Trips

 

Thurs., 10/20/16 – Bilbao to San Sebastian to Pamplona
        Today we rode in our tiny bus to Pamplona with a stop in San Sebastian.  The ride was on mountainous roads, the sky finally cleared of fog, and we were lucky to have another blue-sky day.  The scenery changed from deciduous forest to pines with small farms in the valleys.  The mountain peaks are supposedly 6,000 to 9,000 feet high.  Everything is very green.
        San Sebastian is a pretty seaside city and is very expensive.  It has a university specializing in nano-sciences and has attracted companies that hire students as interns as part of their learning experience. 
        We rode the funicular up to the top of Monte Igueldo for a 360° view of San Sebastian, its beautiful beaches, and along the bay and rocky coast into the ocean.  We looked down on the Seminary of St. Sebastian and the royal palace for King Alfonso, which was taken over by Franco and now is a government building.  We looked down at St. Claire Island with a statue on top.  There is a cute, old, amusement park on top of Monte Igueldo.  It still has little bumper cars with no seat belts or safety equipment and an old merry-go-round.

Monte Igeldo
A clay court facility	Funicular station
Funicular	Funicular
Funicular	View of the beach from the Funicular
Seminary of San Sebastian	La Concha Bay and Isla Santa Clara - Evidence of tectonic plate movement
Our bus took us down to the city and we walked into the fish market, looked at (and smelled) lots of fish, and sampled cheese at a cheese stall.         Given some free time, we looked in the windows of shops selling traditional Basque clothing, walked into Independence Square, and strolled to the harbor with small boats and sailboats.  The beach stretches from the harbor around to the ocean.  In the middle of this beach is the Queen’s cabana.          We ate a wonderful lunch at The Morgan Kompany and sampled a custard apple Judith had purchased for us.  They are apples that actually taste like custard.
La Zurriola Bridge across the Urumea River	La Zurriola Bridge across the Urumea River
Meeting of incoming and outgoing waters	Teatro Victoria Eugenia
Manhole cover	Manhole cover
Fish Market	Fish Market
Fish auction and weight device	Fish Market
Fish Market	Fish Market
Fish Market	Street scene
Harbor	Beach with Queen’s cabana on right
Beach - King’s house	Statue of Christ of the Sacred Heart on Monte Urgull
Another Basque flag	Custard apples
Lunch	Lunch
Lunch	Lunch

 

        Eventually, we drove on to Pamplona, up into pine forest and back down into deciduous forest with tamari and oak and beech trees.
        Our hotel, Hotel Pamplona Catedral, was once a convent but is completely renovated.  The breakfast buffet is in the refashioned chapel and is quite striking.
        Judith led us on a stroll to get acquainted with the area.  We learned that many buildings with a coat-of-arms on the facade, were owned at some point by lords or nobles and tax collectors were not to knock on their doors because the nobles didn’t pay them.

View from hotel room	View from city walls
Sign for Way of St. James	Nursing sister
Street scene	The Cathedral of St. Mary the Royal was still open when we got there.  Judith paid for us to enter - 5 €, which seemed high until we saw what was inside.  It was a wonderful museum!  We looked at the Moslem circular stairway that is very Arabic in contrast to the rest of the building.  There is a huge refectory and a “Bell Ringer’s House” and then we walked through where the Roman foundations are being excavated with a brief history of the people who once lived at this spot: Iberians – 7th c. BCE; Romans – 1 to 8th c. CE; Medieval 12 c.  But the best was the Occidens Exhibit. There were holograms that put Medieval costumes on us as we looked into a mirror and another of an organist, outstanding church decorations, and too much to try to describe.  We were all so fascinated we were almost late for dinner.  And the church itself had several gold chapels, the gaudy opulence we have seen in other churches.
Cathedral of St. Mary the Royal - Cathedral de Pamplona Occidens	Cathedral of St. Mary the Royal
Museum of the Cathedral - Moorish staircase - Mudejar	Museum of the Cathedral - Model of the complex
Museum of the Cathedral	Skeleton of a baby
Queen Gale in a hologram	Cathedral of St. Mary the Royal
Cathedral of St. Mary the Royal	Dinner at Irunazarra was too many delicious courses - salad with stalks of vegetables and broiled cheese, something like an eggroll, spinach and ricotta raviolis, filet and steak fries (or cod and boiled potatoes) and then dessert!

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