Fleeing North

My first week in Madrid was filled with endless tapas trips with fellow expatriates to dawn, early mornings walks to the metro, ginormous marketing reports, enough cafe con leche to kill a small(or a large) animal, enough culture and history to fill a library, enough strange and delightful food to satiate even the toughest critics, and late night walks to the metro with tired legs and a sun-drained mind. And after all this, it is time for me to take refuge on the sandy beaches of La Concha in San Sebastian.

To my understanding Northern Spain is referred to as the Basque region and it comes complete with its own culture including food (pinxtos), history, and dialect. A highly contested region (claiming a separate identity from Spain), it was  among the first to be ravaged during the brutal Spanish Civil War and within it lies the subject of Picasso's most famous work, Guernica. Bilbao also has an interesting history due to its proximity to France. Bilbao and regions in the South of France have exchanged many ideas and people across the Pyrenees and their coastline is the same. San Sebastian specifically, opens up into a calm bay and is protected by an arc of mountains. Many a time has it served the same purpose of retreat that it will soon serve me.

I plan to use this northern utopia as a respite from lively Madrid. I will make this trip alone as sub-escape. Though I don't expect San Sebastian to be any less lively, I am very excited about enjoying the restorative effects of the ocean. I also plan to jog to the top of Mont Urgull, hailed to be the best view in the world, and visit the centuries old churches. I will read on the beach, work on my Spanish tan, and maybe get to work on that novel I am always talking about. I will drift into the water on my back and look back on the beautiful promenade just as Hemingway did. And on the six hour bus ride home, I will sleep with the peacefulness that only a free man can feel.

San Sebastian, here I come...........