Sailing south across the Bay of Biscay from the Bordeaux region of France, Kongo arrived at the beautiful port city of San Sebastian in the northern Basque region of Spain. Beautiful San Sebastian possesses wide, sandy beaches surrounded by wooded hills and a harbor filled with picturesque islands.
Although Roman settlements from the early first centuries have been unearthed here, the city’s modern history begins in the early Middle Ages with a monastery about 1050. Today, San Sebastian is part of the autonomous Basque region of Spain.
The beautiful Church of Saint Mary, built in 1743, is in the oldest part of the city. Way before that, the remains of a Roman temple have been found at the same site.
The church is also a museum with beautiful religious artifacts that are hundreds of years old. Kongo enjoyed this rather weird looking Madonna holding a baby Jesus on her lap. They both look like they just won the shipboard trivia contest by secretly Googling all the right answers. Who knew?
Walking to the waterfront where the Urumea River empties into the Bay of Biscay, the monkeys came across these massive granite boulders piled along a quay wall to act as a breakwater. Mrs. Kongo gazed on the piles of rock and exclaimed, “Look at all those countertops!” You will need to scroll back through some of Kongo’s earlier posts (like this one) to understand Mrs. Kongo’s obsession with interior design.
Walking on, Kongo visited the Good Shepherd Cathedral opened in 1897, which is like, brand new for a cathedral. It has beautiful stained glass windows. On the afternoon Kongo explored the church, he caught sunlight passing through the windows reflected on one of the walls.
Kongo wishes that they could have spent a couple of nights in San Sebastián. It’s a beautiful city, made for walking, with lots of shops and interesting sights. It was fun to sit out on the sidewalk with some nachos and beer and watch the world walk by. It’s that kind of place.
Tomorrow is a day at sea as the monkeys sail for La Coruna, Spain.
Travel safe. Have fun.
