Day five....ish. Arriving in Spain
Our apartment in San Sebastian!
It's late....it's Christmas Eve.....and we've seen and done so much today that I can't do it justice in a quick post. We saw so much and did so much today. I personally shot over 1000 photos and need to start culling those to get decent quality shots, and that takes a while.
Laurie wrote her thoughts on Bordeaux and shared those with me this morning. So here's the plan....I'm going to use her writings and post a few photos from our first day in San Sebastian. That way I can get to bed at ........not a horrible hour, but not great. Be sure to check out the video of our apartment as well!
The text is a day behind from the photos but that sometimes happens. Schedules don't mesh up...but it's a good story and good photos. I think you'll like it. More from me on the way....that said, here's the one I love most! Take it away Laurie!
Laurie wrote her thoughts on Bordeaux and shared those with me this morning. So here's the plan....I'm going to use her writings and post a few photos from our first day in San Sebastian. That way I can get to bed at ........not a horrible hour, but not great. Be sure to check out the video of our apartment as well!
The text is a day behind from the photos but that sometimes happens. Schedules don't mesh up...but it's a good story and good photos. I think you'll like it. More from me on the way....that said, here's the one I love most! Take it away Laurie!
Christmas lights in San Sebastian
The journey so far…
Jet lag seems to be more intense the older I get. I don’t sleep well on planes, trains or buses so the long flight over means I am more or less awake for the duration. Getting my body on schedule upon arrival in such a different time zone takes more time than I would like. I don’t sleep well under the best of circumstances so it’s been a bit of a challenge.
We are now in San Sebastian in an apartment that we can control the environment a bit more and I finally slept well after 5 nights of poor sleep. I still get up and go and do, but am pretty much on the old farts’ night schedule of crashing by 10pm.
Oompah band at the Christmas Market
Bordeaux was a little disappointing. It is a much larger city than I expected and definitely has a city feel. We spent time wandering the older parts of the city and found them to be pretty typical of Europe’s old cities. Narrow cobblestone streets and the same architecture which I admittedly don’t know much about.
The original parts of the wall and gates were interesting. Bordeaux was pretty heavily bombed in WWII because it was a strategic site Hitler used to launch subs from and attack Britain and the US coast.
The original parts of the wall and gates were interesting. Bordeaux was pretty heavily bombed in WWII because it was a strategic site Hitler used to launch subs from and attack Britain and the US coast.
San Sebastian fountain
One of the nice things about Bordeaux was the ease of getting around the city. It has an extensive, and easy to use, tram system which connects with buses. Trams run very frequently and the buses a little less but still pretty often. Our journey out to the sub pens was much faster than Google said it would be and pretty easy. We bought a 48 hour transit pass at the airport and it covered trams and buses with no restrictions.
One of the many churches
Traveling this time of year we don’t seem to see many tourists and most of the people in the restaurants, on public transportation and shopping seem to be locals. Even the restaurants around the train station that in the USA would be pretty sketchy were filled with local people enjoying coffee, etc. and the food was really good.
Daytime view from our San Sebastian Apartment
The sub pens repurposed into the amazing spectacle of light and art was the highlight of Bordeaux for me. To take something created solely for destruction and chaos and to make it into something awe inspiring for its beauty was genius. Dali set to Pink Floyd was perfect, The Gaudi one was good but not as good as Dali. It was a ‘you had to be there’ type of experience. The use of the water for reflections was unique I believe to these immersive art exhibitions. So glad it wasn’t crowded.
Mushroom, tomato, and cheese crepe for Laurie
I’m sure if we had the time to explore more of the wine culture of the area we would have had a more rounded experience of Bordeaux but I don’t really feel the need to go back there. One and a half days was plenty to see what we wanted and then move on.
The end result! A tasty crepe!
We are now in San Sebastian or Donostia as it is called locally. Getting ready for our first full day of exploration. Kind of a late start since we are still recovering and this is the most comfortable we’ve been so far. A very nice, large apartment and we plan to cook in for the next few nights since things will be shut down for Xmas.
Gorgeous decorations everywhere
The city was hopping last night though with shops being open late and restaurants full. It has FINALLY stopped raining and I think the weather is supposed to improve over the next few days. It had rained steadily since we got to Europe and I was beginning to wonder if was ever going to stop.
Our apartment video!
Back to Bill....Check out where we're staying! It's REALLY cool! More to come from both of us.