Hotel Terminus

Spanish or Basquen?

by Peret

We can't forget, there's a political conflict in this land. What means this for a traveler? I think is not a problem. In my experience, i have always feld wellcome. People was always polite with me. As i have spoken with basque, they are very glad if you say them basques, better then spanish. Independentist or not, they are identified with the basque culture before the spanish. In the map, the land known as "Euskalerria", or basquish lands. This is Basque country, Navarra, and french basque country. In black the zones where basque is spoken.

Museum of Whiskey

by Docu2001

You are in a very small place here ... San Sebastian has a small, attractive Old Town with amazing Tapas ... and a rather normal new town with the basics.

You might expect a Whiskey Museum in Manhattan or someplace truly decadent like ... Amsterdam. But not in Basque Spain.

They have every last single malt scotch that was every dripped from any ounce of highland river water and well tended grains in Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland for that matter.

Plan to spend a wad of your hard earned beads and trinkets and go for it!

Museo de San Telmo

by mikey_e

The Museo San Telmo was closed for renovations when I was visiting San Sebastian, but luckily I visited it with my father in 1998, when it was still open and featured a neat exhibition on the Pyrenees (flora and fauna, indigenous cultures, geology and history). It is housed in an old convent dating from the 16th century not far from the sea and close to the Cathedral. As it was finished in the 1560s, the building features a transition between the Gothic and Renaissance styles. The collection includes both Fine Arts pieces as well as pieces donated by the Ethnographic Society of the Basque Country, which is why it can sometimes seem like the Museum has a slightly schizophrenic approach to special exhibits. The fine arts section generally concentrates on 19th and 20th century Basque painting, although there are some other pieces such as Goya’s El Cristo. The ethnographic section also includes pieces from Egypt and Pre-Colombian Peru, in addition to its selection of Basque artifacts.

La Perla de la Concha

by mikey_e

"Donostia, San Sebastián"

I’ve been to Donostia (that’s Basque for San Sebastián) several times, and every time I visit I’m amazed at how enjoyable and interesting the city is. I first went to Donostia in 1996, when my father and I arrived on a rainy August morning and were amazed by the Belle Époque splendor of the buildings in the Alde Zaharra. We visited again in 2000, and, even though the boom was well underway and the other cities in Spain had already begun to show some of the monumental changes that were sweeping through the country. For the next eight years, my interest in the Basque Country and Spain waxed and waned, I even liven in Spain for a year, and always the picture of the Concha and the boardwalk remained on my desk, a reminder of one of the most beautiful places in the world. I think that that is why, in the summer of 2008, I decided that it was worth the trouble and the pain (I had ripped something in my shin or ankle) to make to pilgrimage to Donostia.

"Aste Nagusia"

I didn’t chose a prime date for visiting the city, at least not if my goal was to renew my memories of the town and slowly rediscover the hidden gems of the old town and La Concha. I arrived less than a week before Aste Nagusia, the Main Week, when the entire city would go crazy with its annual festival and parades. It was nearly impossible to find accommodation. After I arrived from Bayonne via Hendaye, I spent almost an hour looking for where to stay. First I went to the tourist information centre, a good 25 minute walk with my luggage from the train station, and then I spent another 20 minutes calling various pensions to know if they had anything available. I lucked in on the last single room available in a pension… 5 minutes from the train station. Accommodation problems solved, I was finally free to explore the city and enjoy myself in childhood memories relived.

"Hedonism Central"

Well, maybe not relived, but certainly enhanced. This time, I spent three days getting to know the city and its delights. I think I spent most of my money in bars, feasting on the various pintxoak and drinking cider. Basque food is world famous, and just because you wander into one of the many dingy bars in the Alde Zaharra doesn’t mean you’ll be eating something stale or unappetizing. My favourites were the ones with olive oil, jamón del país and a fried quails egg, or the ones with cider sausage – yum! Of course, I also got to enjoy so much else the city has to offer, including an envigorating hike up Igeldo to the Statue of Jesus (where there are spectacular views onto La Concha and the sea) and a bit part in an impromptu Basque choir on the streets of the Old Quarter. I only knew Mikel Laboa’s Txoria, but it was enough to make the entire evening memorable. That’s what is most appealing about the city: it’s so easy to enjoy yourself here that sometimes you even forget you’re on vacation..

Donostia, Gipuzkoa

by DanielF

"Beautiful Easo"

San Sebastian is a charmer. Once the haunt of the upper Spanish classes, this city remains a favorite with most of the visitors to Spain, particularly with those who are eager to be surprised and find places that only with difficulty fit into the stereotypes. Originally just a fishing village often sieged by invading armies, San Sebastian has acquired a taste for sophistication and high culture which is unheard of in cities of its size, as well as a culinary scene which remains unrivalled in Spain.

Architecture in San Sebastian is magnificently belle-epoque-ish in the modernist districts of the city and exquisitely picturesque in the small old town. The whole city seems to have been thrown out with extreme care, only to complement one of the most splendid natural backdrops that can be found in the European continent. The bay, shaped as a perfect semi-circle, is guarded by two hills and one island covered in lush vegetation. The entire shoreline is fringed by beaches of golden sand. A small river flows nonchalantly towards an often furious sea. All the pieces in the puzzle fit so harmoniously that they appear radiant even under an often lead-coloured sky.