August 3rd, 2007

Hmm, I dunno of any fair trade store in my city. But I use to go to this second hand shop near my village, where I buy loads of books I recently discovered that they have this tiny section with some fair trade groceries, basically coffee. I don't like coffee, but I bought some for my parents and for my mum in law. They said it was good, so now, I tend to buy like once a month that coffee for them. I know it is not much, but that's my tiny contribution. And hey, the last 3 books costed me 2€ altogether, whereas the coffee was something around 8€! :lol:

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate

Awwwww, poor Calvin. He was punished for asking a question. And ahahahahaha, he wants his dad to live somewhere like the Kinky House :lol: Well, kids have this tendency to ask the very question you don't want to hear. Of course, the c-lassic "Where do babies come from?", or "What are those guys doing?" when the sex scene is on tv or "Why is he black?" while pointing at a black person (black people are rare around here) or "Where is her penis?" when pointing at a girl in the beach and "He lacks one hand" while pointing to an amputated person. I have 4 nephews and a niece, and I've lived some compromising situations like those. Small kids don't realize they may be rude. However, the question that bugged me when I was small was if I kept breathing while I was asleep. My parents told me that I did, but I wasn't that sure. However I never came up with any way to check it out, so I grew up with the doubt :lol:

On the personal note, first of all thank you all for your comments and pms. It is great to know that I have so many great friends I can count on and so many ears ready to listen, not to mention that all the hugs and kisses made me feel already a bit better.Oh, and all the suggestions to terminate teh plumber and the carpenter would be taken much into account in case they are needed :wink: And of coursethe sweetest man by my side who is being a great support and a warm heal for my soul. He worked the night shift yesterday and still he's been awake all morning sending me the most affectionate texts. That makes me realize that I am truly blessed having him and you all. I know that my problems are not that big compared to other people's, but they are important to me and they hurt. But hey, there's really nothing I can do so far to solve them, so I'll wait and see. And I'll keep you all updated.

By the way, the plumber called to tell that the carpenter couldn't come to our place until thursday, and that he wouldn't make it this afternoon, so he is coming tomorrow. Supposedly *sigh* I bet he is winning time for me to calm down, the chicken :evil:

Alright, so moving to the Saturday, the second day I spent with Penny. I'll blog about it in two steps. Yes, you know me well, I just can't stop typing :P

We were really lazy to wake up, and we didn't leave home after somewhere around 11'00am. It wasn't a problem because we were gonna walk around my village, so we headed for the Silver Way which is the way that leads to the Silver Lighthouse, on top of the mountain. We took Hotz along with us, and he behaved pretty bad. He was apparently having deaf issues or something, until I had to tell him off :roll: The Silver Way is a beautiful walk because you keep the mountain on one side, and the sea on the other. There are several spots with benches and tables so people can go spend the day. It was a pretty hot day, but there are shady and sunny stretches, hot ones and others where you can catch some breeze, so we enjoyed the walk a lot.

There are a couple of viewing points along the way, from where you can see both Saint Peter, Saint John and the Bay. The walk is a paving road but not cars are allowed. However, our local police forces tend to go up to the lighthouse for a nap. Yes, like shamelessly. As Penny said, "fighting crime" :lol: So as we were going up, a police car came down. Then another went up, and a bit later a 2nd one went up and came down immediately, because the place was taken :roll: Lazy people.

The Bay, Saint Peter on the left, Saint John on the right


The Bay

I was a bit pissed, because not having been for the flooding in my apartment they day before Penny arrived, I would have bought a small pine. My idea was to plant it together with Penny in the Silver Way, so it would grow up and it would always be our tree, growing strong like our friendship. Bf loved the idea and thought she would love it too, so we decided to go for it and we were supposed to have bought it the day before. But we couldn't do it. And it sucked. I told Penny and she loved the idea. But that should be done another time :(

Once we reached the lighthouse, we could enjoy beautiful views of the cliffs and the coast.

The Silver Lighhouse

The views

We were hot and so was Hotz, so we walked a bit more across the mountain, now through not paving ways, to reach a fountain. It's only a 5 minute walk and it's well worth it, because the source is a natural spring, and the water is always super fresh no matter how hot it is. We drank some and sat at a table nearby, where people use to have some refreshment. I showered Hotz so he remained fresh under his thick fur before leaving. By the way, that once I took the wrong path but Hotz corrected me *patpats Hotz* :)

Hotz

Right by the fountain, there's a Roman bridge

So we started our way back. Hotz behaved a lot better because he was too tired to run and make his will. Once we were back in the neighbourhood, we left Hotz with my bf's sister who was closing her hair salon and said she would take care of him and we started a new walk towards the village.

These are Saint Peter (left village in the picture) and Saint John (right village in the picture) both at the entrance of the Pasajes Harbour. Always rivals in everything, especially in sports. You can have a 20 minutes drive from one to the other, or you can take the boat who unites them both in one minute, one and a half maximum.

There are two lighthouses in Saint Peter: the one on top of the cliffs, in the mountain, and the other one by the sea. We motioned towards the last one through the old streets of Saint Peter, and I showed Penny the house where my dad lived in Saint John and the infamous distance that he had to swim naked between both shores. My old friends would remember that funny bit. My new ones can check this link to read ahilarious and romantic story: http://www.tv.com/users/boom-moo/profile.php?action=show_blog&entry=m-100-25024866

The house were my dad lived

We passed by the place where the canoeing club I belonged to is, we passed by the spot where we used to go fishing, I showed her the remains where the old fort that defended this side of the Bay was, and we also watched some of the old canyons. Well, bits of the history of the village and of my own history here and there, until we went down to the lighthouse. It was hot, and we found out that Penny had burn her arms and neck, and that my face was pretty red too. We were hot and excited, and the blue fresh water was down there, just a couple of meters below our feet, and Penny commented that she would through herself to the ocean at that very same moment. That kept me thinking, so I rang my bf and asked him to prepare the boat so we could go in the afternoon for a swim in the open sea. He said ok and Penny loved the idea :D

The canoeing club

Our fishing spot

Saint Peter's lighthouse

We walked back our way through Saint Peter to reach the boat that crosses to Saint John. It is a nice ride, only bad thing being that it is too short :(

This is where the boat is taken


Once in Saint John, we wanted to visit the house where Victor Hugo lived, which is now a museum. It's not really a big thing but the house has been maintained just as it was, the furniture, trunks, clothes and some stuff that belonged to him still remain in there. The house has nice views of the Bay, but it was 14'30pm and it wouldn't open until 16'00pm, so we kept walking.

Saint John

Victor Hugo's house

There's this place where 2 ETA members where shot dead, and their silhouettes remain painted in the exact spot where they fell in the rocks. There is also a fort in this other side of the Bay which remains pretty intact and currently is a private house. It has underground floors and excavated steps in the rocks to reach the sea. It's really cool. There is also this little beach where whale fishers boiled their grease to get oil. Saint John has several natural springs too coming down from the mountain. We drank some and caught our breath by the beach. The lighthouse in Saint John is no longer reachable on food, since the water has eaten off big parts of it, so took the boat back to our shore and we headed back home. Saint Peter and Saint John were already covered :)

Saint John's fort

Saint John's beach

When we arrived home, somewhere around 16'00pm, we ate lunch. My parents were napping but my mum had prepared some pasta, and Penny tried some "chorizo" with it. It's pork meat as in a sausage or so.

Chorizo

P.S. HUGE HUGS FOR TONI, CALLEIGH AND STEPHANIE!! :D

September 2nd, 2007

Oh man, let me count: 1, 2, 3...7. Today I got 7 blisters. 4 in my left foot, 3 in my right one. Plus 3 major burns. Yep, I could seriously chop my feet off right now, due to it's a proven fact that they don't serve me for walking issues. At least not in high heels *sigh* I'm tall, like really tall, and I am all legs. So yes, I love how my legs look in high heels. And this afternoon, I felt like dressing up and all the stuff: nice skirt, nice top, nice undies :oops: , heels, make up and perfume in those spots you all know. Bf gave me that "take it all off right now" look, :roll: meaning that he loved how I looked. But...damn heels, I came back home almost crawling. Well, not really. I have developed that stoical attitude (not to mention the habit to ALWAYS carry around in my bag a lot of plasters), so I can put myself together and pretend it doesn't hurt. Dammit, but it does. They keep suppurating that thingy...but well, sorry, I'll save you the gross details. It is always the same with me. My feet are my flaw. I get blisters with every single pair of shoes I own. Even flip flops. No matter how old they are, the first time that I wear them each season, they kill me. But you know what? It was worth it. If only for bf's look :D

Toni, my dearest blonde, would be laughing at this. Well, actually she wouldn't, she would be feeling sorry for my sore feet. She is a sweetie like that. And it is not the first time that I complain to her about my blisters, as if she had any telepathic healing powers :P She will always be my hero for walking in high heels on a daily basis. I was thinking about her today when I put on my heels. But who am I kidding? I can't get her out of my head *sending loads of strength to both Toni and Stephanie* Love ya!!! :)

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Ahahahahahaha, Calvin doesn't want to eat Em's greenish stuff :lol: Well, I was the same when I was a kid. And the fact that my bro assured me that he had put into my thick soup some things I won't repeat here, didn't help at all :evil: I didn't find disgusting things as funny as Calvin does. I cried to no end. I guess that having to eat that damn thick soups was a small price to see my bro being given a couple of good spankies :lol:

Me and thick soup = :?

Me and cake = :D

On the personal note, I've been feeling pretty crappy this weekend, due to a couple of reasons. Going to my uncle's place and getting what he wanted me to keep as a memory of my deceased auntie was a hard moment to live. And my uncle was incredibly generous indeed. Remember I was hoping for a jacket since I keep a jacket of my grandma too? So I got a jacket, and a blue one indeed. Plus a blue necklace, three blue bracelets and a golden ring with a blue rock. I also got some earrings and some other necklaces and bracelets. And a bag. I was totally moved. I mean, I wanted to keep a little something, so the jacket was more than enough. The memories that count are right in my mind, but still my uncle insisted that he wanted me to keep those. Well, what can I say? I'll treasure them forever. So this afternoon, when I dressed up, I wore the blue jewellery and bf cried like a baby. He loved my auntie. Everybody loved my auntie. Gah, life so sucks sometimes :evil:

And then, I discovered that due to the disaster in my place the other day with the flooding all over, the floor of my room is all ruined. When it dried up, it just inflated. We knew it could happen and according to Murphy's infamous law, it did. And guess what? The pipe has already been fixed and the built-in wardrobe replaced. All the costs are on the plumber, of course. So I called him and he listened to 100 curses in 1 minute. I hardly said anything else that f*** here and there. I am soooo pissed. So he is sending a carpenter tomorrow to come check. This is gonna postpone my moving in like forever. Well, not forever but I am mad right now because I planned my holidays so I could take some days off for the moving in and now they won't fit any longer. Not to mention that all the furniture in my bedroom has to be dismantled, removed and bla, bla... I will honestly kick the sh!t out of the carpenter. Bf told me not to show up tomorrow. I promise you I could slap him to death. And mind me when I am mad, because I beat bf playing Tekken. Yeah, I'm trying to laugh a bit at my damn luck. So I won't show up. I'll let bf deal with the carpenter, because if the plumber shows up, we would need a referee for me to stop punching him :evil: @#!&*?

And today is my bro's bday and he can't be here with us, but this is a long story and I'm already being too long and sad to add further crap. Another couple of things are making this weekend the crappiest ever. But then I think about Toni and her daughter and hey, I'm healthy, I can't really complain. She was trying to cheer me up on Friday, when I told her about the floor. I was venting on her. I can be so stupid sometimes :(

I shall leave my second day with Penny for tomorrow. Not really in the mood today. Sorry about the rant and thank you for reading. Take care you all :)

P.S. I would like to thank Blu for prettying up my LJ(even if she knows that I may never use it). Not just for that, but it was the last gesture of a long list of generous acts she's been offering me ever since we met.She is one of those presents that life has in store for us and unexpectedly arrive when they are most needed. LOVE YOU ADA :D

August 31st, 2007

Hmmm, make up. I hardly wear any during week days, certainly not to goto work. Too early, too sleepy, too lazy. And no need, no one has the pleasure to see my face but my partner and my boss (when he shows up, not everyday, yeah, lucky me) and I'm more than certain that they wouldn't give a damn if I'd show up in my pajamas. So I usually wear make up in the afternoon, when bf comes picking me up for a walk. She is always late, ALWAYS, 100% of the times :evil: So I have like plenty of time to make up and whatnot (ahahahaha, see Ada? I used your word). Anyway, despite I have all the time in the world to put my make up on, I suck at applying eye liner. I just draw a mountain road, can't do a straight line to save my live. How do you guys do that? Well, I know how you do it, I just can't. And the worse part is that when I try to wash it off, I got a panda eye :lol: I totally look like a boxer or something. So pathetic. I gave up trying a while ago. I just go with purple shades which are great for brunettes, and blush. Lipstick? As if it would last. But that's a totally different story :wink:

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Ahahahaha, Calvin so rocks. I had the same feeling when I was a kid. I had the impression that I was missing a lot of good stuff when I wasn't allowed to do it. And not only watching things on tv. Mistery and unknowledge were too attractive. However Calving knows what he is missing. Sadly enough, he does and all the kids in this world do. Watching the news is watching blood shed, always, somewhere. But as I say my nephews, as hard and disturbing as it is watching it, it is always far better than living it. At least we are safe at the other side of the screen. So far :?

On the personal note, today my uncle my uncle called me. This incly was the husband of this auntie of mine that died recently. So he is going to give all of my auntie's stuff to charity. But before he does so, he wants my mum and I to go pick something up to keep a nice memory of my auntie. I find it the sweetest gesture ever, but it is gonna be hard. Especially for my mum. She isn't over that fact that she lost her sister yet. She won't be on a long time. And I know that my uncle isn't either, so I accepted the offer and agreed to go over to his place tomorrow in the morning.

I have the best memories of my auntie in my mind. I always will. She was this innocent woman that always made me laugh to tears. She was tiny, so I don't think that I'll be able to get any of her clothes. I was hoping for a jacket. I have this jacket from my grandma (my auntie's mum) who also died, and my auntie loved to see it on me. Each time I wore it she smiled and tenderly rubbed my arm, as if feeling her mum in the old wool. It is sad but I find it beautiful. But I don't think that any of my auntie's jackets would fit me. So we'll see.

Mmmhhh, ok. More of Penny's visit. And for a change, less pics and more anecdotes. Alright, I've totally annoyed you with the long walk we took the first morning she arrived. We went to the main tourist spots of the city, had lunch and went back home for a nap. She was the one who didn't catch any sleep the night before, and still she woke up before me. Yeah, sleepyhead me. When we got up, my dad had left but my mum was overexcited to meet her. She kept hugging her and kissing her. Well, we always hug and kiss twice in the cheeks each time we are introduced to someone for the first time, and then, every single time that we meet that person afterwards, and also when we say our goodbies.Yep, we are pretty affectionate in our manners. So my mum was scaring the hell out of her :lol:

I learned my lesson when I was living in Ireland. People need quite a lot of time of acquaintance to actually hug and kiss just like that. But I didn't know that, so I kept kissing and hugging every single person that I was introduced to, both guys and girls. And I met such a great bunch of friends that I still proudly keep. So with the time the guys told me that they thought that I was a fresh girl :oops: , and they were rubbing their hands in hope to taste the affectionate Spaniard :lol: It sounded like a lot of fun then, when we already were friends. Getting wasting together unites people to no extent :wink: But well, we became really close afterwards. And I was really :lol: to know the kind of first impression that everyone was getting of me, so I totally stopped hugging and kissing people. My prudeness! But my friends asked me to keep doing it. They loved it. Such sweeties. Man, do I miss them *sigh*

Well, Penny cracked up with the story. She perfectly understood what people were thinking of me back in Ireland. I was refraining myself enough, so I tried to convince my mum to stop scaring her, but Penny said that it was ok and dealt with my mum pretty stoically. She is a sweetie like that. Anyway, we showered and got ready to go to the fireworks. We dared to go by car because it was pretty early, but it is a total reckless act. The city is packed. As in packed. Period. But we were lucky as to find a parking slot just when we were arriving. It was a pure miracle. So we headed to the Old Part. On our way, we watched a beautiful sunset in the Bay. Here:

These are from my camera:

And these are from internet (slight difference, right?) :P

People were already taking their places in the sand. It is a tradition to gather and have dinner out before the fireworks. See how people are making sand pillows to lie down and watch them?

Actually, the tradition is to eat a sandwich before the fireworks and then an ice-cream afterwards. So we headed towards the best sandwich place of the city, which is in the Old Part. As we were passing by the City Hall, Penny was beginning to realize what the notion of packed meant. There was a human tide heading towards the very same place, the Old Part.

Once in the Old Part, we waited outside the bar while my bf ventured to go get the sandwiches. The line was huge, but the staff from the bar are more than used to that and they dispatch orders pretty fast. As we were waiting, Penny commented me that she was astonished with the fact that small kids were up that late and out in the street. Oh well, of course they are. We do not babysit in Spain, not that I know of and surely not in the Basque Country. It doesn't exist as such like you guys do in most of your countries. In Spain, either you leave your kids with their grandparents or you don't leave them at all. So people bring them along everywhere.

Ok, we had our sandwiches. I ordered a squids one and a Spanish omelette one so Penny and I would share half and half, so she had the chance to try both. And I realized that bf didn't ask to cut them in twice. But since he and his 7 bros and sis have worked as barman in the Old Part, he has friends in almost every bar, so went in to one and ask his friend to cut the sandwiches for us. Penny and I awaited outside again. And I met these friends of mine. I introduced Penny to them. Hugging, kissing :lol: They already had their sandwiches are were heading to the Urgull mountain to watch the fireworks. Our initial idea was to go back to the beach, so we hugged and kissed bye bye. However, we changed our mind (dunno why) and went to the mountain as well. And once in there, we met them again. "Hey there" hugging and kissing :wink:

We chose a spot by their side and ate our dinner. Penny liked the sandwiches. Good.

Oh, by the way, our spot was in that wall that can be seen illuminated in the mountain.

So we waited until the Bay looked like this (from my camera)

And we enjoyed some nice fireworks :)

They are huge in here. It is an international contest, and two prizes are given: the Jury's prize and the people's prize. The fireworks on Friday were Spanish. They were ok, above all the last bit. Once they were over, we chatted with my friends for a while, allowing people to start going down the mountain without bringing us along in the tide. Then we headed together to the Old Part for a quick drink.

We went into this one bar that was pretty empty. We skipped the ice-cream tradition, so we lucky to find an empty spot. One hour atterwards, it would have been just impossible. Hmmm, what to drink? We are heavy drinkers. Man, we are indeed. The typical drink here is called "Kalimotxo". It consists of half coke (Aways Coca Cola brand) and very bad red wine (the cheapest brand you can find). It is super important that the coke is good and the wine is bad. Otherwise it would taste like s*it. People gather in the Port to mix the wine and coke and drink together in circles. It is way cheaper than bars.So thisis like very young people do it.I've done it foryears until I got a job. Yep,we are allowed to drink in the street. Even as you go walking. So almost everyone was doing so. And kalimotxo was the absolute winner. Penny had to try it, of course.

The shots of Kalimotxo we drank while playing the infamous drinking cards :D This is from my private collection too. Yeah, I was wasted enough as to take pics of my own glass :lol:

She said she liked it. I drank mine in 3 sips :oops: What? I was thirsty. Ahahahahaha, I drink it like water. At least the first half a dozen :D Ooh, it was cool, because right when we were starting to drink, this song that I love was on. "Do ya" by Dover. It is my current ringing tone for my bf. The singer is this loon that is high in every concert. She usually forgets the lyrics. The band keeps playing and crack up. She starts spinning around until she loses her balance. And this time we were in the pitch and she started spitting at the audience. Luckily enough we remained apart from the very first bit, where people were as high as she was, and they didn't give a damn about being spitted at :roll:

Toni and I spent half an afternoon laughing at her, I kept selling her links of her very wasted performances. :lol: Awww Toni. She is making us, her kg sisters, aunties again tomorrow. YAYYYYYY!! Cross my fingers it all goes well. A huge hug for her, for Princess Calleigh, baby Matthews and Aaron too. Love ya, dearest blondie :D

Well, sorry for the sappy bit. I'm too excited and Ijust have her in my mind all the time. So, I love the song. Penny loved it too so I burnt her the latest cd, which is the one that contains this track. This is the official video clip so she ain't wasted. Yeah, a pity :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AteqCBQBsc

Ok. So we all had our drinks and left our empty glasses on the counter. I know, pretty obvious. But I am not crazy, this is relevant :lol: So Penny ended her drink and handed her glass to my bf, who was closer to the bar. These two guys were having their drinks there, and they started telling my bf off because the glass had like a tiny bit of kalimotxo in. Like half of a sip or less. Yes, you gotta drink it all up not to be booed. Bf explained that it wasn't his drink, but the guys insisted that whoever it was had to drink it up. I started translating Penny the whole story. And she drank it up. I bet she was thinking that we are crazy. And we are. But I did mention that we are heavy drinkers, didn't I?

The story ain't over. Penny handed the glass again to my bf and bf to the guys so they could check it up. The guys make the appropriate test, which consists in rolling the glass over the counter. Not a drop has to come off the glass. And none came off, luckily enough for Penny :wink:

So, if the glass has ice cubes in, as it was the case, it is rolled over the counter. If it doesn't have ice cubes because they melted already, you gotta drink it up and then place the glass upside down on top of your head. Take into account that once you are booed for having left some drink in the glass, you only have one go to solve "the problem". So you'd better drink it all up before turning the glass over on your head.

Aaaand this was the story for Friday night. It had been a long and exhausting day so we headed straight home. Well, first we drove to my frineds' place, hugs and kisses, then back home. We put Dover on our way back, and sang happily. I was sooo happy. Bf speeded up quite a bit and I didn't poke him in the balls. Go figure if I was happy :lol: So Penny and I hugged and kissed goodnight :)

Tomorrow, Saturday events. I guess it will be just a 1 stage blog for Saturday. Let's see if I behave :P Hugs and kisses for you all :D

August 30th, 2007

So simple...and so complicated at the same time. Love doesn't require much but two souls and two hearts bonded together, right? That is actually true, taken from a romantic point of view. Love nurtures itself out of simple thing, like contemplating the moon together, caressinga cheek, holding a hand, ruffling the hair. But life and its practicalities usually show us a different perspective of things. However, as long as that bond reminds tight, love's simplicity would outstand. As it should :)

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

On the personal note, today I totally behaved. I got some work done and I didn't spit at anyone on my way home. See? *patpats self* :P

Ok, so today we will be taking the last stage of the walk Penny and I during our first day together. At the end of Ondarreta Beach, the "Winds Comb" start. The "Winds Comb" is a walk that goes round the Igeldo mountain, which is the mountain that closes the city from the east. Somehow like the New Promenade went around the Urgull mountain, in the west side, but much shorter. The tennis club, a gym, a pool and a restaurant are the only buildings along this walk. Just as its name states, it is really windy in here, above all at the very end of it. However, the waves aren't as spectacular as in the New Promenade, but the wind blows as fiercely as I've ever seen it.

The "Winds Comb" is the last bit at the base of the mountain in the background.

The "Winds Comb" is also well known because Eduardo Chillida, a famous Basque artist, designed a set of three huge modern iron sculptures to be placed in the rocks and in the base of the mountain. Here is a view of the end part of the "Winds Comb", with the sculptures.

In this second view, you can notice some strange holes in the floor with a little stand around them. The sea beats under the floor so fiercely, that the wind emerges through those holes. So if you stand in the base of the holes, you'd better not be wearing a skirt. There is a nice place to remain seated, fairly protected from the wind, with great views of the Bay. It is usually packed, because people love to go there and read. It is a lot of fun to watch how tourist stand by the holes with curiosity, and how the kids duck to peek through them, and they are startled with surprise when the wind suddenly blows. I can't really tell you how many undies I've seen in there :lol:

When the sea is brave, (remember the huge waves pics? :wink: ) even water comes out of the wholes as is being a geyser. It is cool to watch that, but it is difficult to remain in there those brave ocean days for more than 5 minutes before freezing :?

The "Winds Comb" is at the base of the Igeldo mountain. This mountain has a funfair and a hotel in its top.

You can either take a long bus or car ride to its top, or grab the funicular, so obviously, funicular it was. The funicular dates from 1912, and it is a pretty scary thing. It looks (and sounds) like it is going to fall at anytime. But hey, we survived the ride :wink:

I took these when we were taking the funicular down. See the slope? And how old it looks? :?

The funfair is as old as the funicular, so it's a pretty cheesy thing.

But the greatest thing about it are its views. Check them out :)
v

So we took a lot of pictures, enjoyed the views for a while and then went up a tower to have even greater views.

The tower has a compass on its top, and towards the north, you can see nothing but the ocean and the sky. It is overwhelming and totally relaxing. So beautiful.

This is my personal favourite between the ones I took:)

When we came down,we went for a ride in the roller coaster. Let me tell you that the roller coaster is as old as the funicular, and the wooden coaches are scariest thing ever. It was kinda funny how this guy told Penny to tie the coach up with a little chain that could offered no protection whatsoever and could be removed with the baby finger of a newborn :roll: Anyway, the ride was a lot of fun. The roller coaster went down the slopes pretty easily and it looked like it wouldn't go up again :lol: But we survived this ride too.

And after so much walk, so much sightseeing, and so much surviving, it was lunch time!! :D The food was just so, so. Penny and I had paella, and it wasn't that good but at least it wasn't paella from a Chinese restaurant, huh Penny? :lol: And, once we had eaten, we took the funicular down again and luckily enough, at the base of it we grabbed a bus to go back all the way to the car. I checked the time when we were arriving to theparking and it was six hours later since we parked. Whoa! :shock:

When we arrived home, my parents were napping, and go guess what we did..nap, oh yeeeeeeeeeah. It felt really good. We wanted to go watch the fireworks that were to belaunched at night, and also go get some nice sandwiches from a typical bar in the Old Part, so bf was picking us back at 20'00pm. But... that shall be for tomorrow. Let us catch some zzzzzs, man did we deserve them :D

August 29th, 2007

Well, either when nothing else makes sense or when nothing else matters. Lovers build a bubble around them, just like families, friends, communities and groups of any kind. Belonging to any of those groups makes its members feel special, and safe. And the confidence and proximity of lovers is certainly one of the closest kinds. On the other hand, lovers tend to develop a language of their own. Both body language and spoken language. Ever realized that? :D

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Susie is a smart@ss, isn't she? Pretty accurate on her definition of what "playing house" translates to in modern society. The gripe about jobs and the microwave dinner bit. It's scary when you look at it that way, huh? So that's all our days come down to? Remember that and try to make your everyday routine a bit more meaningful :)

On the personal note, I just had one issue with a truck driver which actually put me in an excellent mood. I was walking back home from work, and this guy was walking behind me and he started doing this sound we do with our lips to call a dog, inserting some stuff like cute and gorgeous and so. I was like "wtf?" and glared at him :evil: but he kept doing it. I was like, "ok, calm down BM, don't strangle him yet". So he hopped on in his truck and drove away. "What a jerk" I thought, and I kept walking distractedly when I was startled to realize that he was driving next to me.

He rolled the window down. I was wearing an orange skirt and he said this rude thing like: "I would suck all your juice down there" or something. Yeah, that gross. And that was enough to totally piss me off. He doesn't need to know that I'm the only girl in my father's side so my bro and a bulky bunch of male cousins taught me a couple of things. So I looked up and spitted at him a nice one, part of it in the window, part inside. Man, do I spit far. Yes, I know, very un-lady like but he wasn't a gentleman either. He drove away again cursing and shouting "b*tch" and stuff. I actually preferred it than being called as if I was a dog. Call me weird, but this incident put me in a good humour :D

Hmm, ok, carrying on with the tour around my city, yesterday we stopped in the natural rock barrier between the Shell Bech and Ondarreta Beach, right where the Miramar Palace stands. This was the place where the Spanish Queen Maria Cristina used to spend the summer. The Palace garden have magnificent views of the bay, and it is one of the favourite spots for newly weds to go get their wedding pictures taken.

The Queen Maria Cristina

The Queen's Palace and the rock barrier between both beaches

The Shell Beach from Miramar Palace

Ondarreta Beach from Miramar Palace

Views from the Palace

And a small tunnel leads to the third beach of the city, Ondarreta beach. This one is the smallest of the three.

Ondarreta beach

At its other end, the Comb of the Winds starts, which will be part of our next stage for tomorrow. See you all then. Big hugs for everyone :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZABeQ5vkpXM

:roll:

:lol:

August 28th, 2007

Carrying my bags when I'm shopping for myself? :lol: Oooh the irony of my life. Yeah right, quite on the contrary. I think that I have already told you that I'm an odd girl. I don't like shopping clothes, or shoes or bags...like I don't like it at all. But then, my bf seems to be and odd guy too, because he loves going shopping. Oh well :roll: He loves to buy clothes for himself. He loves to try things on, compare, choose. I follow him shop after shop until I got bored (like in the second shop :wink: ) so I just grab a comfy bench in the mall, an ice-cream, a book or something and begin to root in there, as the bags keep growing around me. Yep, the unusual couple. But hey, he carries his own bags :lol:

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Is this some kind of trick question or what? LMAO. It is true that chidrens' innocence has an awesome quality. He is nailing pins on the coffee table, of course. Ain't that clear? Next question is: Why are you doing that? Answer: Why not? Because it is fun and because I am bored. Life is so simple for them. Just a couple of rules apply. Maybe we complicate ourselves a bit too much and should learn a thing or two observing our kids. I used to wash the soap bar after I cleaned my hands. And it took me a while to understand that I shouldn't. Still sometimes I put it under the faucet to wash away the remains of foam. So what? I'm a kid at heart :P

On the personal note, today I went for a swim in the ocean, because I was totally melting. It's been a couple of days in a row of super high temperatures, and nothing like taking the boat out and enjoying in the sea. Bf did some scuba diving so I grabbed a book and let the ocean rock me until I fell asleep. In the sun :? Well, I was soaking so it was fine. As soon as I started to feel the heat again I woke up and dove again. Gah, it feels so nice. So here I am, a nice shower in between, and ready to keep on with the tour around my city. Ready? :)

Ok, so yesterday we covered stage 3, aka the Port and the Old Part, so we are moving on to stage 4: the Shell beach.

After relaxing for a bit in the wall that closes the Port by the Nautical Club, we started the long walk of the Shell beach. Right behind the Nautical Club, you can find the City Hall. It is a huge and beautiful building, and it always plays an important role in every celebration that occurs in the city. For example, a big canyon is set in its exterior upper terrace and it is fired to indicate the start of the big week of summer festivals. On February 20th which is San Sebastian's day, the kids drummers parade starts in here, and the kids are directed from the main balcony. And so on and so on. The day we walked by, the lower exterior terrace was holding a street basketball competition as part of the festivities program. A tourist information stand was also set there and Penny decided to go in and grab a map. Yeah, sometimes I get lost in my own city :lol:

This is the City Hall building

The City Hall has beautiful gardens, called Alderdi Eder which means "Beautiful Place". The gardens are full of flowers, trees, ponds, fountains, sculptures and white benches. An old musical carousel enlightens the atmosphere all year long. Part of the gardens were closed because the night fireworks are launched from there, so the space were the dynamite was kept and also a restricted area for security purposes remained closed for the public transit.

Alderdi Eder Gardens

The carousel

Penny commented in one of her blogs that she loved finding a statue of Don Quijote in Madrid, since she was reading the book. There is also a statue of Don Quijote in the gardens, and each time I walk by, I love to go and pay him my respects because I loved the book. Bf and I were astonished when we couldn't find it, but we noticed that it was just placed in a nice spot near by, still in the gardens, dunno why though.

Don Quijote and Sancho Panza statue

From the "Beautiful Place" gardens, you have an amazing view of the Bay, that's why the name of the gardens. We carried on, tracing the Shell's shape in our walk. Why is it called the Shell beach? Try and guess :wink:

The Shell shaped beach

The views

Soon after we started our walk, bf started mumble grumbling that he was hungry, so we proceeded to go searching somewhere to have some tapas. He remembered this place he loved once, and off we went. The speciality of the house were the croquettes. They were filled with bacon and cheese. Penny tried those, and also the Spanish omelette, the jamón and the mosto, which is a non alcoholic drink made out of grape juice. All my foreigner visiting friends loved both the Spanish omelette and the mosto, so I insisted that Penny should try those. She loved them too :)

Making a Spanish omelette

Croquettes

Jamón

Mosto

Ok, once we were stuffed, we kept walking because there still was a long way to go. One of the most characteristic things of the Shell beach is its railing. I bet that Penny would never forget it, just like any of you that decide to come visit me. What do you say, Penny? I know that the long walk sounds scary, but I won't reveal the reason until you are here :D

The railing

The streetlamps are also well know. During the International Movie Festival, the winning movies and films get as a trophy a golden, silver and bronze shell, and also railings and streetlamps are given.

The streetlamps

Woody Allen and Anette Benning with streetlamps

Connie Nielsen with a silver shell

The Shell beach is the second beach of the city and the largest. Half way through it, there is a disco right in the sand. Its windows have the most amazing wiews. There is also a gym, a spa and a canoeing place, all of them with direct access to the beach. When we were passing by, people were being taught capoeira in the sand. We stayed there catching our breath and wathcing for a while. I immeditaly thought of Val, because Eddi and Christie from Tekken fight capoeira way. (For those who aren't familiar with it, capoeira is a Brazilian fight-dance and martial art created by enslaved Africans during the 19th Century.

The Shell beach

The disco by the sand

One can walk from the second beach to the third when the tide is low. There are some rocks that set a natural barrier between both, but stairs and railings have been set up to help people an easy access even during high tides. Right in the conjunction between both beaches, you can find the Miramar Palace. But this is a story for tomorrow :)

Hope you liked today's bit. Huge hugs for everyone :D

August 27th, 2007

Hmmm, actually I hate my cell phone. Well, I mean I like the model and stuff but I hate it when it sounds and it is not my bf's tone. I know that they are useful and can save lives many times, but I just hate those things. First, because I always have the awful feeling that the call is gonna mean bad news :(I dunno why, the sound always startles me in the worse possible way. And second, because I find them totally intruding.

Like when I am having a good time with my bf and then someone calls. "Hey, where are you? I'll be there in a minute". I am like "Wtf? Everoccurred tu youthat maybe we want to remain alone?" :evil: Yes, anti-social me. I like spending time with my friends, but when we meet to do things together. I hate being intruded like that. Even if I love those people who are intruding. I don't get it. I am the anti-social of the century, but everyone seems to like me. Bf cracks up, because even his friends and which is worse, his friends' girlfriends call me to meet up. Well, I reckon that I pretty much get along with everyone, but hey, gimme a break.

Ahem, I kinda started venting. Sorry guys. Ur...back to topic. Needing to call him before you can go to sleep? Sure, my bf is usually the last person I see before going to bed (we live at a 2 minute walk from each other and 95% of the days we have dinner together and then go for a late walk down to the lighthouse or watch a movie or something) but if he is not, I like to listen to an "I love you" last thing of the day :)

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

On the personal note...ok so yesterday we covered stage 2, aka the New Promenade and its waves. Today moving on to stage 3, the Port and the Old Part. Actually, this bit is not particularly beautiful, because the most interesting thing abut the Port is that it leads to the Shell Beach and the most interesting thing about the Old Part are its tapas and its music bars. But hey, Penny is gonna love his pics too because she walked through these places, so there we go.

Once the walk around the Mount Urgull through the New Promenade, we reach the Port. There is a nice old Aquarium with a cool huge whale skeleton and a couple of Naval Museums with old boats, explanations on the old fishing techniques and so on. It has been a while since I have last visited those, but I don't think that they have changed a lot. In the last century, whales were fished in the Basque Coasts using the traditional basque boats where 12 men rowed together and struggled with the whale. I still can't belive that they were able to fish a whale from that boat. With the time, whales stopped being fished but the boats kept being used a sport means and nowadays, the boat competitions are huge in here. Next month the biggest boat race of the calendar will be held in our bay (as every year) so I'll tell you a bit more about it then.

This is the old Aquarium, right at the end of the New Promenade.

This is the water tunnel of the New Aquarium, which you access from the old one

This is a typical basque boat, called "trainera"

Old whales fishermen

Boat race

This is the Naval Museum

The port is filled with tiny picturesque houses, which were the old fishermen houses. The city used to be attacked so a defensive castle was built (remember I told you about it yesterday) and huge doors were built in the main entrances to the city. Such door were closed in the evening, so the fishermen, who usually arrived after the doors of the city had been closed, weren't allowed in. So these tiny houses were built right in the port, so the fishermen could spend the night. They are scarcely 8 metres apart from the water. Nowadays, they are private houses and restaurants which offer fresh fish and seafood are established at the bottom of them :)

These are the old fishermen houses

These are some of the walls of the city. Penny and us walked through this one to access to the Old Part :)

It was like 10'00am, and the Old Part was deserted. Being the festivities of the city, the bars in there remained open until 06'00 am so they were either closed or restocking. The old part is the best place to try some typical tapas, but it was impossible, so we walked a bit through its narrow streets. Penny liked St Mary's church. It's main façade is supposed to have engraved somewhere a shell but although I was told where it was, I totally forgot.

You can see St Mary's chuch in the background

Then we walked through the August 31st street, which name comes from the date when if burnt. Every August 31st, the lights are turned off and people put candles in the windows to remember those who died. We reached the Constitution Square, the heart of the Old Part. It was used as a bullring *sigh* so it's windows still keep the numbers of the old audience boxes.

Back into the port, we reached the Nautical Club, which closes the Port. The Nautical Club is a funny building which has the shape of a ship. It's top floor is a disco, and it has great views of the bay. We leant in the wall right by the Club and relaxed a bit. This wall is used as a meeting point.

View of the Port from the Aquarium

View of the Port from the Nautical Club

The Nautical Club

The Nautical Club and the Port in the background

The meeting point wall where we relaxed

This is the Nautical Club in the distance. Behind it, you can find the City Hall and at the right, The Shell Beach, second beach of the city, our bit of the route for tomorrow.

P.S. By the way, I finally managed to watch "Little Miss Sunshine". I know, I'm not precisely up to the minute as far as movies are concerned, but hey. OMG, I totally loved, it was so LMAO. You guys were right, it was worth the waiting :D Acording to my sis in law next one is 300. Ash told me that it was alright, because she doesn't get impressed with too muchblood :? Alright, I'll give it a try.

August 26th, 2007

Well, I guess that someone has sung us all Happy Birthday over the phone. It always draws a smile in our face, doesn't it? This guy who was crazily in love with me used to dedicate me songs in the radio. Every Saturday and Sunday, no exception. It was pretty embarrassing, dunno why. I felt like everyone would know that it was me, even though my last name wasn't mentioned. I have them recorded in old tapes and it's been a long time sice I don't listen to them *sigh* Disco times LMAO. He was a total sweetie, and pretty hot indeed. Not to mention that he knew how to grab a girl to dance to a romantic and slow song. Whoa, whoa, press the brakes BM, I am rambling again :oops:

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Awwwwwww, you can't tell me that this wasn't the sweetest stripe ever. I love it when Calvin says that Hobbes is squeezing his tears out. Like some kind of a sponge. I totally loved it. And I'm gonna use it most definitely. I'm such a weepy girl, that it will come in handy. It is a great truth that a hug that it's given from the heart is a really valuable present. Don't you think so? :)

On the personal note, ok, so yesterday we covered stage 1, aka the Zurriola beach and the Cubes. Today moving on to Stage 2, the New Promenade.

We have to cross over the Urumea river by the Kursaal Bridge to reach the beginning of the New Promenade. I guess that the New Promenade was so called "new" when it was first built, but the name stood so I dunno how old it is now, but it is still called the New Promenade. It goes all around Urgull mountain, by the sea, and this is the point where the Cantabric sea shows his fury with more strength. The stones that finish off the wall, have to be replaced from time to time, because the huge waves jump all over, wearing them out amazingly. Yes, I am in love with my city, bite me :D

Here we see the Zurriola Beach in the background, and you can appreciate how the mountain is totally exposed to the sea, so you can figure that a way that goes round it is windy and constantly wet with the salty breeze of the sea. However, it is really beautiful, because you keep the ocean all the time at your right, and little by little, as you go round it, you start to glimpse the first bits of the St. Clara Island and finally the gorgeous San Sebastian bay.

This is the very beginning of the New Promenade, and that building is the Photographic Society. From this point onwards, there are no buildings, there is no point in building them there. Why? You may ask. Well, right before the Photographic Society there is a hotel which windows are constantly broken with the fury of the sea. I bet that they have to charge expensively for a room with the excuse of the great views, because they spend a lot of money in window replacement. From this point onwards the Promenade is closed to the cars when the forecast predicts bad weather. Why again? Because the waves ruin the cars. You don't believe me? You'll see it for yourselves.

This is the next bit, which is a bit calmer than the last one. Penny had the rare chance to see a calm New Promenade. I hadn't seen such a calmer sea for years. Both bf and I were amazed. Not everyday we have the huge kind of waves, but the sea is always beating hard against the wall. You taste the iodine of the sea only by licking your lips. There are tiny water drops suspended in the air constantly. But not the other day. It was amazing. You can even see some bits of the remains of an old castle that fought quite a lot of wars from the top of the mountain. There are quite a few remains, but we didn't have the chance to visit it :(

This is the next bit. New benches and railing and litter bins have been placed, all made out of stainless steel. Go ask Penny how rotten they were already. The sea just eats anything in the New Promenade. But people just love getting a raincoat and going for a walk in there. People from San Sebastian are totally in love with their city, and forgive such inconveniences to enjoy a nice view. Can you tell? :wink:


Here we are arriving to the last bit. The Igueldo mountain, that closes the city by the east can be seen already. Up there we will end our first day trip. Here is where the sea beats more bravely. The Promenade gets wider. Since the summer festivals were held when Penny came visiting, all the fun fairs where set in this point. I know, it doesn't make much sense, but there is a lot of space and people love it in here. You can't imagine the feeling of going for a ride in one of those attractions and look like you are going to be expelled to the sea or smacked against the mountain. And man, did we experienced it. But hey, I'm just anticipating :)

And this the last bit, the more dangerous one. The other day was pretty much like this, only that even calmer. See how wide it is? When there is bad weather, people gather in here to go play with the waves. And the weather in San Sebastian is quite unpredictable. There is this atmospheric phenomenon called "galerna" that makes the temperature go down like 15 C degrees in a matter of seconds, and the winds blow furiously. (According to my translator, galerna is:
galerna f Meteor violent north-west wind that blows on the North coast of Spain)

People from the city can easily tell when a "galerna" is coming. I dunno, we feel it. I remember when was a kid and I was in the beach. When the galerna was about to strike, people deserted the beach. It amazed me. But sometimes the galerna si faster than our sense of prediction, so I remember having been helped out by the firemen to leave the beach and reach the safety of the city centre. They set up ways limited by tensed ropes on both sides, so people can grab them and walk. Yes, it is furious like that.

Ok, now time for you to believe me.

Pretty :shock: right? See the ruined cars? Was I right or not? I've been there, playing with the waves quite a lot of times. It is freaking scare, but so exciting at the same time. The sea roaring, the people screaming, such a release of adrenaline...of course, you end soaking up, no matter what you do. There is a Spanish saying that summarizes the sensation quite right: "it places your balls where your tie should be" :lol: (Jordina, how difficult it is to translate this stuff, huh?)

So, Penny missed this. Well, it doesn't happen like everyday, the very huge ones, but it is kinda normal to have to run a bit when you are walking around the New Promenade and a stubborn wave decides to give passers by a nice shower. She would have loved one of those little ones. And little ones are like 10-15 metres ones, so they jump over the wall. But hey, at least we had to chance to enjoy a nice weather which was much appreciated for the rest of the journey :)

Alright ladies and gentlemen, this was stage 2 of our trip. Get dry clothes, because tomorrow we will be moving to the Port and the Old Part. Hope you are enjoying it. Huge hugs for everyone :D

August 25th, 2007

Well, obviously. But not only a pair of hot lips, I'd go for two pairs :wink: A kiss implies two people, and while one can have sex with more than one person (aka Sid's infamous threesomes) you can only kiss one person at a time. Why this thought? Prostitution is legal in Spain, and I've heard prostitutes talking on tv several times, and they all share one thing: they render any kind of sexual favours but kissing. They said they had cold lips, that't why I immediately recalled this bit when I read today's "Love is..." bit. Cold lips. Sounds sad. So they just don't kiss. Never. Or so they say. I always thought they did, but I can't quite go asking, right? According to them, a kiss is far too personal and it's the only bit left and reserved for their private sex encounters. I find it awesome, that's why I prefer thinking of two pairs of hot lips, two pairs of willing lips and one hot kiss.

Calvin and Hobbes is proprierty of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Christmas. Calvin just can't sleep. And he is planning on stealing Santa's bag :lol: We don't have Santa in Spain, but on December the 25th we have a Coal Man that comes down from the mountain full of presents for good kids, and coal (sugar coal) for bad kids (this only happens in The Basque Country). And then (in the whole of Spain), on January the 6th we have the Three Wise Men, so we happen to receive presents twice in Christmas. Do we rock or not? :wink: Well, I was the same as Calvin except for the stealing part. I bet that all the kids in the world are just the same. I was far too nervous and restless and never found the time to go to bed both on Christmas Eve and on January the 5th. But then I just slept through the whole night, I have always been a sleepyhead, so my parents had to wake me up to go open my presents. Yeah, lazy me :lol:

On the personal note, yep, finally I'll tell you about Penny's visit. Eeeeeeeeeee. She is the first tv.commer that I have met in person. I was super excited about it. And it was a great experience :D This is gonna be super long, so I'll dedicate several blogs to it. Yes, I am annoying like that. :P

She arrived on August the 17th at 07'00 am, so she made me get up early *swings fists* :wink: Bf and I picked her up a the train station. She had sent me a picture a while ago so I could recognize her. And the day before her arrival, she also sent me an email describing the clothes that she was wearing and the colour of her suitcase and stuff. But since I had the Niagara Falls at my place, I spent the day far too engaged with the mess, and then I had to set up the spare room at my parents so I went to bed late and pissed, so I missed that mail. So I arrived at the train station with the mental image of the picture that she had sent me. However, her train arrived a bit earlier, so she was sitting down in there, waiting for me. She didn't know how I looked like, and I thought that her train hadn't arrived yet because the station was almost empty and there wasn't any train outside but I dunno why, my heart just pointed me who she was. I promise. She looked kinda different in the picture that I had, but I walked direct to her and that was the first of the 1 zillion hugs that we share. Yes Stacey, Toni, everyone, we hugged all the time :D

San Sebastian train station

The Station and the horses of the Maria Cristina Bridge

Maria Cristina Bridge

We went to have breakfast. My favourite cafeteria was still closed (I so wanted her to try these yummy toasts) so we drove around and found a place, so we started talking about this and that. I was super excited because she seemed to understand my babbled English (it is like...ur...9 years since I last lived in an English speaking country) and I was doing far better understanding her than I thought I would. (Lee, you gotta frogive my grammatical mistakes). That was my worst fear, not being able to communicate fine. But, there he was my bf to ruin my mood, telling me that he couldn't understand her but he did understand me :roll: It was :lol:

As we were having breakfast, it started to rain a bit. I was so disappointed, because the days before the weather was really sunny. The sky was grey but we saw two rainbows and some clear patches in the sky. It looked like it was going to stop raining soon. My plans for the day involved quite a lot of walking, and since Penny had spent 13 hours (during the night, no sleep) in the train ride from Lisbon to San Sebastian, we headed home so she could have some rest. However she was all up for going out with a raincoat and start sightseeing (I guess that if she had got in bed, she wouldn't have woken up until next day). Yes, she was happy with the weather, she is an Irish girl for a reason. So we put a raincoat on, and off we go! :D

Alright, just a little note. We took a lot of pictures, of course. Some are just landscape, some are bf and me, most are Penny and the landscape and a lot are we both and the landscape. Penny has never posted a picture of herself so I won't post any either. I know that you all would understand this. It is just a matter of respect. So I'll reproduce step by step the routes we made using pictures I took from internet. Most of them are taken from http://www.fotosdonosti.com/ and the rest from several internet public sources. Hope that you like the ride :)

We walked what you see in this picture, and even a bit more. We ended up in the tower which is up in the mountain at the right of the picture. Beautiful, huh? What are you waiting to come visiting me and see it for yourselves? (I can't resize the panoramic pic, so I posted it in two half, dumb me) :oops:

This is the walk we made on day 1. We walked the three beaches of the city, and went visiting some places nearby. We also stopped to have some tapas and then we had lunch. It took us 5 hours, to reach from point 1 to point 6

Ok, today we are going to cover point 1 in the map. As soon as we parked the car it stopped raining. It was cool. Soon we got rid of the raincoats, it was ended up being a very nice day.

We started right here, at the Zurriola beach, first one of the beaches in the city. It is usually really windy in there, so it is a great spot for surfers. There is an international surfing championship which is held each year in here. Actually, a new jetty was built recently, to try and stop a bit the fury of the Cantabric sea.

There was an exhibition of huge iron sculptures by Igor Mitoraj. They were impressive.

In the east side of the beach you can find two crystal buildings. They are known as the cubes. They were designed by Rafael Moneo and he imagined them as two rocks that run aground in the shore. Ur...ok, whatever. They held expositions, concerts, meetings...a bit of everything. Martin Berasategui, a famous restaurateur has one of his restaurants in the east cube.

The exterior panels of the cubes are lighted up in the afternoon. They are usually lighted up in white, but sometimes they display especial designs. When the tide is high, the cubes are reflected in the sea. This can be the run aground effect.

On February the 20th, during San Sebastian day, the cubes imitate the white and blue flag of the city.

During the Gay Pride day, the cubes displayed the gay flag colours

Other times, they display random colours, like a big Rubik cubeor Magic cube(as it is also known)

The Kursaal Bridge, crossing over the Urumea river, leads us to the beginning of the New Promenade. That should be the start of tomorrow's blog.

So far for the first stage of our trip. Hope you liked it. Get some rest, tomorrow we'll keep on walking :)