Gigantes

Jo’s sister was here over the weekend, which was lovely. We drank too much wine and coffee, debated the merits of Russel Brand and Jane Austen, and Jo and I had an opportunity to show off a bit. I think we’ve fallen in love with this city so much that we’re like people in the irritating early stages of a relationship. All I want to do is talk about how much I love Pamplona, and how wonderful it is, and oh, it did the funniest thing the other day. Sigh. 

The Monday was a public holiday, something to do with San Saturnino, and the Gigantes were broken out for the occasion;

These are representations of saints and kings and queens, and the kids love them. There are also these guys

who wander through the crowds, hitting people with rubber balls on strings. They’re hilarious to watch, partly because they quite often manage to sneak up behind people and smack them around the face (don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt – I’m one of those who was sneaked up on), but also because the reaction of kids to them is fear mingled with hilarity. As they approach the kids, you can see the reaction swinging wildly between gibbering terror and hysterical glee, and there are those great moments of tears turning to laughter and back to tears in the space of a few seconds. 

We hung around for a while but nothing seemed to be happening and we had planned to go to San Sebastian that day, so we left. Then, as we were pulling out of the bus station the parade of Gigantes appeared

(there were more people, these were just the participants who had managed to get separated from the main flow)

Then we were off to San Sebastian. If there’s anywhere that could compete with my love for Pamplona it’s San Sebastian. It is just the prettiest city I’ve ever seen, and it is just as charming in the winter as it was in summer. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago part of the seawall collapsed due to the huge waves, killing some people (the day after we were there with my mum, which was a bit spooky), so a lot of it was closed off. Obviously it was a tragedy and I really don’t mean to sound callous, but it was a pity that we couldn’t walk all the way around as it was such a beautiful day. The first time we went there was sunny and warm and sparkly, and it was almost as sparkly the other day, though this time it was the sparkliness of frost and bitter winds. There was even some frost on the rock platform;

We had a bit of a wander around, and looked at the marina;

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the cement museum or the aquarium, which I love Instead, we ate some pinchos, and then I fell over. Not because of the pinchos though. I wasn’t looking where I walking and my feet got tangled in one of those plastic straps bundles of newspaper get wrapped in, and I went straight down, face first. Because I am extremely shallow, my first thought was ‘oh no, I’ve broken my iPod’, and it wasn’t til a few seconds later that I thought ‘ow, that really hurt’. Happily, I had not in fact broken my beloved iPod, and I also discovered that chivalry is not dead in San Sebastian. I was immediately scooped up by some nice men who looked very concerned, especially as the shock had forced all my Spanish words out of my head and all I could think to do was sob pathetically and say ‘gracias’ in reply to their questions, so I think they probably thought I’d given myself a concussion. I don’t think I had, though, because a fish on a bike will never find me, blurbledurblewurble. So yeah, no concussion, and no lasting damage except for a gratifyingly large bruise on my knee that has got me out of playing volleyball yet again with the exchange students, all of whom are much lither and fitter than me, and who are young enough that the sight of me crying hysterically in confusion as sport takes place around me has the potential to cause them psychological damage. I’m doing them a favour, really.

Sorry, I got a bit side tracked there. Where are we after all that? Oh yes. In summary, the fiesta of San Saturnino has big heads and grievous bodily harm against small children and unwary tourists, San Sebastian has boats and frost, and I probably don’t have concussion.

San Sabastian

We’d had a bit of a big night at the uni orientation bash the night before. In fact, after this photo;

it all becomes a bit of a blur. I seem to remember having a ‘who has the poshest/most colonial accent’ competition with a Portuguese guy who had been to some sort of English boarding school in Lisbon. We also met a Portuguese girl who was aghast at the fact that Jo and I have been married for two years now, and still don’t have children. I think I managed to stop myself from making a Catholic joke. Then we decided that smoking heavily was a good idea (sorry Mum, if you’re reading). After this we stumbled back to the hostel we were staying in. Luckily all the other people staying in our dorm room were exchange students and had been to the same party, and had been kicked out at the same time, so we didn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of drunkenly waking up a room full of people. 

I’m old now, and extremely married, and my idea of a good night out these days is a nice meal and a bottle or two of wine, and the days when a bucket of beer and a fistful of fags seemed like an ideal way to spend an evening are behind me. So this was the first time in a long, long time that I’d been so drunk that I couldn’t see straight. It was horrible. Why do people do it to themselves? Though if nothing else it reminded me of why I usually stick to drinking an amount of alcohol that I would actually be able to lift unaided. 

Anyway, the next day was the trip to San Sebastian. We were not feeling our best. Someone offered to take our picture;

I may never forgive them. 

But it was an almost hyperbolically lovely day in San Sebastian, and it really is the most unreasonably beautiful city, sparkling and sunny and clean and with a slightly wholesome air about it. And if we could love it so much with the kind of hangovers that make you think you’re going to vomit on the bus, so your wife gives your her handbag to be sick in (that’s true love), it must be something special. 

We did try to do outdoors sightseeing, but the natural light burned our dehydrated skin, and the gentle breezes felt like sandpaper on our bloodshot eyes, so we took refuge in the aquarium. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you ever find yourself in San Sebastian. 

They have one of those great glass tube dealies that lets you feel that you’re in the water with the fish, without having to encase yourself in shamefully revealing neoprene, or admit to everyone that those goggles make your face feel weird and that you’d rather not put your head underwater.

Some zoos and aquariums make you feel sad for the animals that live there – they seem listless and unhappy. But all the animals in the San Sebastian aquarium were frisky and sleekly healthy, and the displays were clearly very well thought out, and well maintained. I was especially enamoured of the seahorses (I did take some pictures, but they seem to have disappeared from my camera). They're just the most ridiculously improbable animals, and the way they float about with their undersized fins whirring furiously makes them look like little clockwork toys. Proof that evolution has a whimsical sense of humour.  

They also had a display of baby sharks still in their egg sacs, which was fascinating;

Then, my personal favourite, the jellyfish;

Then, as we were walking back to the bus, we stumbled across this parade. We’re not entirely sure what it was about other than that it was some sort of Basque thing, but it was nice to see so many young people involved in it, seemingly of their own free will;

On balance, it was a pretty good day. I saw seahorses and jellyfish, and a parade, and at the end of it my handbag was not filled with sick, and I don’t know that you can ask for more than that.