Buenas tardes familia y amigos,
Indeed, all good things must come to an end. And yes, that would be the raindrops arriving en masse some three weeks ago. Along with the temperature descending into the nippy zone, the teardrops followed shortly. As in the exchange of the short pants for the long pants. Since the end of last February when my retirement became official, shorts have been my daily pant attire except for a handful or two occasions. Hence the need to move on to warmer climes.
View from Monte Igueldo
However, before moving on, a second dispatch covering Donostia-San Sebastian. Many photos in the first dispatch were taken on a hike up Mont Urgull to the fortress. This time, several photos from Monte Igueldo on the other side of the bay, including the picture to the left. Normally one ascends to the peak via the funicular but this time I wanted to hike to the top. Unfortunately, the road beyond the residences (about two-thirds the way) is shuddered. Nevertheless, the intermediary views as well as the rich palette of residential architecture on offer were splendid.
Within the city of Donostia-San Sebastian is simply one of the cutest parks – Plaza de Gipuzkoa. It’s only a city block square in size but it is an oasis of charm. At the main entrance to the park stands a hexagonal kiosk with an abundance of information carved on the pillar within and painted on its interior ceiling. See the photo gallery for up close pictures from all six sides as well as pictures of other scenes within the park. The caption under the photo to the right, refers to my oldest grandson, Oliver, who is the Chief Scientist. I’m sure we will be having an in-depth discussion about the kiosk.
For the Chief Scientist
For the Chief Engineer
My youngest grandson, Daniel, as one might have guessed, is the Chief Engineer. The photo to the left is across one of the streets from the park and is of a renovation of an entire building. Looking closely, one can see that the entire interior of the building has been gutted, leaving and thus preserving as a shell the beautiful exterior architecture. I saw this same approach being used at another build site a few blocks away a week earlier. Please see the photo gallery for many other instances of the varied and interesting architecture that one finds just by wandering about this delightful city.
That’s it for now. As always, please feel free to share this link with anyone who expresses an interest. Please have a look at the gallery below for full-size versions of the photos above as well as additional photos of Donostia-San Sebastian. Note that in the section below the blog where comments may be entered, the email address will NOT be displayed. It is collected simply as a way of identifying the writer before publishing the comment – unfortunately, On the Flip Side gets quite a bit of attempted spam. As to the warmer climes mentioned in the opening, the next dispatch will be from the Med!
Hasta pronto, Papi
Looks like a great place to visit – I’ll put it on my travel list. Thanks for the pictures and happy travels to the Med!
Good to hear from you Paul. Definitely recommend visiting Donostia-San Sebastian from late Spring through earlier Fall. Hope to hear about your upcoming travels.
I love seeing your pictures. Where are you headed in the Med?
Thank you Diana. At this time, on an island in the Mediterranean. To be disclosed in the next dispatch.
The sand art is incredible!
It is indeed. I believe the writing is in Basque. If I remember correctly, close to 50% of the people living in Donostia-San Sebastian speak Basque, one of the highest percentages in the Basque Country (Spanish or French side of the border).