Beautiful Sands in San Sebastian!

Absolutely beautiful landscaped tucked away in the north of Spain… and the sand…. is real!!!

Early in the morning hours Alex and I were transported by two friendly and welcoming people from San Sebastian. They helped us settle into a hotel, even though our phoning for rooms showed no availability in the city. We settled for a two star accommodation in town for €100/night, €50 each, the most I’ve ever paid for accommodation backpacking in Europe. The price we paid was the standard rate for accommodation in San Sebastian. Seeing the wealth and beauty of the city helps explain why.

The next morning we woke up, checked out, then walked to the Playa de Ondarreta and Bahia de la Concha, the bay of San Sebastian . This bay has to be the most beautiful landscape in all of Spain. The two mountains Igueldo and Urgull, the Bahia de la Concha, and the Isla de Santa Clara create paradise while San Sebastian’s locals make it come to life. Feeling the environment is quite relaxing and brings new meaning to enjoying tranquility. People seem to raise perfect families, with perfect homes, and everything just seems better here than the rest of Spain. Along the boardwalk people walk around the three playas of the city and take in fresh air. Its quite relaxing with brilliant mansions hanging on the cliffs and expensive living set on the oceanfront and along the hills. This reminded me of Orange County’s Laguna Hills, San Juan Capistrano, or Emerald Bay, but better. Better because this place is not only Spain with its very social openness, but has an influence of French interlaced within the culture of this Basque region. The dialect is different from that of Spain’s Castilian as they speak their own, Vasco. The buildings noticeable have an Anglo-Saxon influence and almost feels like France. While walking around just enjoying life, Alex and I thought it was cool how the locals held their own swing dancing session in the square for others to join in. With old Jazz hits from the Frank Sinatra era providing the perfect backdrop for the streets of San Sebastian, these people got their boogie on with a little swinging action. My parents would’ve loved to see this as the city caters towards their age group. We both pictured this place the perfect paradise for retirement. I say that San Sebastian is worth the talk it gets and has to be one of Spain’s ignored treasures.

Our day in San Sebastian was spent walking around the playa’s and up to the Monte Urgell Parque, where there are stunning views of the Bahia de la Concha and historic castle walls. At the very top there is a statue of Christ overlooking the city. The area around the Monte Urgull Parque is picturesque and has pine trees running into the ocean. The later portion of the day was spent hanging around San Sebastian’s renown tapa bars, and just letting time fly….

Pictures of Ayuntamiento, Playa de Ondareeta, Bahia de la Concha and Bay of Biscay in San Sebastian