So, this is where I live. Nothing too fancy, but I like my city. It's big enough to fulfill all of my needs and small enough to move on foot all around.
Oscar Alonso, a publicist from my city, seems to have at least two things in common with me: he likes San Sebastian (our city) and he likes Tintin. My old friends here have probably had to put up with some of my Tintin blogs already and know of my love for the blonde journalist. It's one of my childhood heroes and I never grow bored of re-reading the stories again.
To my very delight, this publicist has put both San Sebastian and Tintin together in a series of drawings that absolutely made my day when I read the news in the newspaper.
He arranged an exhibition in a bar of some friends of his that even made it to one of his drawings.
I went to the exhibition, watched the lovely drawings and enjoyed the pleasure of those simple things that make me happy. And well, I decided to share ;)
El Enigma de la Barandilla de la Concha (The Enigma of the Concha Railing)
La Concha (the shell) is the name of one of the three beaches in the city. It has the shape of a shell, hence the name. All along the promenade, there's a railing with a design that keeps people in raptures for some reason.
It's become so popular, that it is present in every souvenir and whatnot. I own two Concha railing shaped pendants from as long as I can remember, a silver one and a golden one (sorry about the unfocused pic). Most people in the city do too.
La Construcción Vacía (The Empty Construction)
La Construcción Vacía is the name of this steel sculpture by Jorge Oteiza. It was placed in the promenade in 2002, and I don't like it at all but hey, I'm not into Modern Art.
It is a nice place to admire the beauty of the Cantabric Sea both when it's calm...
...and rough.
El Misterio de la Isla de Santa Clara (The Mystery of Santa Clara Island)
Santa Clara Island is a small random island with no other interest than being a cute place to go picnicking.
It's placed in the middle of the bay, and going swimming from the beach to the island has killed many summer beach days.
La Farola del Kursaal (The Kursaal lamppost)
If you ask me, it's the ugliest design for a lamppost in the city. The only thing that I like about them is that you can walk around their base into small viewpoints over the Cantabric Sea (to the north) and the Urumea River (to the south). They are situated along the Kursaal Bridge...
...and by the Kursaal Exhibition Centre, two buildings designed by Rafael Moneo in 1999. I'm not a fan of them either, they really don't fit in that area of the city but hey again. They are supposed to be two aground rocks.
The Kursaal Exhibition Centre holds the San Sebastian International Movie Festival where ironically enough, one of the prizes given imitates the design of some other lampposts in the city. Lol
More to come soon since the whole of it exceeds the maximum allowed size for a blog :|