The Comb of the Wind, The Spoon of San Telmo, La Concha and The Cube: Basque Cities 3 - Seeing San Sebastian

There’s not a lot of glamour in the Basque Country. It’s pretty down-to-earth. But if any part of Euskadi can be described as glamorous then it must be San Sebastian (‘Donostia’ in Basque), 60 miles or so along the coast from Bilbao towards France. It’s where the international film and jazz festivals happen in the summer; it’s where the Spanish royal family used to come for seaside holidays; it’s often said by chefs and other gastronomes that the food in San Sebastian is the best in the world; it’s generally regarded as one of the most upmarket of Spanish seaside resorts.

We’ve been here three times now, on separate day trips. There’s no doubt it’s a lovely place, though even the generally pleasing sea front is not immune from some of the truly awful high-rise developments that blighted much of the Basque Country in the 70s and 80s. Perhaps it’s more true of San Sebastian than most other places that it really needs a sunny day to look its best.

The Parte Vieja (old town) is relatively down-to-earth, a delightful grid of little streets (often packed with people eating and drinking) lined by hundreds of bars and restaurants:

There are some fine old churches…

… inside one of which is Chillida’s beautiful marble cross:

There’s a handsome arcaded square, with chunky numbers painted above each balcony from the times when the square was used as a bullfighting arena:

There’s an old market complex, La Bretxa:

And there’s the old harbour overlooked by the splendid town hall:

On one side of the old town is the beautiful shell-shaped bay, La Concha, with hills at either end forming a natural harbour entrance:

It’s a great hour-long walk from one end of the bay to the other, starting with Oteiza’s ‘Construccion Vacia’ (Empty Construction)...

and culminating in Chillida’s ‘El Peine del Vento’ (The Comb of the Wind)...

with two other Chillida sculptures along the way - a cross-shaped homage to Fleming...

and a knot-like twisted metal post which imitates the beautiful striations of the nearby rocks:

On the other side of the old town is the river, with its distinctive bridge:

Where the river meets the sea there are often spectacular displays of crashing foam against the rocky shore:

Over the river is the district of Gros, with its splendid new concert, exhibition and conference centre, The Cube, on the beach:

And behind the old town is a rather grand nineteenth century ‘ensanche’ (new town) stretching up the river, with posh cafes and hotels, handsome shopping streets and a fine neo-Gothic cathedral:

As for the food – well there’s an extraordinary concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants here, but it’s as much the quality of ordinary food that makes people rave about San Sebastian. As in Bilbao, food is a source of huge local pride; unlike Bilbao, tourists come to San Sebastian specifically for the food. But the bars and restaurants are just as full all year with local people as they are with tourists in the summer. We’ve only scratched the surface, but it’s clear that the ‘pintxo’ culture here is even more amazing than in Bilbao, with hundreds of bars heaving with wonderful little creations. Without a doubt our favourite pintxo experiences were in the wonderful little Cuchara de San Telmo (The Spoon of San Telmo), a tiny bar behind the San Telmo Museum in the Parte Vieja, overflowing with people trying to get a taste of the superb little ‘pintxos calientes’ - little dishes of utterly delicious food made in the tiny kitchen:

Finally, one of the very best things about San Sebastian is the superb San Telmo museum of Basque art and culture, built in the old San Telmo convent and redesigned to the highest standards of museum design just a few years ago.  It’s stunning – the building as well as the displays and graphic/audio-visual design.