San Sebastian Film Festival Planning

We've told you that there's always something going on here in San Sebastian, and this week is one of the biggies -- the 65th San Sebastian Film Festival. Here is the Kursaal (San Sebastian's primary cultural center) advertising the event:

Although we've lived in cities with film festivals before, we've never had the time to truly indulge in the film scene like this. Just planning what we wanted to see was quite the ordeal. So many choices! We truly needed an Excel spreadsheet to figure out what to see and when and where we would be seeing it. It took 2 laptops, plus the film festival program to figure it out. We settled on 9 movies in 9 days. Considering that we didn't see more than 3 movies in the theater in 2 years in Seattle, you can imagine how excited we are. Our first movie was last night at midnight, yes, midnight! Why midnight? Well, that was the only time available for this particular film ("Call Me By Your Name").  And we have 2 more today (Saturday), "Michelin Stars - Tales From The Kitchen" and "Catch Every Wave" (a Laird Hamilton biography).  We'll update you soon!

Quick shout out to a future director we hope to see one day at the SS film festival -- Hannah H!

Our First Visitors in San Sebastian

Last week, Jeff's parents became our first official visitors in San Sebastian. We took the week off school (we needed the break!) and spent the week showing them around San Sebastian and the Basque Region.

On Wednesday, we walked all three of San Sebastian's beaches - a distance of about 6 km - on a beautiful day. With a stop for ice cream (of course) we were able to show Mom and Dad the beautiful views of the ocean, the bay and the city from various vantage points. We saw the sculptures that are along the route, including our favorite at the very end, El Peine del Viento by Eduardo Chillida:

By the way, right behind where we are standing is a sheer drop of about 25 feet to the rocks and water. You would never see that without a protective fence in the US.

On Thursday, we rented a car and went to the French Basque Region, with stops in San Jean de Luz and Biarritz. Although the weather did not cooperate in San Jean de Luz (rain, rain, rain), we did get to see the Church where Louis XIV was married and ate a quintessential French lunch - quiche and salad. Fortunately, the weather improved and we were able to walk around the beautiful city of Biarritz in comfort:

Later, we were even able to take off our jackets.

Friday, was another trip in the car to Bilbao, Guernica and the Spanish coast. Although we did not go into the famous Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, there is plenty to see outside including the "Puppy", a 42-foot tall sculpture covered in flowering plants that was initially supposed to be a temporary exhibit. However, people liked it so much that the city of Bilbao bought it and made it a permanent part of the museum.

Yes, that is Mom and Dad at the bottom (we did mention the Puppy is 42 feet tall, right). Other outside statues are not quite as cute. This one is actually an homage to the sculptor's mother who was a weaver. I doubt she was amused by it (note, again, that it is huge):

After leaving Bilbao we drove the long way back to San Sebastian, which included a stop in the incredible Guernica, which is the center of Basque history, including the tree that is considered the symbol of Basque identity and the Assembly House, which is described as Europe's oldest parliament. It was here that the Basque people introduced several ideas that are central to democracy today: the idea of habeas corpus, the prohibition of torture and the concept of equality among those born in the region.

Then, on April 26, 1937, with Franco's enthusiastic permission, the German air force used Guernica as a test site for its bombers, destroying much of the town and killing many. Somehow, the Assembly House and the tree were not hit. Of course, from this terrible event came Picasso's famous painting "Guernica" which is in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. If you are ever in Madrid, do not miss seeing it.

After Guernica, we arrived at the coast and had spectacular views of the water as we drove through a series of beautiful little towns that dot the coast west of San Sebastian. After a long day, we discovered the best burgers in San Sebastian. A great way to end the day.

These are just the highlights of a great week in San Sebastian that, of course, included many pinxtos, much wine and a great three-course dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday.

We hope this brief overview of what a visit to see us in San Sebastian may entail will encourage more of you to come as well (hint, hint). Our talents as tour guides improve everyday, especially our ability to speak Spanish (now that we are back in the classroom).

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana

A weekend in Madrid (September 8-10)

This weekend we took our first trip from San Sebastian to see friends in Madrid. Although we were in Madrid only seven weeks ago when we arrived in Spain, this time we thought it felt like a really big city, which was a surprise considering we lived in Los Angles for so many years. I guess we have quickly gotten used to living in our small "pueblo" of San Sebastian.

We were thrilled to travel to Madrid to see Tanya D. and make good on our promise – if you come to Spain, we will do our best to come see you. The three of us walked the city streets and wandered through the Prado. And, of course, enjoyed a few glasses of wine together, including one at a famous bar that is considered a temple to bullfighting (we would like to note that the goring -- and gory -- pictures in the bar even got to Tanya, who is an oncologist!).

Jeff and I enjoyed churros con chocolate Saturday morning at Chocolateria San Gines, which has been making churros since 1894 and is open 24 hours a day. We think the Madrilenos avoid hangovers by having churros at 3 or 5 a.m. We enjoyed the churros, but they seem like a “when in Rome” experience. We won’t be making churros our regular breakfast anytime soon.

We love the Prado, and getting a new perspective from Tanya made it new again for us. We also enjoyed the views from the mirador at the top of the Palacio de Cibeles with her.

While the art in Spain is fascinating, the people we meet while traveling never cease to amaze us. In addition to seeing Tanya, we also had drinks and tapas with Caroline, who we met at Spanish school in San Sebastian, and her boyfriend Cam. Caroline and Cam teach at an international baccalaureate school in Madrid. It was so interesting to compare notes with them about living in Spain and to hear about their students and the school where they work.

Finally, on Saturday evening, as Jeff and I were eating plates of Manchego cheese and cured beef from Leon (do we need to mention drinking wine?), the couple next to us began speaking to us in Spanish. What was surprising is that these were not Spaniards, but tourists from Monterrey, Mexico who were on their way to Tel Aviv (of all places). Our five-minute exchange with them (all in Spanish) was terrific! Comparing notes about how Castellano (the official name of the language in Spain) is different from Mexican Spanish had us all laughing out loud as she noted that the Spaniards use “verbos antiguos” (old verbs). We confirmed that we are learning quite proper and hoity-toity Spanish at school.

Hasta luego,

Shana and Jeff

What did we just eat???

In Spain, food is a central part of the culture. In San Sebastian that is true to the Nth degree. In addition to having more Michelin stars per capita than any city in the world, San Sebastian is also home to a huge number of regular restaurants and pinxtos bars. We have been here for seven weeks and feel like we have barely scratched the surface, despite our best efforts.

In addition to the large number, restaurants in San Sebastian serve dishes that you might not see in the US, or you might see in only the most expensive restaurant. This led us to an interesting experience last Saturday night.

To set the scene, we went to a nice restaurant, but not a fancy one. Our dinner of several shared small plates, dessert and coffee (including a bottle of wine) was 60 Euros (about $72) for the two of us. One of the dishes on the menu was papada de cerdo. Cerdo, we knew, was pig. And, although we did not know what papada was, we like pork and the preparation sounded delicious. And, let's face it, Spain is all about the pig. So, we ordered it.

When the dish came, the papada looked pretty much like pure fat. Almost like pork belly, but even fattier. It was delicious!!

As we were waiting for dessert we decided to look up what we had eaten. This is where things got a little surprising. Although we often do not know exactly what is on the menu in Spanish, when we translated "papada," we did not know what it was in English! The word translated as "dewlap". And what is dewlap? We will let Wikipedia take that one:

A dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin that hangs beneath the lower jaw or neck of many vertebrates. While the term is usually used in this specific context, it can also be used to include other structures occurring in the same body area with a similar aspect, such as those caused by a double chin or the submandibular vocal sac of a frog. In a more general manner, the term refers to any pendulous mass of skin, such as a fold of loose skin on an elderly person's neck, or the wattle of a bird. Dewlaps can be considered as a caruncle, defined as 'a small, fleshy excrescence that is a normal part of an animal's anatomy.

I think Shana was a little disgusted, but I say if you get a chance to try dewlap, jump at it. It is great. It also shows that no part of the pig goes to waste.

Hasta luego.

Jeff and Shana

August 31, 1813: The Day San Sebastian Burned

San Sebastian, like all Spanish cities, has its shares of holidays and festivals. We hope to enjoy as many of them as we can and to learn what makes San Sebastian unique.

This past week, San Sebastian commemorated the day that the city was burned to the ground – except for one street – during the Napoleonic wars. On August 31, 1813, English and Portuguese troops entered the city and set fire to it. The one street that survived is now named “31 de Agosto” – some of our favorite pinxto bars are located there. The city was rebuilt and now, to remember what happened, each year the city reenacts the battle and recalls the efforts made to rebuild the city. 

Jeff wasn’t feeling well on the 31st, so I went with a friend from school (Jo) to check out what was happening that evening. Unlike most “holidays,” all businesses were open during the day.

The battle recreation was quite colorful and noisy. It started with a parade of citizens in traditional dress, included marching bands in historical garb, and soldiers with muskets and cannons.

The soldiers marched through the main boulevard, started the battle with canon and gun shots, and arrived in the city center – where there are remnants of a city wall exist – and staged a full battle. Battles were much slower then – it takes time to reload muskets and canons. But like now, boy were they noisy!

Notice that many of the soldiers wore red; of course, “the red coats are coming” went through my mind. And since there were British soldiers involved, I can only presume they still wore red in 1813.

After the battle, the bands marched through the Old City to Constitution Square where there was more pomp and circumstance. Jo and I found a spot in the doorway of a pinxto bar and enjoyed the music and entire scene with a glass of wine in hand. The various participants needed a drink too:

Later, on Calle 31 de Agosto there was another parade where the street lights were turned off and participants in period dress marched through the street with torches and candles. They ended up in front of the church where various choirs performed and the people joined in singing Basque and Spanish songs.

It was a lovely evening. I only wish Jeff could have enjoyed it with me.

Shana

We have an apartment!

Just a quick post to say that we moved into our apartment this week and are no longer sleeping on a mattress in an office. Given how little stuff we have, we moved totally on foot (it took four trips), and are mostly unpacked already. More to come soon...

Jeff and Shana