Checking out of the hotel in Bilbao after breakfast, the bus took us through fog under grey skies to San Sebastián. Since the 19th century, when the Queen of Spain decided to build a summer palace by the sea here, this has been a playground for the rich and famous. It continues to be so today.
With a wide beach and well-preserved 19th century buildings along the shore, San Sebastián (or Donostia in Basque) is a center for resorts and shopping just 12 miles from the French border. It was almost completely destroyed by Napoleon in 1813, so except for a couple of old churches, almost everything here has been rebuilt since then.
Starting from the Miramar Jauregia (Palace of Looking at the Sea) we walked the beautiful promenade along the seashore.
Then our tour leader took is through the narrow streets of the old town where there are lots of "cute little shops," but even more pintxos bars. Our tour leader treated us to a small taste of "the best cheesecake in all of Spain" that comes from one bake shop here. It was OK, but nothing like New York Style.
In some free time we visited the oldest church in the city, San Vicente, which has a rich history and a beautiful interior.
Our group enjoyed a wonderful Basque lunch at a small restaurant before walking on along the river to find our bus once again to complete the journey to Pamplona. The thickly forested mountains are very beautiful on most of the route, but give way to more barren terrain as we reached Pamplona.
In the evening we walked around the old town of Pamplona a bit and stepped into a couple of churches. There was a rather large pro-Palestinian rally taking place in one of the plazas. We see Palestinian flags nearly as often as Basque flags.
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