I could live here

I could learn to love San Sebastián. It has a calmer, more liveable feel than Barcelona. Early in the morning in Barcelona we would encounter pick pockets hoping for a good start to the day, various people coming home from a big night, including one quite striking six foot something transvestite in stilettos and a mini. 

In San Sebastián on the other hand you find people fixing the ravages of the winds from last night, or exercising. They are a sporty lot: they are walking, jogging, cycling, at the gym, surfing, walking their dogs on the beach, swimming, playing tennis or racquetball, participating in an elderly group cardio stroll, all seen in the space of an hour's stroll along the La Concha promenade.

The day started overcast but after a hearty breakfast ( how could it be otherwise when the buffet included chorizo, salchichon, jamon, tortilla, churros among the fare) we headed out anyway. 

We walked to Monte Igeldo at the western end of SS. Marjan' knee was not up to the climb and the funicular was closed for the day so we just checked out the surf and sculpture.

A good walk, with lovely views of the city and how it hugs it's bays.

By the time we got back, it was warmer and I joined some older locals in a swim. Cool, but not as cold as Venus Bay in early December. After a quick shower to wash the salt off we did some more aimless strolling. Cathedrals, shops, old quarter, markets just wandering and soaking the place up. Some random sights caught my eye.

We are now having a bit of a lie down whilst the town is shut down for siesta, belying the locals belief about their Englishness. Yes they are different from other parts of Spain ; the architecture is more subdued, the place is so much greener, the pace is calmer and more polite; but the English last night stood out like .......hmm ........I can only think up rude analogies. To top it off they still close up shop at 2 and open back up at 5. So we are taking advantage of that. We will be back out there soon. We are planning a bar hop tonight instead of dinner. Apparently this is the thing to do. A txokoli and one tapa per bar in the old quarter. To give this context...txokoli is fairly low alcohol,and the old quarter has over 500 bars in a square kilometer. So we should be ok to walk around whilst we eat our fill of pintxos. I won't rely on James to find the hotel so we should be good.

Back on the road early tomorrow , hoping to find a place I saw a single photo of in the Age a while ago, that just caught my imagination. I'll share if James gets us there.