Circle Tour 13: in San Sebastián

We started our rest day as usual with a group meeting. The student residence where we stayed was only a few blocks away from Jeff's apartment, so he chose that day to carry his heavy book bag and share with us his favorites for learning about the Basque people--their history, culture and how to live and work among them.

We were free to do whatever, go wherever. Most of us were getting together with our Basque friends--the SUSA students, their families and friends.

The Normal, Illinois, group were invited to dinner at a sociedad gastronómica where one of the SUSA parents was a member. The three or four students hosted by Jacob's Well church got together with their friends and families and provided a most amazing meal event. I believe it was on top of one of the hills surrounding Donostia (Basque for San Sebastián) somewhere up by the tower.

Notice the 2016 inscription on the hillside. We read on a sign downtown, that the city has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2016.

DSS (Donostia/San Sebastián) claims to have an incomparable view. I wrote about it after our visit three years ago: El marco incomparable.

As the groups began to disperse, the few of us left went with Jeff to see some of the sights.
First we stopped by his place to drop off the heavy book bag.

We walked the rest of the morning, revisited some of the spots our host Alberto had taken us to on our previous visit (see Donostia) and saw some new ones.

The Beach

Interesting Architecture

The Good Shepherd Church

Notice Eduardo Chillida's Cross of the Peace

Jeff took us to his favorite Italian restaurant for the Menú del Día--great food and conversation.

La Mamma

Our friends from Hondarribia were able to come and spend the evening with us: Amaia and her parents, and good friends Gonzalo, Elena and daughter Zara.

Our girl Amaia

We walked and talked, enjoyed the beautiful weather and views.

At the other end of the beach we got a close-up view of the Peine del Viento, another Chillida sculpture. Can you see the three parts?

At the appropriate time in our wanderings we ended up at a pleasant outdoor restaurant. Surprisingly, or maybe not so unusual, the weather turned chilly quite quickly.

Alberto, Michael, Edurne, Gonzalo, Zara, Elena, Amaia

Alberto and Gonzalo work at the hospital in Donostia. We visited there three years ago. Read about it here:
The Hospital

So that was our wonderful long day in San Sebastián.