Weather: hot, mostly sunny with occasional showers
Internet: 6? Euro/hr (didn't write it down)
Upon arrival in San Sebastian we were recruited to stay at "The Aussie" (at least I am pretty sure they called it that) a rundown little pension (like a hostel) on a hill. Although its condition left much to be desired, the people were nice and it was cheap. Plus it saved us the effort of finding someplace to stay on our own (our hostel in Madrid was the only lodging we had arranged in advance.)
I think that San Sebastian was my favorite place along the trip and I know that Jason was fond of it as well. At first I didn't feel one way or the other about it, but after depositing our bags at the pension, we went for a walk downtown and I became somewhat enamored. The weather was pleasant (though a bit on the warm side) and there were a number of people out walking about (though it wasn't unpleasantly crowded.) For some reason the place touched a chord in me while I was watching the interaction of what looked like a local family, three generations, waiting to cross the street. The grandfather and a grandson were joking around with eachother and the other members of the family were interacting with eachother warmly and it just set the mood for me. I think another factor was that we were still taking our time, not in a hurry, while after we left we were more aware of the distance we had to cover and became more rushed.
San Sebastian is in the Basque region of Spain and it was quite obvious to anyone looking: there was ETA (a Basque activist group) graffittee everywhere that graffittee is common, there were lots of Basque activities, shops, and cultural centers. We went to one Basque museum while there that was quite interesting. It had a lot of Basque artwork as well as Basque artifacts including an old video of a Basque woman making fabric from plants (flax, I believe.)
There were lots of opportunity for outdoor activities there. There are two large beaches and numerous hiking trails through the sorrounding hills. Our first such activity was a hike up the hill in between the two beaches. There are many remnants of old fortresses on the hill and more recently a statue of Jesus was erected. It was a nice little walk with a great central view of the city, beaches, and hills. After we got down we decided to check out the more family frequented beach (apparently the surfers tend to hang out at one beach and families more at the other). The ocean was refreshingly cool and there were platforms a little ways out in the bay for people to swim out to and play on. The one we ended up on had a little slide and several fish hanging out beneath it. There were also public showers on the beach that were quite chilling. The next day, after another short hike (we got a bit lost), we went to the other beach and enjoyed the mood of a stormy overcast afternoon.
I should mention the ham sandwiches. They are very popular in Spain, in fact in Madrid there is a chain of restuarants called Museo de Jamon (Museum of Ham) that mainly sell ham sandwiches. Many of our quick and dirty meals consisted of a ham sandwich and something to drink. While the sandwiches were reasonably good, it didn't take long for me to get tired of them. Fortunately we had some very pleasant food experiences as well. First was the Italian ice cream. There were Italian ice cream vendors in much of Europe, and for good reason: Their ice cream was smooth, sweet and oh, so tasty. We tried to get at least one quality meal in each city we went to. A few of the places we tried here were unfortunately closed (businesses in Spain are required to close at least one day every week.) We did manage to find one that was fairly nice, though the waiter didn't seem too pleased with us, perhaps because of our less than fancy attire (we were wearing the same things we had been walking around in all day). It was an educational experience for us, we learned at least two useful tidbits. First, what to do with wine bottles and the little stand with ice in it, and second we learned that the little dishes with water in them and a lid with a hole in it are ash trays. I felt a little conspicuous in our ignorance, but with a little observation we were able to pick up on what to do. I don't actually remember what I ordered there (though I remember thinking that it was pretty good) except that we splurged on a more expensive bottle of (what we thought was) cider, it was much stronger than what we had ordered in Madrid and didn't taste nearly as good to me, so Jason had the opportunity to drink almost all of it.
I was surprised by some of the plants in San Sebastian. There were many that I recognized as close relatives of ones in Sitka, but they seem to be on a very different schedule. Plantain and lilacs were still blooming long after they had bloomed out in Sitka and the dock had not yet gone to seed either. I was able to eat my first blue elderberries while on Monte Urgull. Jason foolishly tried a berry from a plant which I suspect is related to skunk cabbage and got a mouth full of burn (which seems to confirm my suspicion of its relation).
Oh, I almost forgot to mention what might possibly be the dumbest gameshow ever. We decided to take an ice cream break during a brief rain and "Alle Tu" (or something like that) was on. Since it was in Spanish it's possible that we didn't understand all of the subtleties, but I don't think we missed too much. The basic premise seemed to be that the contestant had a box with a prize tag in it and there were twenty or so other people with boxes with prize tags in them. There was a list of what the possible prizes were ranging from one euro to a coffee maker all the way up to 50,000 euros (just a guess I don't remember exactly what they were.) One by one the other boxes would be opened to reveal one of the prizes the contestant didn't win. But there's a catch! Occasionally the contestant was given the option of switching her box with one of the other boxes! This was milked out for a full half hour, occasionally the host would get a call on his cell phone with what was apparently some special offer for the contestant that she turned down each time. I am not sure what the offer was, but I am of the opinion that a cell phone is a pretty lame prop for a gameshow. Anyway I would love it if somebody could provide me with any other details about the show or clue me in to what the point is.