ANYWAY on Saturday – AFTER we had gone along “The Prom” in San Sebastián and then “done” the Basilica of Santa Maria – we then did the “Hop On / Hop Off” City Sightseeing Open-Top Bus Tour. This is now our third one – as we have done Sevilla, Cordoba & now San Sebastián…
BUT (never start a sentence with “but” 😂) we both agreed – even though it was the same company and even the same lady speaking on the audio guide – that it was (sadly) the worst of the three. That said – here are some of the titbits that we gleaned…
A massive part of the city was destroyed in 1813 during the Peninsula War so pretty much everything has been re-built since then… (even the “old town”…)
The audio guide stated that all the new buildings were built at the same height and that there had to be no “sharp” corners on them – all corners (or quoins as Mr Google tells me they are called – which is French for “corner”) had to be all curved or “cut off” so they were aesthetically pleasing to the eye… (but once Dave & I started looking, we found LOADS of buildings with normal “sharp” corners… !!!)
And it is a fairly pretty city and with most buildings on the main streets having little juliet balconies but there are also – what I thought as we went past – some modern (pretty horrendous) efforts too (e.g. The Kursall Congress Centre where is basically their main concert hall. In the daytime yesterday when we went past on the the bus, these “Two Cubes” (as the building is apparently referred to) looked horrific to me but I have just googled photos and most of them are at night when – lit up – it actually looks cool – see piccie of it looking like a Rubik’s cube below…
Also – just off the front – built between 1882 & 1887 is – what was originally – The Casino but sadly the prohibition of gambling in 1925 put a stop to all that and the beautiful twin-towered building is now the City Hall.
Another interesting fact is that a lot of San Sebastián has been “reclaimed” from the sea !!! We were WELL inland on the bus tour when the audio guide lady announced that where we were used to be the water’s edge !!!
And finally (with the triv…) San Sebastián is named after the Monastery of Saint Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay; the history of which started in 1181. The Basque name for San Sebastián is Donostia; that is why it’s official name is Donostia-San Sebastián and the residents are called Donostiarras, 35% of whom speak the Basque language…
We then noticed as were going around the old town that it’s a bit like Wales – where they have a sign in Welsh & in English – here they have a sign e.g. for a bar / restaurant and it is in two languages too – e.g. “Taberna” / “Jatetxea” and here is the Basque flag (Ikurriña)…
