Journal entry: April 1st, 2005
Attila has raved about this great city of San Sebastian even from the first time I met him back in 2002. And I can see why! Welcome to the Capital of Basque Country (In basque, Euskal Herria for the Spanish this is known as País Vasco.
As soon as we arrived in Donostia, or San Sebastian, we were hoping to find a hostel near by, but we immediately greeted by this kind-hearted woman, who had pictures and flyers to her Residencial (let's call it a hostel) within the heart of the city, within walking distance from the train station and with a good price of €15.00 Euros.
We paid for two nights in this unoffical Residencial, which had three beds, clean bathrooms, a terrace and with an awesome view. Nate and I were still going through not-working-culture-shock. Normally, we would be sleeping to get ready for another night of graveyard security. Those days are over!
Later late afternoon, Attila got up from his long nap. He wanted to take us out and show us all the important sights, monuments and areas of town, he used to frequent. We spent a few hours at the beach within silence. It was a great feeling to be next to the sea for a change. We had enough time to go hiking up the infamous Statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus on Urgull Mountain. From the top of this mountain, we were able to see all of San Sebastian. Attila suggested hitting the town for Tapas and Bocadillos.
Attila has raved about this great city of San Sebastian even from the first time I met him back in 2002. And I can see why! Welcome to the Capital of Basque Country (In basque, Euskal Herria for the Spanish this is known as País Vasco.
As soon as we arrived in Donostia, or San Sebastian, we were hoping to find a hostel near by, but we immediately greeted by this kind-hearted woman, who had pictures and flyers to her Residencial (let's call it a hostel) within the heart of the city, within walking distance from the train station and with a good price of €15.00 Euros.
We paid for two nights in this unoffical Residencial, which had three beds, clean bathrooms, a terrace and with an awesome view. Nate and I were still going through not-working-culture-shock. Normally, we would be sleeping to get ready for another night of graveyard security. Those days are over!
Later that same day, we went to find a cyber-café. To check up with who sent e-mails, stories, gossip (yeah even gossip) keeping up with old friends and wanting to know what our former work staff have been saying about us since we made our great escape. We'd probably stayed there for over an hour. We were getting hungry at this point. Later, Nathan was telling both me and Attila about an e-mail he'd received from his mother. She was not too happy about the idea of him quitting his job and going down to Spain to look for work. She was also not to happy with me either and she was begging him to come home. Just our first day in Spain, Nate and I had an argument and I didn't think we could keep going on this journey until he took care of the issue with his mother. I suddenly felt responsible for him leaving Germany. Fights and arguments happen even with good friends, we resolved the issue. "The adventure must continue!"
The second day in Donostia, Nate and I got up early in the morning, considering that was probably our first time in a long time actually seeing and expriencing morning without walking home from work. We did our travel usual: taking pictures and more pictures, walking around different corners of the city. But, the great part of this journey was, we didn't have to worry about going back to work right away. We knew that this new life away from graveyard work was going to be a new challenge. Still, was it worth it?
Later late afternoon, Attila got up from his long nap. He wanted to take us out and show us all the important sights, monuments and areas of town, he used to frequent. We spent a few hours at the beach within silence. It was a great feeling to be next to the sea for a change. We had enough time to go hiking up the infamous Statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus on Urgull Mountain. From the top of this mountain, we were able to see all of San Sebastian. Attila suggested hitting the town for Tapas and Bocadillos.
The night in Donostia, the city was alive, great music being played on almost every corner of town. The smell of great food dominated. This is Spain! But even with this great atompshere, some people just have to ruin all the good fun. Apparently there was some soccer game between Spain and Ireland. There were a lot of pissed drunk irishmen walking around causing trouble and looking for fights. I was surprised there weren't a riot. But, with Nathan's already on edge attitude, I suggested that we all go back to our hostel, so no possible way we would be involved in a fight.
Without giving it much thought, we packed our bags. Next destination, Portugal. I called a few friends around Lisbon to tell them that we will be in town and to meet up with us later for some drinks and good talks. The train to Lison from Donostia, will be about ten hours. Good Luck! That same night, as we were sleeping, someone opened our door to our room. The light from the hallway luminated one side of our room. Without my glasses on, I saw a naked white figure standing over Nathan's bed. Was someone trying to rob us, trick us, or giving us pleasure? The mysterious naked woman was never seen again. The mystery still unresolved.
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