The Dog Days of Summer aka August

 

August began by celebrating our friend Angela’s birthday. Her apartment is the perfect place to watch the sunset, an activity that is always better with friends and wine. She hosted a fabulous evening, and we had a beautiful sunset (which is not always guaranteed).

Angela is our stand-up paddleboard buddy and we’ve enjoyed some good times on boards this summer. Being out on the bay is always a perfect summer moment and a great way to beat the heat.

We had our second repeat visitor last week, our nephew David. His visit coincided with Semana Grande, a terrific time to be here. With the nightly fireworks, concerts, and other options, it was a fun visit.

We liked watching the volleyball tournament a lot. As usual, the fireworks were a highlight. One night, David and I went to watch them from the beach. That helped confirm that watching them from our apartment is optimal. While you may miss some of the beach level fireworks, you avoid the overwhelming crowds. You can decide – the photo on the left is the view from the beach, the one on the right is from our balcony:

We planned a day in San Jean de Luz, but David woke up not feeling well. We went and enjoyed the day, including a bit of shopping at the local food market, while he slept. We get local, kilometer zero produce here, yet somehow the produce in France is always superior. While walking along the boardwalk, we noticed this quintessential French beach picnic – note the fresh baguettes protected by the umbrella:

Thankfully David recovered quickly, and we continued with the fun, including a sunset and lots of card games:

What we enjoyed most was David’s company and his perspective on the world and politics, especially since he had spent the prior week in Italy at the Revolutionary Communist International World Congress. We also tried some different restaurants because David is vegan, which was easy enough to accommodate but took us off the beaten path.

Oddly, we didn’t post about David’s first visit in September of 2021. Upon reviewing our late summer/early fall posts from 2021, we think it’s because his visit was sandwiched between our epic August trip to Ireland, the film festival, and a trip to the US in September. So, he’s finally getting his due now.  

One final note: in our last post we featured the Bilbao bullfight artwork. San Sebastian’s was creative, but not as good. Here they are side by side:

I learned that supposedly the bullfights during Semana Grande in the Basque Country do not end with the bull’s death, rather they are more of a celebration of the art of bullfighting. But this does not make us any more likely to go see a bullfight as it is still a bloody affair.

We are now in prep mode for an upcoming trip to the US and then the Galapagos. Perhaps during our US visit we’ll remember to take a few photos – something we are often remiss in doing. You can be sure there will be plenty of photos from the islands!

Stay cool,

Shana & Jeff