San Sebastian is a seaside resort city in the Basque Country not far from the French border and has long been a favorite place for the Spanish royal family to summer. The city is also a major culinary center with supposedly more Michelin stars per capita than any other city in the world and some of Spain's top restaurants and most famous star chefs. That’s all a little beyond my price range, but I can say from experience that normal meals that can be afforded by us ordinary mortals are really good in San Sebastian too.

San Sebastian’s setting of ocean, bay, seaside hills, beaches, a river mouth, and promenades makes it look to me like a miniature version of Rio de Janeiro, right down to the statue of Jesus on top of Mount Urgell and the surfer culture . The city has a small dense historic old core near the pleasure craft and fishing port at the base of Mount Urgell, which is topped by a fort, as well as an elegant belle Epoque late 19^th century city center. Beyond that stately hotels and casinos line promenades along the city’s three beautiful beaches. This is a high class resort city, not your average beach town.

San Sebastian served as my staging city for my trek, so in my four days there I was more concerned with preparing for the trek than conventional sightseeing or beaching, although it was very tempting to give surfing another try. One such need I was not able to fill at home or in Madrid was obtaining detailed topographical maps for my intended route through the Pyrenees lest I get lost and become Europe’s next Ice Man. I asked where I might be able to get such maps while checking in at the Keitxo Hostel in the Old Town. Fortunately, the manager, a young Basque Jake Gyllenhaal lookalike named Ion, was a mountaineer who had in recent years trekked the GR 10 and GR11 routes through the Pyrenees . He not only told me where there was book/map store specializing in travel and mountaineering but eagerly walked me there, helped me find all the maps I needed, and got me a 10% discount with his frequent shopper’s card. Nonetheless, it still set me back 100 Euros and added significant weight to my backpack but well worth it if it keeps me from taking the wrong trails.

I spent my first day in town, a beautiful sunny Saturday, walking the beachfront promenades and taking in the lively atmosphere of Old Town, especially around the Plaza de la Constitucion. A few days later I took a short hike up Mount Urgell for some great panoramic views of the area and the Bahia La Concha, the shell-shaped Bay which San Sebastian surrounds. Among the many really nice things about San Sebastian are the modern sculptures by Basque artist Eduardo Chillida along the seafront, including rust-red metal protrusions he called "wind combs". Also nice is the fact that the city is not completely overrun by northern European sun seekers who prefer the hotter sunnier weather of Spain’s Mediterranean Coast to the cooler and frequently rainy weather on the Ba of Biscay. I can’t complain, though. The weather in San Sebastian was consistently beautiful for me.