pool. There is a spot further up the beach that gets more waves and is popular for surfers.
This is my favorite picture from San Sebastian because the water is so blue and the courthouse is in the background and the castle can be seen on top of the hill. It is so beautiful there. The castle on the hill has been turned into an amusement park and you can get to it by a cable car that goes up the side of the hill. Its pretty cool but we didn't get to go up because there wasn't time. I would like to come back and check that out.
This is a shot down the street from the cathedral. There are two main cathedrals in San Sebastian and they are built directly across from eachother. We didn't go any closer to this one, which is called Catedral Buen Pastor, or the church of the good shepherd, but I have some pictures of the other one because we got to go inside it.
I know there is something like this in the US. I just can't remember where it is. I know I have seen it twice....anyone remember? I want to say mackinaw but I don't think that is right. Anyway, it just made me think of that.
This is the view of the other part of the city across the Urumea river. That part of S. Sebastian has a lot of French influece. France is only about a 10 minute drive away, and Queen Isabella II built a castle here for vacation. She even had a personal bath house where she could change into her bathing suit and then get into a carridge with oxen that would take her down to the beach, which wasn't that far away. I have pictures of those things, but I can't show you everything right now! I have to save some things for later.
Here is a picture of the water....isn't it such a pretty blue? Well I thought it was nice...to bad it was too cold to swim. I have never swam in the ocean. I think S. Sebastian is on the Bay of Biscay which goes out to the Atlantic Ocean.
This is in the "Plaza Mayor" of S. Sebastian. I don't think that is what its called, but I didn't catch the name. Either way, its just a center where there are a lot of restaurants and outside tables to eat at and have some Cafe con leche. And there are apartments that overlook the square.
This is the other cathedral, Santa Maria. Its kind of sad that they built buildings all around it so that you can't really see the whole thing, just like the one in Toledo. I think this picture shows the best part of it though. The next picture is just a shot of the inside. Most of my pictures from the inside didn't turn out very well cause it was really dark. This was the best one. It was just the typical european cathedral.
This picture is my other favorite and Andrea, I was thinking of you when I took this one. I bet this would be a good one to paint.
It got kind of cold at night, but the breeze was still warm. We went for a walk along the beach and the pier goes all the way out to the tip of the mainland. That spot is called "El Peine del Viento" which means the comb of the wind. In that spot, there is a sculpture of something, I don't know what, and then there are a lot of steps and a wide open area. On one side of the open area there are 7 holes about the size of a softball and they go all the way down to the ocean. You can look over the edge and see all the rocks and watch the waves crash against them. When the water goes under the spot where the holes are, it makes a roaring noise, and when the tide is in, the water shoots up through the holes. We didn't get to see it when the tide was in, but we put our hands over the holes and when the waves come in you can feel a huge burst of air come up. Its actually kind of scary at night, like when we were there cause you can see the holes and you walk by them and all of a sudden you hear this roaring sound right under you. I have a video of it but you can't really see anything, I just took it to capture the sound. If you want me to post it, let me know and I will. The following video is just of the beach at night. I think the building that I start filming on is the Queen's bath house, and the other one is a day spa. Well I hope you enjoyed those pictures, and even though it is bitterly cold in Michigan, I hope these pictures will warm you up a little by just looking at them. It was so beautiful the day we were there and I'm very glad of that. I would like to go back in may when it is warm enough to swim and enjoy the beach a little more.
This weekend I went to San Sebastian and Bilbao with the group from my program. This was one of the excursions that is included in the price of the study abroad semester. S. Sebastian and Bilbao are part of the Basque country, which is in northern Spain on the border of France. The Basque country is kind of different from the rest of Spain because they speak a totally different language, Basque. It has nothing in common with any other language so its very difficult for someone to learn it who hasn't grown up there. In Basque, they call this city Donostia. They also speak spanish, which was good for us. Aparently some people in the Baque region want it to be a separate country from Spain, so there are frequent protests for and against that issue. There was one protest when we were there that was illegal so we had to stay away from it. The guardia civil was there and they had these big black guns that looked like they shot rubber balls the size of tennis balls. I wanted to take a picture but didn't think it would be appropriate. This particular picture, above, is still in Madrid when we were getting on the busses. Its kind of blurry cause people were moving, but you get the idea. We left at 8:30 in the morning and it was a 5 hour drive with a 45 minute break. We got there mid afternoon. 
These are just some pictures of the mountains, if you can call them that. They are kind of small compared to the Rockies, but they are bigger than what we have in west michigan.
We went through a lot of tunnels and over a lot of bridges because of all the mountains and it was really pretty. Its kind of hard to capture through the window of a bus. Surprisingly the roads are very smooth and new. I wonder what kind of taxes they have for that.
This was the hotel we stayed at. It was really nice and all of our meals were served there. We had roast beef and mashed potatoes one night and chicken the other night. It was very good and the hotel was decorated really cool. You can see the lobby decorations in the picture below.
This was at the beach when we just got there. We had a walking guided tour of the city. Its not that big so it took like 2 hours to walk and see everything. It was probably in the mid to low 70's depending on if you were in the sun or shade. Some people actually went in the water but I think it was too cold still. This beach is called "La Concha" which means, the shell, because it is shaped like a scallop shell. If you say La Concha in Spain, everyone knows that you are talking about this beach. 
These are some friends. Two of the girls live in my apartment and the other is in some of my classes. That island behind us is called "Isla de Santa Clara" and it is perfectly situated because it blocks all the heavy waves and makes the water near the beach calm and just like a swimming pool. There is a spot further up the beach that gets more waves and is popular for surfers. 
This is my favorite picture from San Sebastian because the water is so blue and the courthouse is in the background and the castle can be seen on top of the hill. It is so beautiful there. The castle on the hill has been turned into an amusement park and you can get to it by a cable car that goes up the side of the hill. Its pretty cool but we didn't get to go up because there wasn't time. I would like to come back and check that out. 
This is a shot down the street from the cathedral. There are two main cathedrals in San Sebastian and they are built directly across from eachother. We didn't go any closer to this one, which is called Catedral Buen Pastor, or the church of the good shepherd, but I have some pictures of the other one because we got to go inside it.
I know there is something like this in the US. I just can't remember where it is. I know I have seen it twice....anyone remember? I want to say mackinaw but I don't think that is right. Anyway, it just made me think of that.
This is the view of the other part of the city across the Urumea river. That part of S. Sebastian has a lot of French influece. France is only about a 10 minute drive away, and Queen Isabella II built a castle here for vacation. She even had a personal bath house where she could change into her bathing suit and then get into a carridge with oxen that would take her down to the beach, which wasn't that far away. I have pictures of those things, but I can't show you everything right now! I have to save some things for later.
Here is a picture of the water....isn't it such a pretty blue? Well I thought it was nice...to bad it was too cold to swim. I have never swam in the ocean. I think S. Sebastian is on the Bay of Biscay which goes out to the Atlantic Ocean.
This is in the "Plaza Mayor" of S. Sebastian. I don't think that is what its called, but I didn't catch the name. Either way, its just a center where there are a lot of restaurants and outside tables to eat at and have some Cafe con leche. And there are apartments that overlook the square.
This is the other cathedral, Santa Maria. Its kind of sad that they built buildings all around it so that you can't really see the whole thing, just like the one in Toledo. I think this picture shows the best part of it though. The next picture is just a shot of the inside. Most of my pictures from the inside didn't turn out very well cause it was really dark. This was the best one. It was just the typical european cathedral.
This picture is my other favorite and Andrea, I was thinking of you when I took this one. I bet this would be a good one to paint.
It got kind of cold at night, but the breeze was still warm. We went for a walk along the beach and the pier goes all the way out to the tip of the mainland. That spot is called "El Peine del Viento" which means the comb of the wind. In that spot, there is a sculpture of something, I don't know what, and then there are a lot of steps and a wide open area. On one side of the open area there are 7 holes about the size of a softball and they go all the way down to the ocean. You can look over the edge and see all the rocks and watch the waves crash against them. When the water goes under the spot where the holes are, it makes a roaring noise, and when the tide is in, the water shoots up through the holes. We didn't get to see it when the tide was in, but we put our hands over the holes and when the waves come in you can feel a huge burst of air come up. Its actually kind of scary at night, like when we were there cause you can see the holes and you walk by them and all of a sudden you hear this roaring sound right under you. I have a video of it but you can't really see anything, I just took it to capture the sound. If you want me to post it, let me know and I will. The following video is just of the beach at night. I think the building that I start filming on is the Queen's bath house, and the other one is a day spa. Well I hope you enjoyed those pictures, and even though it is bitterly cold in Michigan, I hope these pictures will warm you up a little by just looking at them. It was so beautiful the day we were there and I'm very glad of that. I would like to go back in may when it is warm enough to swim and enjoy the beach a little more.
7 comments:
Snowed in and living through you. Keep the pictures coming. I loved the short video. I so love listening to the waves coming into the beach.
Smiles!
Looks like fun!!!!
I think the floral clock you're talking about is the one in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side :)
Beautiful pictures! It look so nice and warm there!!
Alecia - those pictures are great! This looks like such a fun weekend. I love the mountains, beach and the old buildings.
Love the sunset at the beach. Beautiful- so much nicer than what we've got here right now.
Great Shots! I love seeing all the pictures! Like Jen says, living through you!
I love all the pictures. I also think it's cool that you're getting photos with you in them - those will be nice to have! Plus, it's nice for us to see you there! :)
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