Donostiako Auzoak: Antiguo

The Antiguo neighborhood of Donostia feels like its own separate city with about 21,000 residents. It begins just behind the Miramar Palace and stretches out over a mostly hilly area.

Because much of Antiguo is built on a hillside, and the buildings are often very close together, walking through this area feels as if the city is rising up to meet you, as in the movie Inception. It would not be possible for this to work in a slightly colder climate since ice would make it impassable.

Antiguo is said to have begun as a separate town in the 1200s in association with a monastery and it eventually became part of Donostia. I have met people from this neighborhood who will tell you they are from Antiguo, not Donostia.

The Park of Serafin Baroja, named in honor of a Basque writer/mining engineer who had several children who also became famous writers. Many notable artists and writers from this part of the world have a day job and a serious artistic devotion to the Basque language that they express on the side. Antiguo has a very urban feel at the bottom of the hill, but as you climb, it is possible to run into extensive forested sections with few or no people.   

The neighborhood pelota court. Serafin Baroja is said to have coined the term Americans are more familiar with w/r/t this game, i.e., "jai alai," which is actually somewhat nonsensical in Basque.

A poster on the door at  the church of Saint Sebastian, Martyr at the edge of Antiguo that says "I want to work." The sponsor is Caritas, a Catholic relief agency that has had its hands full even in these parts of late.

The most distinctive building in Antiguo is the seminary at the very top of the hill. Built in the 40s to train priests from around the Basque Country, the back half is now devoted to an elementary school as religious vocations are now even less popular here than in the U.S.

A view of the Igeldo neighborhood.

Antiguo is full of alleys and unexpected vantages, and it is easy to find strange new places every time you go there, only to follow the hill back down to the city center in a few minutes.

Astundu

September 11th is the day of the Catalan nation (see AP photo), and this year, Catalan independentists formed a human chain that was hundreds of kilometers long. Naturally, not everyone was happy with this show of sentiment. People in our neck of the woods are watching closely and expressing their own views on the proposed reforms. The retirement society building across the street posted this sign indicating their lack of support for those who would cut their pensions. Coincidentally, Lasarte hosted a heavy metal concert this week, bringing out the best in William Wallace-style fashion, goat head-adorned microphones, "shrunken" (beauty school mannequin) heads and burning crosses. It was a fete for all ages, which had to be moved under the tents/plastic wrap when it started raining. 

Berrobiko festak

Berrobi is a small town; a lot of it looks like this.

St. Augustine is the town patron saint (not my first choice, either).

Winners of gizon proba (man test), a team stone-moving contest, spray champagne in celebration.