I laid down and read the books and brochures about the area and then napped.
There looks like some good possibilities for hiking around here. The only problem is getting to the areas. Well we will see.
Laurie and I walked around some more areas of San Sebastian. There is a beautiful walkway above the beach. There was a small old merry-go-around going even though it was wet and cold. A lot of people were out walking and around. Certainly not as many as Barcelona. San Sebastian is really nice, but I don't think I would like to be here in the summer in the height of their season.
Laurie and I walked to a Chinese restaurant. It opened at 8:00 and we got there about 8:05. Laurie wanted "take away". The woman was very nice and spoke excellent English. She gave us "Time" magazines in English to read and they were current issues. We didn't end up reading because we talked to the woman the whole time.
Laurie got food for dinner. I wasn't that hungry so we went back to the room for the night.
October 27, 2003
Laurie and I weren't in any rush to get going. We want to go to a place that opened for 10:00. We stopped for breakfast. There was an egg looking thing on the counter. It looked somewhat like a quiche, but wasn't. I could see peppers, but I think it had potatoes also. I got a slice of it and ordered hot chocolate. The hot chocolate that they gave me was like warm chocolate pudding. It was good but not what I wanted. I wonder how to order hot chocolate like what we have at home.
It was listed in one of our books as a hiking place. What it was, was a store that sold outdoor gear. The woman there worked in the office and only spoke Spanish. I did try on a few pairs of pants though.
From there, we were in search of a book store that sold English paperback books and possibly that would trade paperback books. We had three books to turn in. We didn't want to get more without getting rid of some.
One man at a small paper and book store helped us by giving us directions to another bookstore. Our little bit of Spanish had helped us to communicate. It is fun trying to communicate and the people have been so helpful.
We got to a bookstore and asked if they had used books. Luckily a man overheard us and told us in English that there was one but not exactly sure. We tried to find it but couldn't. So we settled on buying a book at one of the several bookstores we stopped at.
We went back to the room. It was probably close to 1:00. We met the son of the woman who runs the place. He speaks English so we spoke to him for awhile.
We went out to do one of the walks around here that were listed in a brochure. It was along the beach. The day had turned out to be fairly decent.
We went from one end to the other. At the other end was Mt. Igeldo. We walked up to Mt. Igeldo. At one point there was a gate and we had to pay to go farther. It was only 1.20 so I said why not. It was very nice on top. It had a small amusement park which was closed for the season. It was a little run down, but it probably looks different with people and lights. There was also a hotel up on top, that was also closed. We had great views of the beach and of Santa Clara which is a very small island in the bay and also of Mt. Urgall, which was at the opposite end of the beach. On top of Urgall is a large statue of Jesus that overlooks the whole area which is to signify Jesus blessing the city.
There are many areas of Spain and many areas have their own language. In Barcalona it was Catalan. In this area it is Basque. What we learned was Castillian.
We walked back toward our room and stopped at the train station for some information to travel to Aia. We wanted to go there to check out hiking and possibilities to stay there. Our Eurail tickets are not valid on that train. We did check out the time and also on the buses. Believe it or not, the buses are quicker than the trains.
We got back to the room and relaxed for awhile and then headed out to get something to eat. We went to the place that we had breakfast in the morning. They had cheap meals. I felt like one of the locals especially when I try to talk to them in Spanish. My meal was just OK, but I was full when I left.
It was raining again and it is cold. Luckily I have my gloves with me. It wasn't a far walk and it wasn't raining that hard.
October 28, 2003
Laurie and I went to the bus stop before 8:00. The bus took us to Aia, which is about 20 kilometers away. When we got there we weren't quite sure what we were looking for. We asked people for pensions and tourist offices. There was one place people directed us to. I don't know if it was officially a tourist office. The people spoke enough English and were very helpful about showing us on a map where to find the pensions and also hiking areas.
The area is beautiful with green hills. It is good to see green again and trees.
Laurie and I set off to the first pension. There was a woman out and we asked her about her place and if it was the correct area. Again she only spoke Spanish. We told her we wanted four nights starting Thursday. Unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday was full. The woman got her daughter to help us. She didn't speak English either and she spoke very fast. Anyways, she helped us by calling one down the street to see if they had the room. They were so nice and went out of their way to help. The woman got a call back and said that the place down the road had room and she showed us how to get there.
I feel bad because the mother was so sweet and I think she wanted us to stay there. She was showing us all around and pointing out the towns from where we were.
