Goodbye Portugal, holá Spain!

At seven o’clock I got up, took the dogs out for a longer walk, then while they were having breakfast I  packed our things, had breakfast, and did the dishes. At 8:48 Portuguese time we set off. That’s 9:48 Spanish time. In the valley there was a milky-white fog; I could see only as much as was enough to be able to “speed along” in second gear. As we went up the winding road, it kept getting brighter, and up on the hilltop the sun was already shining. The view that greeted us there?! Sunshine above, and below us, just a few meters down, dense fog. It was magical. I kept stopping, apologizing to the dogs. You cannot not capture this; I want to remember it for as long as I live.

Then we reached the so-called “Douro Interior,” I couldn’t get over the view. In one place there was a ten-meter pull-over lane where motorcyclists were standing and photographing what I definitely wanted to capture too. “This is wonderful!” I said to them. “Yes, Portugal is beautiful!” they replied, and you couldn’t help but agree. Portugal’s natural endowments are breathtaking, wonderful. You have to come back again and again. This was my first trip here, but I’m completely sure it won’t be the last. The Douro Valley deserves at least two weeks — just on its own, with full devotion. I’ve never seen anything like this anywhere; this place has a huge effect on me, and I KNOW that this first meeting of ours is just the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Thank you, Douro Valley! Thank you for showing the “miracle-making” of nature and humans in harmony.

We had a six-and-a-half-hour journey ahead of us, and the dogs performed their task perfectly. We stopped three times and arrived at our accommodation in San Sebastián at half past five in the evening. The hotel does not have its own parking lot, but they have an agreement with a nearby parking garage where guests can park for €20.50 instead of €28.50 per day. However, in order to get this special card, which allows me to enter and exit several times a day, I first had to check in and bring in our stuff. The hotel was located in one of the "bays" of a roundabout. All I could do was park at a bus stop opposite it, let the dogs out to relieve themselves, and walk to the hotel reception. An English gentleman was checking in at the time and had a thousand questions... while apologizing to me for getting on my nerves. I couldn't be angry with him, his questions were justified. It's so funny, because when he heard my English, he thought I was German because he said "Entschuldigung!" (Excuse me). When I moved to Canada, my German was much better than my English, and many people thought I was German or French. Since my dear David died, I've been speaking more German than English, and it seems that my German accent has crept back into my English. I don't notice it myself, but I accept it from someone who speaks multiple languages. It's not a problem as long as people understand what I'm trying to say.

Finally, we managed to check in, I took the dogs up to our room, quickly brought up another load of stuff from the car, then went to the parking garage with the dogs and the only things left to carry were my computer, the basket, and a bag. Zserbo was on a leash, Panka was free. Based on what I've seen so far, I really like this Basque city. It's clean, there's lots of green space, separate recycling bins everywhere, and lots of pedestrian crossings. The people are pretty. Donostia-San Sebastián (Donosti in Basque, San Sebastián in Spanish) has a population of about 180,000. Everything is written in two languages everywhere. The Basque language is unlike any other; it is not Indo-European. It is an agglutinative language of unknown origin. According to the vast majority of empirical research, it is not related to any other living language. Yet it has survived. It is very interesting. The city is an important center for trade, tourism, and logistics. It is the richest region in Spain after Madrid. The Basques are as hard-working and industrious as the Swabians in Germany, but - on top of that - they also cook divinely. I learned this from someone I know very well, whose information is completely reliable, because she has been here and she recommended this city to me.

In the evening, I took the dogs for a nice little walk and at ten o'clock we went to bed — all three of us were tired, it had been a long journey. Oh, and Panka stands up like a horse the whole time we are driving. I don't know why. She'll probably have muscle ache tomorrow.