We left Torre de
Villademoro and headed east to San Sebastian along the coast
highway.
The photos below are what we saw.
Kathleen
got us this great hotel on the peak of Monte Igueldo overlooking
San Sebastian. It had rained most of the day and was still
drizzling when we arrived. We had cocktails and a great
dinner at the hotel and retired to our rooms for the
evening. As an afterthought, I stepped out onto the
balcony and was taken by the view so I decided to get a long
exposure night photo. The photo above was taken with my
35mm Leica lens on my Sony A1 camera: 6 second exposure at f/5.6
and ISO 400. My "tripod" was the table on the balcony and
a roll of TP as the support for the lens.
The bay
is very beautiful. Note the upturned bedding on the
ocean-facing side of the small island in the bay. The
softer strata have been eroded by the wave action resulting in
combs of rock. Our plan for the day was to take the
funicular down the hill to the city and hike the boardwalk along
the bay and then explore the city center.
Out
hotel was at the top of the Igueldo peak and adjacent to the
hotel was an amusement park for children
The
hotel was right on top of the funicular station. Above,
one of the cars comes into the station.
From the
bottom station, you can see up the track. Those apartments
on the right are immediately next to the tracks. Happily
for them, the funicular is quiet.
The
bottom station for the funicular.
There
was a small hotel next to the lower station.
The
tower and our hotel can be seen atop the peak.
Statues
and plazas go together. We passed this one on our walk
down the boardwalk.
The
boardwalk paralleled the coast road and it went through a small
tunnel. The boardwalk also had a separate bike path to
help prevent the inevitable mishaps between bicyclists and
pedestrians.
The
boardwalk path had many sets of stairs that allowed access to
the beach and bay. Note the folds in the rock in the point
suggesting a tortured geological past.
The
opposite side of the tunnel with our hotel and tower in the
distance.
A nice
modern art statue on one of the alcoves on the boardwalk.
Note the statue on the far hill.
There
were some pricey homes overlooking the boardwalk.
Some of
the places were really nice. Some of the best ones were
apartments.
I never
got the story on this one, but it is nice.
Ah, to
be rich.
There
were several clock towers on the boardwalk.
For a
Monday, there was a lot of foot traffic on the boardwalk.
There
were surprisingly few folks on the beach due to it being
rather chilly. There were, however, many dogs and their
owners walking near the water's edge. The statue of Mary
is visible on the crest of the far hill.
The
downtown area had some very nice Baroque style buildings.
These
buildings must have been fantastically expensive to build even
"back in the day".
Every
plaza had a statue.
More
ornate buildings, this one was near the river.
Like
many areas in Europe, the car parks are underground.
This one was right next to the river's edge and must have
required some careful excavation to prevent flooding.
This
was unexpected: the light poles had cast iron bases with
embossed emblems. While there were a few street posters,
the bases were not tagged which speaks to a semblance of civic
pride by the taggers.
The
opposite of the base had a different embossing. The
river is visible to the left of the photo above.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2024, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.