Day 2: Early Zero in San Sebastián

Date: Sunday, June 16

Start: San Sebastián , Gipuzkoa, Basque Country

End: San Sebastián , Gipuzkoa, Basque Country

Daily Mileage: 0

Total Mileage: ~17 mi (27.4km)

After a full day of walking yesterday, today it was time for a rest day – or a ‘zero’ as those who have read my thru hiking blogs will know. Technically, they are called ‘zeros’ because you hike zero miles. In fact, you try to move as little as possible.

Shawn will be quick to point out to you that this is NOT how today’s ‘rest day’ worked out... as we spent a good chunk of the day walking around the city. This said, I thought it was all pretty relaxing. Who doesn’t like a long lunch and some strolling? 

A bit of a summary of our day: 

We coffee’d, we strolled, I museum’d, we lunched, we strolled some more. Beaches were involved. Really pretty perfect.

First, we slept in. We didn’t even leave the room until after 10am. (That sounds pretty restful, does it not?)

Plaza de la Constitución 

After coffee and croissants, we strolled through the historic quarter, which we had walked around a bit last night. This part of town is full of charming, cobbled pedestrian streets lined with yellowed-stone buildings, most of which date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I later read that the numbers on the exterior of the buildings surrounding the Plaza de la Constitución were from the bull fighting era. So the bulls had apartments? Actually the plaza was once a bullring and the numbers denoted the ticket holders’ boxes.

While the old quarter was packed with people last night, spilling into the laneways with glasses of wine and tapas, even in this late mid-morning hour, it was relatively quiet, most of the shop doors still pulled tight to the ground. 

San Bizente Eliza

The sun highlighted the upper reaches of the buildings, illuminating the beautiful stone of the basilicas and churches that served as centerpieces at the end of streets. All was fairly quiet and peaceful. 

Paseo Nuevo

After a walk along the Paseo Nuevo that stretches along the shoreline of the peninsula where the old quarter sits, Shawn continued to stroll while I popped into the San Telmo Museum to learn a bit more about Basque culture. 

The museum was housed in a former convent and very well curated. Among its gems was a set of large canvases by José María Sert. Set in the former church, the canvases depicted the history of the Basque region through detailed images of shipbuilding, iron works, whaling, religion, science, and government. The scale of the project and size of the canvases was really quite remarkable. Apparently the 17 drapes and 11 canvases cover 784 square meters. 

After my nerd time, we made our way to the harbor area for some lunch. San Sebastián is a city full of Michelin Star rated restaurants – all of which I assume need reservations pretty far in advance. So... that’s not where we ate. We did, however, have a delicious, long, relaxing lunch of pasta, fresh fish, dessert, and wine accompanied by gorgeous views out to the sea. I think it’s probably hard to find a bad meal here, so many high quality chefs about.

View over the harbor/bay toward Mount Igueldo

Following lunch, we strolled along the beachfront, passing San Sebastián’s beautiful city hall en route to the promenade stretching along the La Concha and Ondarreta beaches. 

San Sebastián City Hall

The beaches sit in the mostly protected San Sebastián/Donostia Bay, which is also home to the harbor near where we’d eaten lunch and Santa Clara Island, a small island framed by San Sebastián’s two most important mountains - Urgull and Igueldo, which flank the coastal edges of the bay.

Santa Clara island sits in the center of the photo, with Mount Urgull behind it to the left. Photo taken from the base of Mount Igueldo.

We made the long stroll down the promenade, watching sand artists rake and stomp designs into the sand below, surfers carve through the waves, and kids splash in the shallows. Groups gathered for volleyball, soccer, and beach paddle ball in any space that was unclaimed by colorful beach umbrellas and towels. It was hot and sunny – the perfect beach day – ‘uncharacteristic’ weather for this area, the barista at the coffee shop had told us this morning. 

After walking one way along the promenade and stopping to view the iron ‘Comb of the Wind’ sculptures along the far western end of the inlet, we strolled back along the beach, removing our shoes to sink our toes into the sand and feel the cool waters of the Bay of Biscay.

Comb of the Wind, Eduardo Chillida, 1976

The water was a bit chilly, but felt good in the hot sun. After our beach stroll it was back to our hotel to relax for awhile.

Having exhausted Shawn, later in the evening I did a solo stroll to a lookout up Mount Urgull. Though a bit gray, it was a beautiful evening and there were plenty of people out strolling around the hill, which is a maze of pathways and staircases.

The hill contains a number of historic walls and military structures from the 12th century, a castle, a chapel, an English cemetery, and a 12-meter sculpture of Jesus, among other structures and important history. I found it simply nice for a good walk on a pleasant evening. 

Evening view of San Sebastián/Donostia Bay from Mount Urgull. 

Its western side offered nice vistas over Santa Clara Island, Mount Igueldo and the beaches we’d walked along this afternoon. Overall, it was a nice way to cap the day and our time in San Sebastián.

Tomorrow we head on!