I mentioned to you in the last post that I had been following Billy and Leanne on Instagram. Originally when I was looking at places to stay around the border I couldn’t find anything really useful. Because of this I had decided to stay on the French coast, then head into Spain and just get an overnight park up somewhere, before going to a previously booked campsite near Burgos.

However, Billy and Leanne had stayed at San Sebastian, a city that I had really wanted to visit, and as the weather forecast wasn’t great for the next few days I decided to head for the hills, well the mountains, cross the border a day earlier than planned, and get to the park up in San Sebastian that they had mentioned. Luckily they warned us that it was popular, being the only one in this area. After a brilliant drive on the motorway, where I could see the start of the Pyrenees, and by now having mastered the art of using tolls on my own from the wrong driver’s side 😉 a mere hour and a half later I was in Spain at the park up!

It was a good move to arrive early, as when I got there at 10.30 there were only four places left out of forty five. This is a really cheap aire, only 4 euros a night, and you can stay as long as you want so it gets very busy. It is also very near the Santander ferry, so there are lots of people using it as an overnight stop before or after their trip. I decided to stay two nights here, as there was so much that I wanted to see, and I had the time before the next stop. It was great have another two night stop, when I plan my next trip in Europe I will definitely look at driving further, and staying longer at each place, now I know I can do it.

The police also patrol the aire regularly to check that everything is ok, something which was a very nice feature of all the cheap, or free aires that I stayed in whilst in Spain. None of these places had barriers so it gives a feeling of extra security, particularly if you have an expensive motorhome. I don’t think anyone would want to steal Katy, lovely as she is, but sadly thefts of these are on the increase.

The first people I met were a couple from England, who had just come from the ferry, and I was able to help them and a couple of others with the slightly complex, multilingual payment machine. It was nice to pay back for all the help I have had with barriers and make good use of my Spanish! The aire has water and waste disposal and there are lots of bars and restaurants nearby. It is basically a car park at the back of the University campus, and is 20 minutes walk from the city centre.

In the van next to me on the left in the above photo were a really friendly Irish couple who insisted on giving me some of the stew they had made for tea. Van life people are so kind, and although the places were the focus for the trip, the people I met really made it great.

A lot of people have told me I’m very brave to travel on my own, especially in Europe, but what I have found is that being a solo traveller isn’t lonely. I talk to people every day, and I actually think that people are more likely to speak to you if you are on your own. There is always a chat with others about where you are going, and good tips of places to see or stay, so I never felt isolated, even though I was on the road for four months in total.

I spent most of the first day just walking to and from the city centre, along the splendid promenade. My Mum came to San Sebastian as a teenager with her family, and came back with my aunt a few years ago. She had always talked about how beautiful it was and it was brilliant to see some more of a very different part of Spain. I really enjoyed my trip to Galicia last June, and would love to come back to this region of Spain.

Not only the natural landscape, with the curving bay, the small islands and surrounding hills are stunning, but also the architecture in the city centre. I love these grand Spanish buildings with their balconies and ornamentation. And always such gorgeous streetlamps!

The old town was brilliant, full of little bars and gift shops so I had a happy wander there for a while, and my first tapas for months in a busy little bar, which was delicious. I was particularly fascinated by the signs everywhere. The Basque language is very different to the standard Spanish that I’ve been learning, so much so that I couldn’t understand any of it.

San Sebastian is part of the Basque area of Spain, and there have been many attempts to make it a separate country. It is an autonomous community at present. I remember hearing about these conflicts as a teenager, but there has been a ceasefire since 2011. Basque culture still remains very different to that of the rest of Spain, and, like Galicia, it does feel very different from where I live. It was really interesting to go from France to Spain in a day by road and see the change as you crossed the border, not just little things like speed limits, but architecture and the general feel of the area.

I visited the ethnographic museum on the second day, it is housed in a former monastery, so there were some great cloisters and the original church had been kept as it was, but used as a gallery.

There were some fascinating displays of traditional Basque headwear. As far as I could make out, most of these were just made of twisted linen. There is more information, and some modern recreations at this blog post.

The other thing I really liked was the textiles section. As well as displays of embroidery, and tools, there were some really fascinating photos of the women who spun linen, and the way they lived. I loved this, and think it brings these skills to life so much better than just having a case full of spindles. It gives acknowledgement to the hard work, and the skill of these women, something you know that I am passionate about.

Of course there were some church visits as well, it wouldn’t be me without a few very ornate churches, with their incredible altar pieces. I have lots more very wonderful ecclesiastical art coming in the next few posts as well. The rest of locations in Spain were very much about city visits with amazing cathedrals and castles so come back soon for those.

I really loved San Sebastian, it is probably a place that many people don’t stop at, as there are so many other wonderful places along that coast, but if you are there, do stay, just make sure if you want a space in the aire to get there early!

I have been doing lots of writing and knitting while I am here at Ellen’s, and really enjoying myself just relaxing. I am also spending time planning the next few months of adventures, which start again in just over a week! I am going to attempt to catch up with all the blog posts about the European trip before then. I can then hopefully start sharing my adventures from a very different place! I will have my laptop with me there, and wifi, as I am staying in hotels and apartments, so blogging will be a lot easier than from the road.

I will be back in a few days with the second Spanish city of my trip, until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.