Local February Happenings

Happy Leap Day! It's not that we're celebrating exactly, although later tonight I am planning to go see a local band named "Howdy" that plays blue grass music. I'm listening to them play John Denver's "Country Roads" right now, and honestly they sound like some Basque dudes playing John Denver. That is not highly encouraging, but a friend wants to go and I'm up for it. 

It is good to have friends to make plans with when fun opportunities present themselves, like live music, a hike on a sunny day, or a 5K run for women. 

Back on February 16, our friend Connie, who is staying in SS for a few months for the second year in a row, joined us on our favorite hike on an amazingly sunny Sunday afternoon. It was great to be wearing shorts in the middle of February and to enjoy the scenery along the Basque coast. The trail was busy -- we were not the only ones enjoying the sunshine. 

Of course, today it's raining, much more typical for San Sebastian. But overall we've been lucky and the winter has been mild. While it rained nearly every day in November, since then the rain has been far more intermittent and not particularly bountiful. And we've seen a lot of days in the 50s and low 60s, which is totally bearable.

Tomorrow is Lilaton -- a local women's 5K race. I decided to sign up, and another friend, Valeria, was planning to do the race with me, but all the spots were taken, so I'll be flying solo -- with 6,564 other potential new friends. I just noticed that my race bib number is 5983, so there weren't too many spots left when I signed up. My first organized race ever. Hopefully the weather will improve, but unfortunately there is more rain in the forecast. 

We just got back from a trip to the Algarve region of Portugal, which is in the south, and to Lisbon, where the weather was lovely. So, look for more posts soon.

Hasta pronto, 

Shana & Jeff

Update on Spanish School

Back in October, we posted about beginning classes in Spanish at the Official Language School. We are now a bit more than halfway through the school year, and we wanted to update you all on how it's going. It is not great.

It turns out that we really do not have a lot of motivation to do the massive amount of work outside of class that would be required to really improve on our Spanish. We do some of it, but a lot of the assignments are designed to help prepare for the end-of-year exam (writing assignments, practice reading comprehension assignments, vocabulary), and we are just not motivated to do them since we will not be taking it. In addition, the class is Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-8 pm, which is just a terrible time for us to try to learn anything since we are morning people. Just the process of getting ourselves out the door those two nights a week is often a chore.

So, while class is a good opportunity to practice speaking Spanish with our interesting group of fellow students, and we are deepening our understanding of some aspects of Spanish grammar, the truth is that we are not very good students due to our less than optimal attitude, so we are not getting much out of the class. This is a weird feeling for two Type-A personalities who always did very well in school but, frankly, we don't really care that much.

All that said, we only have 16 more classes between now and April 30 (not that we are counting), and we have trips to Portugal and Germany planned during the upcoming school breaks for winter and Easter. So, we should make it.

Much more to come about our trip to Portugal.

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana

A New Sculpture in San Sebastian

San Sebastian has a new sculpture . . . by Richard Serra, the famous San Francisco sculptor who is known for large scale pieces. The sculpture is not new, but it is new to San Sebastian. “Five Plates Counter Clockwise” was created in 1987 and used to be displayed in Bilbao at the Bellas Artes museum. As fans of Serra’s works, we went to see the new installation at the Palacio Miramar, which is a 19^th century palace near the center point of the La Concha bay.

I’m sad to say, we were disappointed, not so much with the sculpture, but more with the placement of the sculpture in the palacio gardens. The sculpture consists of five steel plates that are 1.7 by 2.5 meters leaning against each other, suggesting the movement of the arms of a clock, and forming a pentagon at the center. The problem is that the sculpture is too close to the palace itself so that the size of it is dwarfed. An odd choice because there are plenty of alternative spaces in the surrounding gardens. In addition, you can’t see the pentagon at the center because there is no vantage point from which to see it. In my opinion, San Sebastian could have done better. 

This town loves its sculptures. On one side of the bay is “Empty Construction” and on the other “The Comb of the Wind,” both by local sculptors. Thus, the idea of having a Serra set in the midpoint seemed a worthy addition. But as you can see, Five Plates can’t compete with these two when it can’t be experienced correctly:

Serra’s work is amazing and his permanent exhibition at the Guggenheim in Bilbao is always a highlight when we visit.

Walking through or around his sculptures is an experience that simply isn’t conveyed by Five Plates’ new location. But because the sculpture is so heavy, I don’t see it being repositioned anytime soon.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

Back to the Sidreria

If it’s winter, it’s time for cider in Gipuzkoa. So, off we went with two other couples on a Thursday night at the end of January to enjoy the cider season and the fabulous traditional sidreria meal. A sidreria (cider house) is meant to be enjoyed with friends. Especially because it is truly a communal dining experience – in fact, there generally are no individual plates! This fact shocks us each year. Is it that hard to have small plates so that everyone can avoid reaching over each other? Apparently, that is too much to ask and it simply is not part of the ritual.

This year we tried a different sidreria, a smaller one called Oialume Zar – there are more than 30 in the area, so we’ll be able to avoid repeating for quite some time without even trying. Of course, they all serve the same meal, without a lot of interpretation, so it seems like we’re going to the same place regardless. This was the first time we tried cider from stainless steel tanks as well as from the large, old-style wooden barrels. Overall, we agreed that the cider from the barrels was better. As we’ve mentioned in past posts, the cider here is not sweet. And because you only fill your glass less than halfway each time, we tend not to drink too much of it, other than trying as many different ones as possible. In the end, we are not cider connoisseurs, and the food is the star of the show for us.

After trying our first couple of ciders, we sat down at our table for an appetizer of “chorizo a la sidra,” homemade sausage cooked in cider. Great way to start. In between each course, we tried another cider (or two!). Next came tortilla de bacalao, Spanish omelet with codfish. I am still not used to eating eggs with fish, but it is good, I just wouldn’t make it at home or order it off a normal menu. Next is fried bacalao with peppers and onions. This was served on individual plates – hurray! The two fish preparations are entirely different and thus not repetitive. Of course, there’s bread to share as well. And next is chuleton – a giant steak cooked “al punto,” which is closer to rare than medium rare. We’ve learned to eat our steak this way here and it is fabulous. Sharing a giant steak from one plate between 6 people is fun and a bit of a challenge. You don’t want to bogart all the best pieces, but it’s hard not to do so. We ended up sharing 2 of these steaks among us, and they would have brought one more if we had been able to handle it! Dessert consisted of a small chocolate pastry, plus cheese, walnuts and membrillo (quince paste). Cracking open whole walnuts in a group is always a fun way to end a meal.

Before we knew it, it was after midnight and we had arrived at 8:30 p.m. Time does fly when you’re having a good time and eating well. One of the best parts of visiting a sidreria is that it is incredibly reasonable – all that food plus all the cider you can drink is only about $40 a person!

The moral of the story is come visit during cider season!!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

La Tamborrada 2020

On Monday, January 20, we celebrated our third Tamborrada – San Sebastian Day – the city’s biggest annual event, a 24-hour drumming festival. It was another opportunity to become true Donostiarras, the Basque term for San Sebastian citizens. Our goal this year was to better understand why Tamborrada is so beloved and enthusiastically enjoyed by everyone.

This year was another banner year of participation: 151 drumming groups, composed of 19,004 adults – 600 more than last year. 93% of the groups are co-ed now, with a 57% to 43% split between men and women respectively. The children’s parade included 8,829 kids, which means a total of 27,833 individuals played a direct role in the party. The majority play a form of wood water-barrel drum or single snare drum, while others play wind instruments and some carry flags or themed decorations. This year one group celebrated its 150^th anniversary.

One interesting change that occurred this year was the transition from the Bella Easo, or “prettiest girl,” reining over the children’s parade to a female “citizen” representative instead. A modern update from the beauty pageant concept to a representation of female power. A meaningful and progressive change, in my opinion. We caught the tail end of the kids’ parade, including the float with the brand-new character (she's at the rear of the float):

 

From there we headed to Constitution Plaza to see my yoga teacher’s group perform, passing several other groups along the way. We saw her group last year and this year’s performance was the same as we remembered. At this point we were wondering, why does this city love hearing the same songs over and over and over (it seems like there are only 3, like the USC marching band’s repertoire, although we’re told there are 12-15 songs)? Every year it’s the same thing. And this year was cold, with a high of 40 degrees, although not rainy. We just don’t get it.

We returned home for a break and to warm up before meeting friends for dinner at 9 p.m. We were happy to see Carlos and Ploy, both because they are fun to be with and because we could ask Carlos questions. Although Carlos was born in Madrid, he moved to San Sebastian when he was three. He explained how Tamborrada runs in the blood of Donostiarras, who are raised on it, look forward to it every year, and never get tired of it. We agreed, along with Ploy, who is from Thailand, that as foreigners we will never have the same love for this tradition as the locals. While for us it’s entertaining, for the locals it is exhilarating. We had a lovely meal and were able to watch and hear the ongoing action from the 2nd floor dining room.

 It was 11:45 p.m. when we left the restaurant, so we headed back to Constitution Plaza for the Arriada – the closing ceremony that includes the lowering of the city flag to end the festival at midnight. (Two years ago, we went to the Izada, the raising of the flag at midnight to start it.) One last chance to hear the same songs again. The square becomes quite a festive scene as the celebration ends. It was fun, but not something we will likely repeat in the coming years. And with our travel plans for the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 we will miss the next Tamborrada.

One interesting final note. In the local paper there was an article identifying the number of places celebrating Tamborrada at a distance, both within Spain and outside of it. The Basque diaspora is vast. The article listed Mexico, Caracas, Shanghai, and . . . Atlanta! So, if you ever see a listing for a Tamborrada celebration on January 20, check it out for yourself!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

Back to Reality and Welcome to 2020

The holiday season in Spain officially and finally ended on Tuesday, January 7 – the day after “Tres Reyes” (3 Kings, and/or the Epiphany feast day), when the three kings brought presents to baby Jesus. Here in Spain, this is when most children get their presents instead of on Christmas. So, it is only this week that the holiday decorations are finally coming down.

Since returning from our CA visit, we have enjoyed the holiday celebrations in our own way. The  season started here on December 21, with Santo Tomas, which is a local San Sebastian tradition. It represents the day that local farmers came into the city to pay rents to the landowners, sell their goods, and buy other supplies. The whole town commemorates this by dressing up in traditional dress and celebrating agrarian traditions. But, in the end, like most holidays, it is another excuse to eat and drink to excess. Of course, we joined in, meeting friends in the old city area for cider and chorizo, music, and laughs.

This year’s pig was named Ximona, the Basque version of Simone, and you can tell she had a lot of personality and seemed to enjoy her “15 minutes of fame.” It was a fun day that got cut short (for us) by a torrential downpour.

We “celebrated” Hanukah, Christmas, and New Year’s mostly by cooking at home and keeping it mellow. We’ve been fortunate to have decent weather – not a lot of rain, and plenty of sunny days, which allowed us to take several strolls along the beaches to enjoy the sunshine. And in the evenings, we enjoyed the extensive decorations that seem to improve each year. For the first time, the city decorated the Maria Christina Hotel (a favorite of ours), and there was a lighted globe that you could walk through.

We also enjoyed the local Christmas market, which had more than 40 stands. Our favorites were food related, of course, especially the ones selling candied nuts, homemade empanadas, and a special raisin bread we only see sold on festivals. On the evening of Tres Reyes we saw a super-fun magic show at the Kursaal, which was also lit up for the new year. The show included magicians from Spain, China, Germany, France, and Italy.

Now it’s back to reality – Spanish classes started up again this past Wednesday and the gym schedule will be back to the normal routine. Of course, Monday, January 20 is yet another holiday here with our third Tamborrada drum festival on the city’s patron saint’s day – 24 hours of drums and music. So, another day without class – which is ok with us. But before that, Jeff will celebrate his big birthday.

We have lots of travel plans in 2020 and we look forward to sharing those adventures with you.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff 

Foie y Vino

After returning to San Sebastian on December 11, we had tickets for December 13 to go to another event at the Basque Culinary Center. While the last event we attended there was a tasting of ham and wine this one was advertised as Mas Que Foie y Vino, more than foie gras and wine, and it was that exactly.

There were about 18 of us in a room at the BCC, with presenters from a maker of duck products, and a Spanish winery. First, we learned a bit about the process of raising and preparing the ducks for making foie, along with a video that showed the process of dividing a duck for sale of its various parts. While that may sound daunting, it was very interesting and not bloody at all because the ducks are actually killed by stunning them and then draining their blood, making the division process quite clean. Then, it was time to taste.

We started with a plate of three types of cold foie with a taste of white tempranillo, which was new to us as tempranillo is usually a red grape and we did not know that a white version exists.

Not very pretty to look at, but extremely tasty with textures ranging from pate-like on the left, to more what we think of as foie on the right.

Next was a plate of cooked foie, which is often served in the Basque region as foie a la plancha, with a very nice red wine.

Third, and this was a surprise, was a duck breast with another red. We were surprised because we thought the event was only foie, and with the duck breast it was turning into a full meal:

Yes, the meat may look raw, but that is how they serve meat in Spain, whether it is beef or duck.

The coup-de-grace was another thing that we did not know existed -- foie bon-bons. Essentially they were foie covered with sweet things including chocolate. Paired with a Gran Reserva red, they were one of the best things I have ever eaten:

We definitely need to find more of those.

Finally, as if we had not had enough to eat already (spoiler alert: we had) there was a bit of duck ham to try:

 Without a doubt, we had fun at the event:

And, we even took home a few parting gifts of foie (not the fake duck) after talking to the representative of the duck company.

Not surprisingly, we will continue to look for more fun events to try at the Basque Culinary Center.

Que tengais un buen nochevieja (have a happy new year)!

Jeff and Shana