Checking out, what a morning!

Continued from Alone in the night, in the pouring rain

After a tropical storm, the tropical heat.

In spite of going to bed late, I was up at 7am. I didn't expect anyone else to be up at that hour. Booted up my PC and as I'd expected, the wifi hadn't been turned on. I knew it wasn't on a programmed switch, that it was a manual operation - the last staff member to use the network turns the router off, and the first person to wake up turns it on again (when they're ready and if they remember).

So I transferred some of the previous night's photos, deleted some (read my story in the last post), and continued mucking around. Every 5 minutes or so, I peeped out the door to check the breakfast situation. By 8am I was getting nervous. We were leaving today, but I had to go and get the car which I'd contracted to rent before we had left home. It was some way from town, by the looks of it.

The absence of electromagnetic waves must really keep these people deep in slumberland. I hadn't thought it necessary to book an early breakfast. 8am isn't considered early in most places. 8.15, nothing. 8.30, NOTHING! This is getting ridiculous!

I can't remember what time they eventually brought out some stuff. Little by little. Isabella's husband - I presumed - was the first up. And at 9.15am, the router still hadn't been turned on!

I can't remember either at what time I set out of the room. I'd booked the car for 9am. Fat hopes!

I got to the bus stop (an easy find after the previous night's experience ;) ) only to find that the bus (No. 24) passes every 30 minutes and one had just gone by. Fantastic. After a moment's hesitation, I decided to walk. Google Map estimated the walk to be 30 minutes - better to do some exercise than to stand around wasting time.

Away I went. Boy, no wonder the estimate was 30 minutes. It was uphill at least half the way! So, you wanted some exercise, eh?

Thanks to the map, I didn't get too lost. Most people I asked didn't know where the place was. Plaza Irun was the wrong name to use. I should have said Centro Comercial Arcco - they were more familiar with that name.

Anyway, I located EUROPCAR - they offered the best deal I could find - completed all the formalities, and went down to the basement car park. That was about the only inconvenience. No-one brought me to it, to check that everything was ok, and to explain the basics. The car was a Renault Megane, practically brand new. Chocolate brown. Nice. Controls were all the wrong way round for me, haha, eg, the windshield wipers were on the right, as so was the car adjustment lever, etc.

Good enough to eat

One of the best I've hired

It took me a while to find out the fundamentals. Like I mean, where the hell is the handbrake??? LOL I think it's about time I got myself a new car.

Eventually, I made my way back. By the time I arrived, traffic was horrendous. It was Monday. Lorries everywhere. There was a metre-zone in front of Isabella's, but it was now full. I had to go around the block several times before I found a space....to double park!

Thankfully, the family had packed almost everything. It wasn't a smooth transition though. I had to go up to make sure I hadn't left anything behind, of course. Camera, lenses, cables...that sort of stuff... Murphy's Law struck again. No sooner had I reached the room when someone was saying he had to get out. When I looked out the window, it was the lorry behind the Renault - for goodness sake, he was as double-parked as I was! Why couldn't he just reverse to get out??? No comprendo. Beats me. Murphy just wanted to ruffle me up.

And then there was Isabella kind of pushing, saying things like check-out time was more than an hour ago, that they had to get the room ready for the next guests blah blah blah. Honestly, I don't know how I managed to just ignore her. Probably because I was more interested in getting out than she could imagine.

I could have said well, if you had wanted me to leave on time, you should have bloody well laid out the breakfast at a frigging normal time, shouldn't you?

The car hire details:

Fecha de recogida: 04/08/2014

Fecha de devolución: 12/08/2014

Grupo de coches: SE LEON 1.2 TSI 105CV START STOP o similar

Divisa: 288,94 EUR

Like I said, the best deal I could find for that time and for that condition - returning the car to a different location carries a supplement for a lot of other companies.

Just a footnote: I wonder why it's so expensive to add a second driver. It's really ridiculous. I think it's about time car and insurance companies realise that it is, in fact, safer to have two drivers than one. There were many times I had to slap my own face just to stay awake. There were many times I was tempted to close my eyes for a second... And it wasn't as though I drove for many hours at a stretch. I stopped often. But it wasn't uncommon for me to find that five minutes after resuming from a stoppage, I felt sleepy again! Straight roads are the best cure for insomnia, I tell you, which is one of the reasons why I avoid motorways wherever possible!

Alone in the night, in the pouring rain

Continued from One-foot-long sandwiches in Pasai Donibane

We managed to catch the 22.30 bus back to Donostia, arrived safely, and began the long walk back to Isabella's. The drizzling followed us from Pasai, and accompanied us during the walk, on and off. Just before the tunnel, I told my family to carry on without me as I wanted to take some night shots.

Compared to the amount of people that there were during the day, especially around the Boulevard, La Concha Promenade was deserted. I found myself pretty much alone, except for the odd couple or walker. Traffic was also scarce.

I spent a long time. Shot after shot. While trying to protect the camera from the rain, when it did. Deep down, I knew I wasn't happy. Something wasn't right. Because they were long exposures, some as much as 60 seconds, and another 60 for the camera to "develop" and save it, each shot, from setting up until completion took me about 5 minutes or so, I guess. I don't know how many I took. Some was deleted on the spot. Others travelled with me home.

I don't know what time it was when I decided to pack it in. Walked briskly towards Isabella's. This was to be the last night. I'm the first to acknowledge that I'm bad with orientation. You see I think I suffer from prosopagnosia, albeit mildly, and this extends to topographical disorientation issues. To cut the story short, I must have either taken a wrong turning or overshot a turning, or possibly both, and ended by some bus stops, and I knew it was wrong. I should have arrived by then. A blessing in disguise, in some ways. Because, without warning, the heavens opened up...

And I mean opened up. Even the bus stop shelter didn't provide 100% cover. If you've been to the tropics, you know what a torrential downpour is. Well, this was one. Except I wasn't in the tropics, was I? And I thought, gee, and I still have to take my shower, I still have to pack up...

It didn't let up. It went on and on. And I was getting more and more nervous. The battery on my phone was also dying. Finally, the rain appeared to slow down a little. Enough for me to make a dash without getting soaked to the bone. If I have trouble getting my bearings during the daytime, you can imagine how much worse it is during the night. Somehow, I managed to get it right this time and found my way.

Boy, what a day.

Tonight, I looked at the shots again, and I felt another surge of disappointment. What remained from previous purges also found their way to the recycling bin. All except two. Even the first one should go to the bin, really. Boats on the sea don't take too kindly to long exposures. Rivers and lakes may be calm, but seas move too much.

What do you think?

Ghost ships off Santa Clara

Vacant

One-foot-long sandwiches in Pasai Donibane

Continued from Pasai Donibane, how to get there and other information

What I didn't have information for was the boat ride. The bus stops about half a kilometre from the jetty. Basically, if you keep the estuary to your right, you'll eventually find it. I don't recall seeing any sign, but you're likely to see people waiting for the boat. It's a small boat, with one boatman. Like I'd mentioned before in the previous post, he provides the service until late and he goes back and forth. The ride is only a couple of minutes so you don't usually have long to wait.

By the time we arrived, light was getting low. If we had been an hour or so earlier, it might have been perfect. To add to the darkness, it was also drizzling. It was almost a miracle that I'd managed to get as many decent shots as I did.

Pasai Donibane from the boat

That's the boat, leaving the jetty

 As you can see, they're small boats. You can see people on the boat on the right. There's a similar green one on the left. I don't know if it belongs to the same boatman or someone else also works the route when there are more passengers.

Pasai Donibane, from its jetty

San Pedro, from Pasai Donibane

Like I mentioned, it was almost night and it was drizzling, so we didn't get to look around as much as we would have liked. There wasn't much activity and it looks like a fairly laid-back and tranquil village. Do be careful when walking along the cobbled streets if it's raining!

To know more about Pasai Donibane, I suggest reading the Euskadi Tourism website. There's some useful information there.

50 shades of brown

Rooftop-to-rooftop

Hanging out at the local square

Pink flags abound

You must be wondering, as I did, about those pink flags. It was hard to find any information, but I think it's got something to do with the regatta, and their rowing team is represented by this shade of pink. Of course, I may be wrong and it's more political than a day of fun. You would have also noticed that a lot of these pink banners are alongside the more ominous Presoak-Etxera ones, so perhaps there's more behind the scenes than the calm façades would have us believe...

The village square

After a quick walk-through, we came to the decision to have dinner here rather than back in San Sebastián. We'd previously seen a rather busy restaurant up the hill for budget-conscious customers like us, so back up we treaded. Actually, we found a lift! Since it was raining, in and up we went.

Name: Ontziola Taberna Jatetxea

Type: café, bar, restaurant; casual; budget

Location: Juan XXIII, 34; slightly up the hill - you can take the lift or walk (only a minute or two)

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Ontziola/page_map

Verdict: Recommended! Their speciality seems to be bocadillos!

Don't expect beautiful, arty pintxos or exquisite dishes. Here, you'll find tasty, no-frills, you-get-what-you-pay-for type of food. We had two bocadillos, one full, the other, half, a salad, and baby squids (chipirones). These plus 3 drinks, all for less than €30. Service was casual, friendly, superb. There were two waitresses, one was stuck behind the bar, the place was full, this other was going back and forth non-stop, and she was loving it all.

These are photos taken on a Samsung S3 mini mobile phone camera, so don't expect the quality of my other photos.

To be honest, when we placed our orders, we didn't know what to expect. The food took longer than it should - there might have been some confusion in the kitchen, perhaps, but, sometimes they are to be expected in places that are caught by surprise and find themselves unexpectedly busy. If I remember correctly - I'd ask them if you're having something similar - their sandwiches are what the Spanish would call bocadillo, though not a foot long like here! Their bocadillo would be what the Spanish call montadito, a one-sided open baguette sandwich, though, again, not a foot long!

Squid and ali-oli, and other wholesome goodness!

Anchovies and ham

The grated goat's cheese salad tasted better than it looked. Loads of goodies in it. Reminded me of the pathetic one we had in Egosari.

Salad with grated goat's cheese

I had to have the healthiest, most boring dish LOL! Grilled baby squid. In any case, I stole some calamares, hehe!

Grilled chipirones

Pasai Donibane, how to get there and other information

The original plan for the day was to have lunch in Pasai Donibane (Pasai San Juan in Spanish), and walk around the village after. But all plans went haywire when the decision was made to include La Clásica into our tight schedule. The "morning" (in quotes because our mornings often turn out to be afternoons) was dedicated to El Peine del Viento because 1) it was closer to where we were lodging and 2) I knew if we didn't do it then I might not get the chance, knowing the way we were always late for everything, and I didn't want my first visit to El Peine to be at 21.00 hours or even later, especially if that would be my only visit.

So, on the one hand, I was pleased to have been able to experience Chillida's project, but on the other hand, lunch at Pasai was off, and we had that horrible lunch experience instead. The upside was that I had the best pastel Vasco in town (haha, how could I compare it if that was the only one I had ;) ).

To cut the long story short, we almost didn't make it to Pasai. It was almost 8pm, for goodness sake! I said, sod it. Better to be there for a few hours than not at all. What was the alternative anyway? Walk 40 minutes back to have a shower and out again for dinner in Antiguo? Not an exciting prospect!

Paid the bill, grabbed the box of pasteles Vasco, and I led the way to Okendo Kalea, practically running. I knew there was a bus leaving around 8pm, but we had to find the bus stop. To help you, should you wish to take the same trip, here's some information.

• From San Sebastián, the bus stop is on Okendo Kalea, more or less in front of Hotel María Cristina.
• The number is E08 or E09 (the E08 runs a circular route while the E09 runs from San Pedro to Okendo only). Tell the driver to drop you off at San Pedro. You can see the timetable here.
• Cost is €1.65. The ride is about 15 minutes.
• From the bus stop, it's a short walk to the small jetty.

• Catch the boat (€0.70) for the short ride across the estuary. Get your camera ready. Boat runs till quite late, about 23.00 or 23.30. Check with the boatman.
• Read about Pasai Donibane here and here.

I will show more of Donibane in the next post, but here are some samplers.

Pasai Donibane

Pasai Donibane

Pasai Donibane

The best pastel Vasco in San Sebastian

I had some time on my own today. After the visit to El Peine del Viento, a place I would have liked to have gone to more than once - please do read about what I wrote and see the photo-video I made - we walked along the promenade until La Parte Vieja. We had lunch in an awful place, Egosari, Fermin Calbeton Kalea, 15. I had a list of 6 or 7 recommendations, but they weren't looked at.

Egosari had decent-looking pintxos, and after all my complaints, their pintxos actually had labels! Unfortunately, the place was full. I noticed that there was a basement, so we went downstairs, to have a look really, but this old waiter followed us down, and basically, we allowed ourselves to be pressured to stay, taking into account the time. The idea was to have a few pintxos, but, no, they're only served in the bar. Service was bad - this guy was more interested in €€ than pleasing us, tourists, you know, and food was crap. Their salad was just lettuce, not much else, not even dressing, apart from the oil & vinegar bottles. And it wasn't cheap either. Perhaps their pintxos might have passed my test, but if you see this restaurant, pass it by. We couldn't wait to leave. Advice: don't go down into any basement! Fact: mediocre and bad food can be had even in San Sebastián!

Amendment: I just had another look at my notes and saw that my friend, Claire, had actually recommended Egosari's prawn & mushroom skewer to me! So, perhaps I'd been somewhat harsh to them. But if you do go there, I reiterate, don't go down to the basement!

After lunch, I set out on my own, keen to explore...

The Old Quarters. La Parte Vieja. Not to be confused with Antiguo (also means 'old'), which is on the opposite end of San Sebastián. In the cities of Spain, the old quarters are more commonly known as Casco Antiguo or Casco Viejo, but for some reason, they call it La Parte Vieja. Perhaps it's a direct translation from the Basque language. For me, it has a negative ring about it.

However, it is anything but that.

An alley off Boulevard Zumardia

It's the heart of San Sebastián, and it pounds strongly. Cafés, restaurants, shops, there's one to suit your taste... and pockets. Every corner you turn, there are people. And more people. If there's a step, you'll find people sitting on it. Seems to be a popular activity. Sitting and watching the others. Or catching up on their digital news.

Boulevard Zumardia

From these quarters, I crossed the bridge into Gros. I took a look at La Playa de la Zurriola, and was somewhat disappointed. I was thinking I would see the beach abound with surfers, but, no. Perhaps the tide was wrong, but we have bigger waves in our local city beach.

La Playa de la Zurriola

After some walking, I turned around, heading back towards La Parte Vieja, looking for Okendo Kalea, the reason for which will appear in the next post, and more importantly, looking for a café where I could try the Pastel Vasco! The practically non-existent lunch and the walk have left me rather hungry! Perfect time for tea!

Watching the world go by

I found Okendo, and the hunt for a café led me down the Boulevard... Wow. People. So many people! Seemed like they'd all deserted the beach and congregated here! And, what's this with all these people sitting by the roadside? I've seen a lot of this here. Perhaps in Bilbao, too, I can't remember. Rows and rows of them.

Boulevard Zumardia, Parte Vieja, San Sebastián

Boulevard Zumardia, Parte Vieja, San Sebastián

Eventually, I saw it. In the corner, opposite the side of the Town Hall: Oiartzun. It was busy. The terrace was full. However, there was some seating inside and a stool was available. And they had Pastel Vasco! Big ones and small ones! Perfect!

Pastel Vasco is somewhat of a speciality in San Sebastián, its origin is the Basque region of France. There are apparently many variations of it, but here, they do it plain. The way I prefer it. No preserved fruit filling or heavy cream. Its basic ingredients are just eggs, flour, butter, the usual stuff. But, describing the ingredients doesn't give you the idea of the taste nor the texture. It was scrumptious. So delicious that I walked out with a box full. No kidding. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the pastries. By the time I got back with them, they were all sort of semi-crushed... You can catch a glimpse of them on their website. See link below.

What makes it so delicious? I don't know. I think Oiartzun's got almonds. If I had their recipe, I'd try baking it, but, no doubt, their recipe is a closely-guarded secret. You'll have to try it. Don't be like so many tourists who go to places far and wide and all they crave for is something they can get back home. I can never understand that.

Place: Oiartzun Gozotegia (or Pastelería Oyarzun)
Website: http://www.pasteleriaoiartzun.com/locales.php

Type: Café (cakes, pastries, chocolate, etc; ice cream parlour next door)

Location: to the side of the town hall. Igentea 2 (or Ijentea Kalea 2). It's a continuation of the Boulevard, towards the beach.

Verdict: Highly recommended!

El Peine del Viento

Whatever I know how to do, I've already done. Therefore I must always do what I do not know how to do. (Eduardo Chillida)

The Comb of the Wind. The Wind Comb. Three pieces of rusty metal placed on rocks at the end of a bay where hardly anyone ever comes to? Why the singular form when there are three? Isn't each one of them supposed to be a "comb"? (In spite of popularly being referred to in the plural form, both in English and in the original language, the correct form is singular.)

Questions like these creep into the casual visitor's mind as they approach this corner of San Sebastián. It is my regret that I didn't have the time to visit this site more than once, and the one time I did it, I did it at a time which was probably not the best (thinking of photography...), but one has to make the most of one's opportunities.

To understand this work of Chillida's, you must understand, or at least try to understand, the man himself. You must understand the type of person he was, the vision he had, his purpose. It is imperative, therefore that you should read this superb article, born out of an "interview" with Eduardo Chillida's son, Luis. Click here. You should also visit this page (in Spanish, but you can try using Google Translate) although I think the video sucks.

Something that took 11 years to complete cannot be understood in 11 minutes, perhaps not even in 11 visits. When I came, in terms of photography, it was probably the worst time - round about lunch time - but in terms of the crowd, it was good. Most people were either on the beach or eating. There were a handful of people arriving and leaving, some contemplating, resting, whispering, checking their smart phones, and there was a busker playing not inappropriate music on his Spanish guitar. No noisy stereo systems, no umbrella-waving tour guides. Possible for me to let my camera do its best. There will be another time when I'll be able to contemplate without it.

Busker playing ambiental music

To understand El Peine del Viento, you'll have to understand that the three pieces of iron sculpture are almost incidental. It's not about them. It's about the area around them. It's about the rocks, Santa Clara beyond, Mount Igueldo behind; it's about the sea, beating against the rocks incessantly; it's about the wind, its rhythm, its sound... It's about the space. And time.

Three pieces, representing the past, the present and the future. And everything in between.

I would like to share the photos I took, but they're too many, so I decided to make a video out of them. The photos can also be seen on my Flickr account. Here's the direct link to the album, "El Peine del Viento". I hope you'll find these three minutes or so worth your while - it took me much more than that to produce it. ;)

Best to watch it on full screen mode, and on HD. Click on the wheel icon, bottom right, click on quality and select 1080 HD.

Purito, the people's champion

Continued from Romain Bardet, a future champion

Long after the race was over, I was still there, hanging around this bus...

Katusha Team bus

The reason was to try to catch he who is probably one of the most popular cyclists in Spain, he whose custom saddle bears the image of his nickname.

Little cigar

If you still haven't guessed, it's Joaquim "Purito" Rodríguez - "purito" means little cigar - the 35-year-old who seems to have always missed out on the big ones. He finished third in this race, but this wasn't very important for him, his main objective for the season being the Vuelta a España. I wonder how many people have noticed that his bike has "Joaquin" with an "n" instead of an "m" (Joaquim is more a Catalan/Portuguese name while Joaquin is more Spanish).

Another take of his amazing saddle

Purito's bike

When Purito appeared, we were probably somewhere else. When we rushed back, he'd already gone into the bus. He never came out and some of his entourage said he wouldn't. But, every time we chased another cyclist, he reappeared.

Purito looked frightened

Looking for help, then promptly disappeared back into the bus!

Look, over there! He's coming! Up there! They were referring to the winner, Alejandro Valverde. This "fan" acted as though he'd known him all his life! May probably be the case, too!

Fan with Alejandro Valverde, the eventual winner

Back there! Back there! Purito took the appearance of Valverde as an opportunity to reappear briefly to please the waiting fans, especially the younger ones, who had been hanging around patiently, convinced that he would show himself again and they were right! Although  an aide was saying, that's it, that's it, he's going to miss his flight!

Two happy fans! Purito looked less happy, though!

I also managed to shoot some photos of Bauke Mollema, the runner-up, but they were not up to scratch. This one of Tanel Kangert, who came in 16th, is a little better.

Tanel Kangert (16th) with this fan again!

That's it for an exciting day of pro cycling, lots of hanging around, lots of photos, some good, a lot of bad ones, hehe. Perhaps I'll get another camera in the future as I'm experiencing certain limitations with this one. Oh, to be in a situation where I can spend money on what I want!

Romain Bardet, a future champion

Continued from 34th Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian, the finish

You caught a glimpse of some after-the-finish shots and might have guessed that I hung around for a while after the end. Yes, quite a while, in fact. The reason for this will be apparent in a later post. This post is dedicated to, by all accounts, a future champion, Romain Bardet, who's barely 24 and had just started riding professionally in 2012. This young Frenchman is currently riding for Ag2r-La Mondiale. 

In the 34th La Clásica de San Sebastián, he finished 18th, 43 seconds behind the winner. A mere 10 days later, he was racing at the Tour de L'Ain, and if I'm not mistaken, he finished, coincidentally, in the same position!

Enjoy the pics!

Romain Bardet, a future champion

A happy Romain Bardet

Wellwishers

A fan seeking autograph

Supporters clamouring for attention

A crazy lady

Romain Bardet checking his stuff

Girlfriend or sister?

Nice hairdo ;)

Taming it...

A happy fan

Romain Bardet, showered and changed

A more relaxed Romain Bardet

“When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!” 

― Ted Grant

I try, I try...