Changes in the Weather – Week 4

We hope everyone is doing well back in the States and weathering the storms that have arisen since we’ve been gone – both Wall Street and hurricane Palin. We are continually amazed at how much interest still remains in the goings on in the U.S. over in Europe – the economic interest makes sense considering the ripple effect that occurs but the interest and knowledge of our political process and the players involved here is pretty extensive. Seems that many Europeans know more about the issues and stances that exist than many in the U.S.

That is NOT the weather that we are referring to in this post, however.

As we continue to establish ourselves here we are starting to ride the weather rollercoaster that many locals told us to expect when we arrived – San Sebastian, being on the Southern end of the Bay of Biscay, is located in the wettest region of Spain (everyone keeps saying “wait for the rain”) and weather can change on a dime. Last weekend the weather was beautiful, sunny and in the mid-70s – we took advantage of this and rode the inclined railway (Funicular – see the pic, note the ubiquitous sponsor) in San Sebastian. The railway goes to the top of Mount Igueldo and we went Sunday morning to check out the view and the small amusement park friends told us about. We had a great time and the views were amazing – we included one shot of La Concha Bay to give you an idea (you can see some of the lower peaks of the western end of the Pyrenees in the background; our Apartment, the girls school and Tecnun are to the right of the pic). We looked around, rode some rides (all of which were Circa 1960s but fun – see the bumper-car and boat action shots) and, of course, had some snacks.

The end of this week, however, brought the first good Atlantic storm since we’ve been here. Rain Thursday/Friday/Saturday (HEAVY on Friday), wind and heavy surf, and temps in the 50s-60s (locals say that is cold, which is a good sign). Everyone went about their business as usual, including us, and that included the requisite beach visits. There were a couple of interesting beach related by-products of the storm, though. One was that the surf brought with it a LARGE contingent of Kelly Slater wannabes (surf and boogie-boards) that converged on the beach closest to our apartment (there is a good surfing beach - Playa Zurriola – on the other side of town so only a few surfers are at the close beach on a normal day). The best waves must be right against the seawall, because they all line up right along it and wait (see the pic - once you get up YOU’D BETTER HEAD LEFT). New guys join in by jumping off the wall (2nd pic) – making sure they miss another surfer and that they hit a wave crest to avoid the rocks below (note to all that were wondering – we did not see our mulletrockingSpanishvandrivingdude among them even though HE HAS THE HAIR). It’s a cool place to watch surfing since you are close enough to hear them talk and you can watch them heading towards or away from you.




Our walk along the seawall took us past the surfing dudes and to the western entrance of the bay where some interesting sculptures are located. The sculptures, "Wind Comb" - created by Eduardo Chilleda (Basque artist, go to http://www.eduardo-chillida.com/index.php?id=1&L=3 to find out more about him) are one of the symbols of San Sebastian and are quite dramatic when viewed in any weather. During a decent storm, with the waves crashing around these large steel shapes, they are really dramatic and great to see. Another aspect of the viewing area (we assume Chilleda also did this) are 5 vent holes located in the cobbles of the Plaza fronting the sculptures – they must snake their way to the side of the sea wall that faces directly into the Atlantic. When the tide is in and the waves are crashing they send up geysers of air and water vapor in conjunction with some pretty load sounds. The entire scene is amazing – the second stormy night evening that we visited the girls brought sketchbooks and did some drawing and Dan conned them into sticking their hands over the holes. Everyone made it out safe, though.

Next week the forecast says back to the 70s again – of course that is what was predicted for the past few days a week ago too. We’re buckled up and ready to ride along. Assume you are also experiencing some changes in weather as we all head into fall and winter. Hope you are all staying reasonably dry, safe and warm and we’ll talk to you soon.