On the train somebody said "are you sure it´s still happening tonight? it´s been going all week, i think last night was the last night..." at which point we all realized we had no idea, contemplated getting off the train at the next stop and not bothering. eventually decided to cross our fingers and hope for the best. hopes were heightened when a group of children in costume boarded the train a few stations down the line, and we knew we were in the right place when we got off at Tolosa station and started seeing sights like this:
It was like halloween but with a team theme, we saw groups of chickens, obese synchronized swimmers, gay orchestras, vikings (with a huge boat float, it spewed out smoke and everything. like a viking disco) and children in animal costumes:
There was a whole group of people in blackface which was...interesting:
We went dancing in a little bar and this kid went loco and tried to kill us all!
Lots and lots of marching bands all over town:
Scary clowns:
And, finally, dubious foreigners attempting to blend in:
We drank massive 7 Euro beers, met up with one guy´s spanish teacher and her friends, danced on a sawdust covered floor, wandered around taking it all in, dancing in the street, grabbing a couple candles and joining the sardine´s funeral procession which wound all through the town finally ending up in a square where we watched them bury the sardine:
The blurriness of the photos is entirely due to the darkness, and has no connection to the volume of beer that was consumed over the course of the evening.
Eventually, maybe around 1? we decided it was time to head home and went to the train station only to discover that it was closed and there were no late trains tonight. Taxi or hotel? Hotel or taxi? We decided on the taxi option which was an adventure in speed (i´m sure he was going 150 km).
The next day we all got up sort of late, and went wandering around town later in the afternoon, drinking beer on the beach and climbing the hill when the sun same out and we saw sights like this:
That night I joined in on the ´regular´ wednesday poker game (currently in week number 2)....I don´t know how to play poker but that didn´t stop me from winning my very first hand with a full house. After screwing up several hands by bidding out of order and forgetting to BURN before I TURNED I finally got the hang of it, sort of. I won a couple more hands but that didn´t stop me from losing my 5 euros after a couple hours. Oh well, I was there for the cheap scotch anyway.
The next day went to Bilbao with Rianne, a nice young lady from Edmonton and my roommate in San Sebastian...the bus ride is ridiculously expensive to get there (16 euros round trip) and I don´t have much to say about Bilbao itself but yes, the Guggenheim is a magnificent building. Unfortunately the entire second floor was closed because they´re installing an exhibit but they had a couple of really really nice Rauschenberg things on display and a GREAT exhibit of photographs - 4 rooms full of photos of or featuring hands. Some of it was really beautiful.
Then we went back to the hostel where I developed a ridiculously high fever and went to bed early (I also had to catch an 8:30 train to Madrid), and was not able to take part in that night´s festivities...all I know is that they came home around 4 a.m....I wonder what kind of mischief they all got up to?
Conclusion: San Sebastian...A very good time, and I didn´t even eat much tapas.
2 comments:
hee, the ape was like a little tiny kid in a hairy suit holding an inflatable club. it was precious.
wow...the office just keeps changing...
i think that dude in blue is aleister crowley! :o
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