Monday, September 16, 2024
This morning after a buffet breakfast, the tour group gathered around the long table in the Social Salon where Cameron (Dr. Watson) gave a presentation entitled The Land of Basque in Space and Time. Cameron introduced his lecture by provokingly stating that “Basque is a country with a strong cultural identity that doesn’t exist”, then took us on a whirlwind overview of 20,000 years of Basque history to explain his position. Here are a few factoids from the information he presented
- The Basque region is about the size of New Jersey (8,000 sq. miles).
- The population is about 3 million, 2.7 million in Spain (Hegoalde) and 300k in France (Iparraide).
- The Basque people are believed to be direct descendants of Cro-Magnons who settled the area between 50k-12k years ago.
After the lecture, a new guide, Ana, led us on a walking tour around Hondarribia. She spoke to her audience via “whisperers”, headphones that we each wore. We started in the Plaza de Armas and, next we walked a short distance to view the Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption that was originally contructed in the 15th century. From there, we walked downhill through old town. At one street onward, the historic-appearing buildings were actually renovations that mimicked the old town architecture. After passing through a gate in the old city wall, we traversed through the Marina section of town with lots of shoppes and resturants and then arrived at the coastal sidewalk that we had explored yesterday. We walked along the coast to a parking area where our tour bus for today was awaiting us.
—— Walking Tour of Hondarribia ——
We rode the bus along a small country road with occasional sweeping views of the Txingudi Bay. After about half an hour, we stopped in to visit Guadalupe Chapel, another beautiful chuch originally built in the 16th century. From the other side of the road from the chapel, we also enjoyed long views across the bay.
—— Guadalupe Chapel and Overlook ——
After another hour of riding, we arrived at the bus station in San Sebastian, also called Donastia in Basque. Ana guided us on a tour from the bus station, along the Uremia River, through the city market, across an old square that was used for bullfighting in the past with the audience viewing from windows of the surrounding buildings, and eventually arriving at our restaurant for lucnh.
—— Walking through San Sebastian ——
We ate pintxos for lunch at Bare-Bare Restaurant. Pintxos (pronounced pinchoes) are small Basque dishes similar to tapas. We had two plates of three pintxos each and a slice of a fluffy-style cheesecake for dessert. I had Txakoli, a Basque white wine that is slighty bubbly, with my meal.
—— Lunch of Pintxos at Bare-Bare ——
After lunch, Ana, led us into Old Town and to view the Basilica de Santa Maria del Coro. We didn’t enter the the basilica and from there, Ana guided us to a meeting spot before setting us free to explore on our own for about an hour.
—— Old Town & the Basilica ——
Jane and I took the Paseo de la Concha along the shoreline for a quick view of the beach, Playa la Zurriola, then returned and wandered around Old Town. After our free time, Ana led us back to the bus station and we rode the bus back to our Parador.
—— Playa la Zurriola ——
We were on our own for dinner but no one in our group was very hungry. Jane, Nancy, and John walked to a local grocery store, BM, and Jane returned with beer, cheese, crackers, and chocolate. Jane and I had a relaxing “dinner” snacking on the outdoor terrace of the Parador that overlooks the Bidasoa River and the coast of France. After snacking, we returned to our room exhausted and ready for sleep.