The first week in San Sebastián flew by faster than I think any of us here thought possible. Each day has felt like an eternity, and nevertheless the first week was gone in a blink. When writing about the first week of this trip it is instrumental to explore how the week came to a close — and come to a close it did, rather notably.
The weekend started distinct from the week, but similar to the summer as a whole: sleeping in. The first few days of the trip were rough on the sleep schedule, and while the jet lag was quick to overcome, the need for catchup on Friday night was sorely needed. The day didn’t really start though until breakfast, which was, in the Mediterranean spirit, some form of a pastry (a chocolate croissant) and a coffee. Then, along with three of my closest friends and peers, I walked to the San Sebastián Aquarium, which was beautifully situated on the point of the parte vieja port. The walk was beautiful, and gave us a intimate understanding of the boat racers that operate out of that very same pathway we used to get to the Aquarium. There were around eight differently colored long boats that we saw, crewed by over a dozen people each, setting up in the port of the old town. Even though we did not get the chance to see their race carried out, the set up was impressive in itself. The Aquarium was an incredible experience, both due to its accessibility and its comprehensive mix between naval history and live marine exhibits. For students, full access to the experience cost €10 (~$12 USD), which was very refreshing compared to the nearly $40 dollar tickets for the Boston Aquarium near where I live in the states. Once inside, the “tour” was split into two two distinct parts: Historical information, and live marine exhibits. We learned about San Sebastián’s history with whaling, and salted cod, and port side commercialism. Then we moved toward seeing the many animals they had on the premises. We saw fish, sharks, jellyfish, eels, and crustations. The variety and beauty of the aquarium is nothing to undersell, and if you are ever in the area and willing to spend an hour or two of your time, I highly recommend it.
After the Aquarium, Jake, Ethan, Davin, and I went to the beach in front of Antigua, playa Ondarreta, for a good few hours of the day. There we swam, read, listened to music, and relaxed in the sun. While the weather turned out to be a little cloudier than we expected, it still was a beautiful afternoon at the beach. We also learned that the clouds were not nearly as good at solar insulation as we expected, as Jake fell asleep at the beach and was inflicted with a grave sunburn. I am tastefully omitting a photo in this blog post, but all I will say is Hex Code: #b6615b. In future visits I will make sure to remember that the clouds don’t inherently protect you from the sun, and plan accordingly.
The final stop on Saturday was into the nightlife of old town. Around 1am, nine of us headed into old town to hear the music and get food and drinks. The first thing that shocked me upon our arrival to old town ~45 minutes after leaving the hotel was that the city was so lively. There were people crowding the streets and laughing and dancing and eating and drinking. In the US, a majority of places close at 1am at the latest, but here it was nearly 2am and it didn’t look like it was winding down in the slightest. After hopping around to a few different places that were chock full of people, we landed at this semi-busy bar right in the center of old town. Most of us got something to drink and struck up conversation with either each other or with some locals nearby (one very friendly Barcelonan gentleman hung out with part of our group for a decent bit). After a while of just hanging out, talking, listening to the music, and learning more about Basque nightlife, we decided to come back to the hotel. Everyone had a good time, and everyone slept in ’till nearly noon since old town didn’t even begin to close until around 4am. Saturday night (/Sunday morning) was a very fun evening, though was probably the only one of its kind that I’ll have on the trip.
Sunday was a much less eventful day, probably due to its having began at noon. Some friend and I grabbed breakfast a bit after noon and then spent 4-5 hours at the beach. We then came back to the hotel and played the boardgame “Settlers of Catan” for a few hours before hitting the hay.
The weekend was very fun, and was filled with a stark variety of different activities, each capturing a different aspect of Spanish culture that is difficult to understand without its participation. I am excited for the weeks that are upcoming, and can’t wait to do all there is to do in this most beautiful city in the world.
– Jackson DeMello