![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2011\/10\/eurotrip14sansebastian-3.jpg\")
<\/a>San Sebastian. Zurriola<\/p><\/div>\n
I should probably start my story by telling you that San Sebastian (Donostia in the Basque language) is a very special pace on my personal map of the wolrd. I guess everybody, who took part in the famous Erasmus, has a place like that \ud83d\ude42 For me it was 2006, autumn and winter… Erasmus in Bilbao and numerous, long weekends spent in San Sebastian: \u00a0long nights in the bustling Parte Vieja, walks along La Concha, low-budget snacks such as pasta fried with frankfurters, egg, cheese and ketchup that will never taste the same like it did when Gosia prepared it in her tiny kitchen at 6 a.m. after a party… San Sebastian is this one-of-a-kind place, where you can feel the magic created by people from different countries, cultures and even continents.<\/p>\n
I am delighted with Donostia (the Basque name of the city) every time I come back there, even though it happens quite often. I am amazed with the beauty of the landscape, sandy beaches, diversity, ideal places for walks, busy Old Town, all-night-long parties, delicious pintxos<\/em>, slightly sour sidra<\/em>\u00a0and, criticised by many, kalimotxo<\/em>\u00a0(coca cola with red wine; and let me tell you that it tastes best with cheap red box wine for 50 cents mixed with coca-cola-like soft drink straight from Lidl). Still, each time I recommend this city to someone I keep asking myself \u2014 maybe it is not as cool, beautiful and extraordinary as I think?… Erasmus is always a special time, no matter whether you spend it in San Sebastian, Madrid, Paris or Brno. So far nobody has ever complained about Donostia, though. What is more, everyone was amazed with it \u2014 and that is including my very demanding travel partner \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n San Sebastian<\/p><\/div>\n San Sebastian is one of the main Basque cities and the capital of Gipuzkoa province. Once a favourite spot of the aristocrats and the royal family, today it is no longer visited by the king due to ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna<\/em>, which stands for “Basque Homeland and Freedom”) terrorist attacs, which escalated mainly in the 1970s and 1980s.<\/p>\n Even today this Basque nationalism is clearly visible on the city streets with Basque flags, writings on the walls demanding release of prisoners and posters calling for withdrawal from the dispersion prison policy. This policy, introduced by the Spanish authorities, assumes incarcerating people accussed of belonging to ETA in prisons far away from their homes and families \u2014 in the south of Spain or even on Canary Islands and African cities, Ceuta and Melilla.<\/p>\n Tourist, you are in the Basque Country!<\/p><\/div>\n San Sebastian is worth visiting in August during Semana Grande<\/em>\u00a0or in winter, when the city celebrates its Fiesta de la Ciudad <\/em>on\u00a021 January. The atmosphere during both summer and winter celebrations is really amazing and it’s also the time when local delicacies such as corn flat-cake\u00a0palo<\/em>\u00a0with chistorra<\/em>\u00a0sausage (palo con chistorra<\/em>) taste the best \ud83d\ude42 together, of course, with sidra\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0txakoli<\/em>, one of the local wines.<\/p>\n This time we came to San Sebastian only for two days \u2014 and spent them walking and eating delicious pintxos<\/em>. I must admit that the city is not cheap and finding accommodation within a reasonable budget at the end of August was like wishing for a miracle. The best value for money (and location) we managed to find was\u00a0LauBuru Hostel<\/strong>, situated close to\u00a0La Concha beach and Ayuntamiento. And I have to tell you that finding a hostel was the success of our friend, who joined us three here in San San Sebastian \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n We walked throught the streets of Parte Vieja (the Old Town), in the port among the smells of fish and seafood and along some local beaches: surfers’ Zurriola, postcard-like La Concha and small Ondarreta. Our walks led us to the original sculpture Peine del Viento made by Eduardo Chillida.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>