Spain-Wheels up to Barcelona & Hernani!
September in Spain is LOVELY.
September in some parts of the U.S however, is hurricane season and as our departure date drew near, Hurricane Florence was busting her move in the South. Our connecting flight was in Charlotte, North Carolina…. where the eye of the storm was supposed to be on the same day as our flight would be. I called the airline and asked to switch to a different connecting city and it was a good thing I had thought to do this otherwise, we would have had some serious delays. We got the last few seats on that flight and this change in schedule meant that my husband had to drop us off at the airport 3 hours away in the middle of the night.
obligatory and bad photo of us leaving for the airport
The boys and I spent the night in the airport (a recurring theme for me when I travel, it seems) and our flight left at 6 am.
No one is sleeping as we await departure. We are too excited.
Wheels up, Barcelona or Bust!
The first stretch of our trip would be spent in the Basque region where our friend Jaimé lives. We arrived in Barcelona with a few hours to kill before our flight to San Sebastián so we stored our luggage and hopped on a shuttle to wander the Gotic Barrio and Las Ramblas. This is the most ancient part of the city and also one of the most touristic. It’s where you are most likely to get pick pocketed so if you visit Las Ramblas, please do pay attention. I’ll fill you in on Barcelona neighborhoods in a later post.
It was quite crowded and we were ready for a slower pace.
Jambón Ibérico is everywhere in Spain. It’s a thing and they are proud of their ham! This shop was in the Gotic neighborhood.
Our flight to San Sebastián was only an hour long and we were greeted at the airport by an exuberant and completely unchanged, Jauma (Jaimé). It had been 20 years since we saw him last and I swear not one thing about him was different. Still the same joyful and hilarious friend with a wide grin and relaxed persona.
Jaimé’s brother was kind enough to let us use his apartment located in Hernani, for the night since Jaimé’s home is outside of town and we were tired form 50+ hours of very little sleep.
We had a late dinner and crashed out ready for our first real day in Spain.
Jaimè picked us up the next morning and took us on a tour of his home town, Hernani.
Hernani
Hernani is an important enclave within the Road to Santiago, just 10 km (or 6.2 miles) outside of San Sebastian, it is the biggest and most important of the towns with strong tradition in the artisan production of Basque cider. Over 100 cider houses (called sagardotegiak) can be found in Hernani.. During cider season (traditionally starting the Friday before 20 January and lasting until the end of May) the locality welcomes numerous visitors who come from Gipuzkoa and neighboring towns to the cider houses.
There was some sort of parade or festival occurring on this day but I can’t remember what it was called. We stopped to watch the parade of singers pass by and to pet Ferdinand (the bull).
On one of the streets in town we found folks dressed in traditional Basque clothing set up at a table outside making Talo, a basque flat bread that is almost like a thick tortilla. I loved watching their hands carry on this tradition.
Traditions being shared with passersby
If you are visiting in the summer, check out this site which explains the different festivals you can attend!
El Camino de Santiago
Hernani is a rest stop for those who are hiking the Camino de Santiago (The way of St. James). Hikers can spend anywhere form 7-3o days on the trail and it has an interesting history. The trail has been in existence for thousands of years and moves through France to Spain. The trail leads spiritual pilgrims to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela, a city in Galicia (Spain). It’s believed that the body of the apostle Saint James was buried in the cathedral of Santiago. There is a vast network of trails with starting points in France, Portugal and Spain, depending on which particular route you’re interesting in taking.
I have read many accounts of how wonderful this trail is but I found some really great information on why this trail is actually not as wonderful as it has been touted. It has become a big business and hugely popular, sounding more like a social event than the spiritual pilgrimage it used to be (for some though, I’m sure it still is). If you are planning on hiking the Camino, I suggest checking out this person’s account of why it actually sucks.
Hernani is a wonderful town to visit. There are plenty of shops and restaurants but no crowds! This blog post would be FAR TOO LONG if I continued to write about our day so I’ll leave you with this introduction. Next week we will visit San Sebastián !
If you missed last week’s post on the big birthday surprise, you might find it entertaining so check it out!