Wednesday 5/22/19 – So today I took the train from St-Jean-de-Luz to San Sebastián. And it’s interesting how you do it. You have to take one train to the French border town of Hendaye (more on that town later). Then walk out of the station and sort of “cross the border” into Spain to a different train station (50 feet away) to hop a train to San Sebastián. Well I had a “cultural awareness” moment when I crossed the border from France to Spain. On the French train, the people were all pretty quiet and subdued. When I got on the Spanish train the people were talking very loud and this guy started playing a guitar and belting out a tune. I just thought it was interesting to see the two different cultures back to back.
That little town of Hendaye has significant history tied to it. It was the site of a fateful meeting between two of Europe’s most notorious dictators. In the days before World War II, Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco maintained a diplomatic relationship. But after the fall of France, they decided to meet secretly in Hendaye to size each other up. On October 23, 1940, Hitler traveled through Nazi-occupied France, then waited patiently on the platform for Franco’s delayed train. The over-eager Franco hoped Hitler would invite him to join in a military alliance with Germany (and ultimately share in the expected war spoils). According to reports of the meeting, Franco was greedy, boastful and misguided, leading Hitler to dismiss him as a buffoon. Franco later spun the situation by claiming that he had cleverly avoided being pulled into World War II. In fact, his own incompetence is what saved Spain. Had Franco made a better impression on Hitler at Hendaye, it’s possible that Spain would have entered the war, which could have changed the course of Spanish, German, and European history.
San Sebastián is a beautiful city. It has golden beaches, capped by twin peaks at either end, and with a cute little island in the center. It has 186,000 residents and almost that many tourists in the summer. With a romantic setting, a soaring statue of Christ gazing over the city, and a late night lively old town, it has a mini Rio de Janeiro aura to it.
In 1845, Queen Isabel II’s doctor recommended she treat her skin problems by bathing here in the sea. Her visit mobilized Spain’s aristocracy, and soon the city was on the map as a seaside resort. By the turn of the 20th century, San Sebastián was a leading resort for Europe’s beautiful people. Before World War I, Queen Maria Christina summered here and held court in her Miramar Palace overlooking the crescent bay (the pic of the turreted red brick building with the lawn in front).
The first pic and the last two pics are the view of the ocean just outside my hotel. Sweet! The rest of the pics are me walking around town and also some of the gorgeous views from when I hiked to the top of the hill where the statue of Christ was. That hill is taller than it looks and the stairs to get to it go straight up. Whew!
Well that’s all for now. Hope everyone is doing well. Happy Hump Day! Enjoy!
Jeff
The Wandering Italian 