San Sebastian – Cork (22/03/15)

The following morning we read the final Psalms of Ascents, which had been such a part of journey and prayed, thanking God for all we had experienced.

Our room was on the second floor near the corner

We took ourselves downstairs to the loggia running around along the edge of the Plaza where we had spotted a coffee shop with a stupendous selection of bread, pastries, cakes and buns. We indulged accompanied by tea and coffee for breakfast!

View from our hostel window over Plaza Gipuzkoa

To burn off a few of the calories we had consumed, we had a walk around the harbour. It was a grey damp misty morning, but at least it wasn’t raining and we enjoyed being out in the fresh air. The locals were also out walking and jogging and there were expansive views of La Concha beach running off into the distance around the bay. A courageous kayaker was taking on the ocean swell and powering out past Santa Clara Island.

David indulging

By the Sealife Centre I was interested to examine a cannon from a British warship that had sunk in the bay during the Napoleonic Wars. It made a change from my childhood examinations of Spanish cannons from the sunken Girona - the Spanish Armada wreck, in the Ulster Museum.

San Sebastian Harbour

House at Harbour

We were also interested to see the way the Baroque Church of Santa Maria in the old town faces the cathedral of The Good Shepherd in the 19^th Century part of town down a long avenue in what was obviously a carefully orchestrated piece of architectural choreography.


Kayaker and Santa Clara Island

La Concha beach

Returning to the hostel we checked out and then walked down to the cathedral for a brief visit. There had just been a Sunday morning mass and the organ was still idling with a loud hum which vibrated the whole building and was not entirely pleasant.

British Cannon

Moving on towards the bus station we had some pintxos in Café Autobus, where we had stopped off on our first night. I was interested en route to note how many apartments seemed to have canaries singing on their balconies and that the some of the streets were lined with magnolia trees – already in flower; at least a month earlier than in Ireland

The Church of Santa Maria

Suddenly a large crowd appeared running up the boulevard with tooting vans and waving banners whilst people lined the pavements. The crowd were chanting “Korrika! Korrika!” Children and families were leading the way at the front. At first I assumed that it was a Basque political rally as there were Basque flags in abundance, but I subsequently found out that this was a Basque cultural event called the Korrika or The Running.

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

The Korrika first took place in 1980 and is a good natured exhibition race which is held bi-annually to promote the Basque language. It usually lasts for two weeks and runs night and day passing through as many towns and villages in the historic Basque lands as possible. In order to raise funds to promote the Basque language individuals or organisations buy a kilometre and a race leader runs the relay carrying a wooden baton with the Basque flag or Ikurriña tied to it. I enjoyed watching the event and was glad I had seen it when I realised it’s cultural significance.

Flowering Magnolias

We travelled back to Biarritz airport on the bus. We had about four hours to wait before our flight. The exertions of the last week had caught up with me and I had a snooze on a bench, which David cruelly photographed!


The Korrika - note child beside buggy proudly holding aloft
the wooden baton adorned with the Ikurrina

We both agreed that we had enjoyed our trip together. David had caught the Camino bug and definitely said he would like walk more sections in the future and as for me – well, I was already planning my next trip in October!