Date: 2004-08-02 20:29:00
Tags: travel, spain
leaving san sebastián
Just a quick note this time, we're about to leave San Sebastián on the night train back to Barcelona. We've been taking it easy for the last couple of days, enjoying the sights around the city and of course, the restaurants. We were here one more day than we had planned because the train on sunday was full when we bought our tickets.

The weather for the last couple of days has been a bit varied. Yesterday afternoon a thunderstorm suddenly rolled in and almost completely emptied the beaches. I tried to take some lightning pictures over the harbour but was not lucky enough to get any. It only sprinkled a few drops of rain that time. This evening it started raining a bit harder, so we sought cover in the internet café before dinner.

Apparently the Basque language is spoken by about 30% of the population here. Under Marcos' leadership 20 years ago, teaching of the Basque language was forbidden in schools. Now it is being taught again, and its use is quickly on the rise. Most signs, even in store windows, are in both Basque and Spanish. One person we talked to said that in 40 years, everybody will speak Basque again. It's cool that a language spoken in such a small area can thrive.

They say the rain in Spain falls mostly on the plains. Well, the only place it has rained on us is here on the coast in San Sebastián. It's all good though!

Off to find some tapas for dinner at our favourite tapas bar ("Garroti" in the Parte Vieja). They have been closed the last couple of times we stopped by so hopefully they are open again today.
Greg Hewgill <greg@hewgill.com>