OBSERVATIONS OF SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN

It is the start of 2016 and only now am I posting about a trip I took in August. Shameful. Part of the delay is due to work, but a significant part is I lost the desire to write. I even fell off in my journal! Considering the amount of traveling I did in 2015 I have a lot of catching up to do. What better start than one of my most favorite cities in the world to visit, San Sebastian, Spain!

Now, I wrote observations about turning 40, but I didn’t really talk about in detail where I celebrated my birthday. As far as I know, San Sebastian isn’t as well known as a Spanish tourist destination like Barcelona or Madrid or Southern Spain, but lord have mercy it should be! These are some things I notice every time I visit this city, because I try to visit as often as possible.

If you believe in horoscopes I’m a Virgo. A TRUE Virgo so I’m told. I’m super rational and logical and detest when people try to change my opinion based on emotionally backed arguments. So astrology and crystal energy and past lives is lost on me. Totally 100% lost on me. Or used to be, until I visited San Sebastian... Now, let me explain. The first time I visited San Sebastian was in 2004 with a group of co-workers for a short weekend getaway. We were living in France close to the Spanish border and had heard it was worth checking out. The second we arrived. I’m talking about SECOND I had this overwhelming sense of déjà vu. I was convinced I’d been there before and felt like I was coming home. Crazy right!? It was my first time there, and this was before Trip Advisor and Instagram. I seemed to always know where to go without asking people or having a map. Talk about out of body experience! Some years later, a very good friend of mine convinced me to speak to a psychic. Why? I can’t remember. For sure I had a smirk on my face from the start of the “session” cause I don’t believe in that mumbo jumbo one bit! So blah blah blah the woman is talking and suddenly starts talking about an ex-girlfriend of mine. My friend must have told her about this ex and this scam art..uumm.. psychic is trying to play on my emotions. Long story short she goes on to say my ex and I shared a big love somewhere in the very Northeast corner of Spain and that I have a really strong connection to the region. Now, as I’m so analytical I immediately assumed she’d gleaned this information from my friend, but I’d never told ANYONE how I felt when I was in San Sebastian. Not a single person because it was so unexplainable for a person who is always so focused on how to explain logically. And I hadn’t even started blogging at that point for someone to google me and read up on my travels. WEIRD! But in a way, it did explain my connection with this city. I said all of that to say San Sebastian is in my heart. I always feel as if I’ve come home when I visit. It’s like pure magic when I roam those streets. Those strong feelings I always have when I visit obviously might cloud my observations. And that’s my disclaimer.

First thing I observed about San Sebastian is that it’s like the greatest hits album of your favorite band, but for a country. Seriously. It takes all the things that make Spain great as a whole and packs them all into one city! It has the typical things one would expect from Spain, nice weather, friendly open people, relaxed culture. But then it has other things I’ve never experienced anywhere else in Spain. Part of the reason could be the French at different times controlled the region which adds to the unique culture of the city. I don’t know, but whatever the reason San Sebastian is a city that will always be on repeat for me.    

It has beaches right in the middle of the city. I mean seriously, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY! Not on the outskirts, but directly in the city center. You don’t run to the beach for your morning or evening jog, you start it at the bench as you come out of your apartment. How bada$$ is that?? I’m from Florida and let me tell you, not too many places have the beach in their city center. And for all you non Miami people that say South Beach SHUUD UP! South Beach is NOT Miami. It’s a vey small section of Miami that tourists visit and then say they know Miami. I’m sure there are other cities that have this, but I only know of San Sebastian.  Also, San Sebastian is a great destination for wind surfers. AND if you are a surfer, there is a public bus which takes you to top surfing spots in nearby France. A PUBLIC BUS that takes you to surfing spots in another country!?!? Beat that California!! So if relaxing on the beach isn’t enough for you, you take a scenic bus that costs less than $6 to get to another country to go surfing? Actually, I’m not sure why I’m so excited by that because I don’t lay out on the beach or go surfing or wind surfing. I guess I got excited for all of my white friends for a second. But the thought is beautiful though!

 Then there’s the food. San Sebastian has the second highest concentration of Michelin starred restaurants in the world. The EARTH people! Not the country, but the whole entire planet!! The tapas in San Sebastian are way beyond the simple ham and potatoes variety you find in many Spanish cities. Fresh fish and seafood every day of the week, and chefs who aren’t afraid to throw down in the kitchen?? What?? This city does not play with food. In general Spain is cheap when it comes to dining out, but in San Sebastian you’re definitely going to pay more, but you get more for your money also.

Another thing for me that was very apparent in San Sebastian is there style. I don’t know if it’s due to the French influence or what. But people in San Sebastian are smoooooth. I would put this city up against any other city in Europe for the best dressed. It’s this really nice mix of classy, but not too conservative; stylish, but not too pretentious. It’s a good mix they pull off collectively very well. Which in turn means shopping in San Sebastian is dangerous. Going shopping there is like going out to a bar with that one friend that is borderline alcoholic. You wake up the next morning doing the, “Where’s all my money?” game. You’re walking down the street window shopping and next thing you know you feel the weight of shopping bags holding you down and you have no idea how it happened. Leave your bank cards in the hotel room and only take a minimum amount of cash while you city explore. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

PLUS, the people are welcoming. Ok, I’ve lived in Berlin for the last 9 years so someone from Southern Spain might argue they aren’t. Well these are my observations so deal with it. For me, they are very nice and very welcoming. My first time in San Sebastian over 10 years ago I never once felt like my color was even on the list of things people recognized. I can’t say the same about Madrid my first time there. Now, it’s extremely possible that the history of the Basque Region where San Sebastian is located has something to do with that. It’s almost like they go out of there way to be nice to anyone not from the Madrid region of Spain just to piss off the people of Madrid. A lot. Again, it could just be because of my feelings for this place and I have selective memory. All I’m saying is I feel totally unguarded when I’m walking the streets.

My last observation of San Sebastian.. They have the beach which I mentioned, AND directly overlooking the city they have mountains. I know that's not SO unique, but how many cities have build a theme park at the top of the mountain!?! I sh*t you not people! They have a theme park at the top of a mountain with a view of the entire city!! It's called Monte Igueldo. It's not Disney World but who cares! You're on top of a mountain! I admit, I was a little scared riding the coaster, but I'm glad I did! Me no punk b*tch! I even videoed it here! 

Man, I could go on and on about San Sebastian, but then it would start to sound like a love letter and not independent observations of the city. Which might explain the magic I spoke about earlier. I love this city. If it were a woman it would be the one that got away, but as I get older I’m being drawn back to it with the promise of a reconciliation. No words to really explain it properly, and that’s why you need to visit yourself and experience it first hand.

OBSERVATIONS OF RHODES, GREECE

Thanks to a cheap last minute flight I was able to go to one of the last countries I hadn’t visited yet in Europe. I’d heard so many things about Greece, unfortunately most of it was related to their economic situation at the moment, but I was excited to go. I only went to one small island out of the many Greek Islands so my observations are about Rhodes. Some things may be indicative of Greece as a whole, but I wouldn’t know. With that, I noticed these things about Rhodes while I was there. 

First thing I noticed is that everyone speaks at least some English. That’s hella important because you sure as heck aren’t reading anything in Greek with that weird a$$ alphabet. You might recognize some symbols from the Fraternities and Sororities at your university but that ain’t helping you with finding the interstate or know which is the men’s bathroom.  I lived in Italy, Spain and France and there is no way you’re finding someone speaking anything but the local language when you’re in a small village. Even if you’re in a tourist town it’s still 50/50 in Italy and Spain. France? Forget it. Even in Paris your odds are under 30% you’ll find someone willing to speak to you in a language other than French. But in Rhodes, even the grandmother at the hotel spoke enough English to get her point across. And every English word she knew she told you the Greek equivalent. Considerate, but a total waste of time. Just not one of those languages that’s gonna stick in my head. But I appreciated her effort and she was so cute! 

Another thing you notice about the Greek people on Rhodes is how polite they are! People on islands tend to be nice, but I can’t express just how polite everyone was. Always a thank you, please and you’re welcome every single time. Maybe I found this so amazing because I live in the capital of impoliteness Berlin. Thank you’s here are listed on the menu under starters and smiles can be found on the wine list where the most expensive bottles are on offer. In Rhodes the people were always super friendly and courteous. And it didn’t feel forced as it often does in service dependent areas. I’m from Florida and the biggest industry is tourism. It’s engrained in the psyche of anyone who works in the industry to be polite. Problem is it feels like it’s a front to get a bigger tip. There are some genuine people of course, but in Rhodes EVERYONE felt genuine with their politeness. It made me feel like they actually appreciated not only my business, but me choosing to visit their island. 

Greek women, I noticed them. I’m a man with eyes, of course I’m going to notice! Again, this is only Rhodes so I don’t know how it is on mainland Greece or other islands, but Greek women are hefty! In many European countries you get the feeling women are under-eating to fit a certain beauty standard, not on Rhodes. Women in Rhodes look like they are perfectly OK with eating. I personally LOVED it! Women should have curves and lumps and rounded parts. Never really saw a “thin” woman while I was in Rhodes who was Greek. God bless a culture that makes women feel comfortable in their own skin and don’t feel forced to skip meals. That alone made the trip worthwhile! 

And Greece needs to start a marketing campaign to have their language included in the discussion of sexy languages, seriously. Can’t understand a word they're saying but lord have mercy it sounds so beautiful when they speak it! The cadence is like Italian in certain ways, but they roll their r’s like the Spanish do sometimes. Really a pleasure to listen to Greek people speak to each other. Never would have thought that as I mean honestly, how often do you hear Greek? Or maybe you hear it more often than you think and assume it’s an obscure dialect from Southern Italy. I’m down with the Greek language. 

With every good thing comes some bad. There were a couple of negative things I noticed about Rhodes. The island is super touristy, which isn’t a bad thing, but they haven’t escaped the economic situation at all. Out of every 10 buildings you pass I would say that 6 out of the 10 were unfinished, abandoned or boarded up. It was startling to see the amount of buildings half finished as you drove around the island. They looked liked concrete skeletons warrior tribes had driven deep into the earth to warn trespassers. Was very haunting to see it everywhere you went on the island. Another thing I noticed is that Rhodes apparently is a hotspot for budget British tourism. I’ve lived and worked in England so I know a northern English accent very well. Sometimes I felt like I was in Liverpool or Manchester. English people by and large are very nice and a pleasure to be around. It’s just warm sunny weather and alcohol in my experience is not always the best mix with Northern English folk. It’s like God blessed people from Northern England with a trumpet for vocal cords and the more they drink the more powerful it becomes. You can hear a group of them miles away! The men fairly tame, but the women!? They are like a gaggle of geese! Did you know geese can actually be dangerous? They were used as guard animals in the middle ages. I for one would rather walk through a pitch black basement at Halloween then walk past a group of older drunk Manchester women. It’s like they channel all the anger women who walk past construction sites have to endure from men and give it back tenfold. Scary stuff. Very very scary stuff. 

Ok, back to the positives. The food!! I personally wasn’t always so impressed with Greek food before. But then again I was never in Greece before. Whoa! Every place I ate at, can’t speak for the people I traveled with, was well prepared and tasted amazing! I’m a big baby when it comes to certain things and my baby factor goes up a factor of ten when I’m faced with things that look like they could still be alive when I’m going to eat it. A chicken breast does not look like an actual chicken, same for a pork souvlaki. But squid and octopus.. eeeh, no thanks. And when they arrange it to look like it’s still alive on the plate? Nooooo. Noooooooooo. No no no. But I tried a piece, with my eyes closed, and I have to admit it was GOOD! I was impressed. And the desserts?? WHAT?! I wish I could remember the names, but even if I could my keyboard only has Latin characters so I probably couldn’t even type it out. But as a self confessed sugar addict I was in HEAVEN! They were all so light and fluffy! Perfect for eating more than one! And the prices in Rhodes were CHEAP! Not reasonable, but downright cheap! Funny thing is the only thing I ate that was below average and a bit expensive? A gyro. Weird right? The group of people I traveled with didn’t skip on anything. We always had beer and/or wine, starters, main course and most of the time dessert and we rarely paid more than €20 per person WITH tip. Can’t complain about that at all. 

One more thing I observed about Rhodes are the beaches. The beaches were nice, nothing to

St. Paul's Bay Rhodes

complain about at all. I did notice two things though that you immediately pick up on at any beach you go to. The first is that there is very little shore. Of course I didn’t visit EVERY beach on Rhodes but I saw enough. What I mean is, you went into the water a few feet away from the shore than WHOOP! That’s it, no more bottom. But the water was HELLA salty. That was actually perfect with how quickly it got deep. The saltier the water the easier it is to float. In Rhodes I overcame one of my biggest fears and swam out from a protected harbor into the middle of the open sea. I’ve always been terrified of the open sea and decided that day I was going to overcome my fear. I posted on Facebook afterwards that I “swam” about a mile in total. In reality I more like doggy paddled. When I got tired I just turned over on my back, relaxed and floated. It was very peaceful and soothing. Scarier than a muthafucca too because I kept imagining a shark coming up from the depths biting one of my booty cheeks off. But hey, I still was out in the open sea no matter how I got there and lived to tell about it. Personally, I plan on going back to Rhodes soon to explore parts of the island I missed the first time around. 

Ok, ok, my last observation is I never once saw a police officer in Rhodes. There were all these little small car and scooter rental places all over the island. A lot of them looked shady as fuuuuuck! Like they didn’t ask for any kind of driver license and preferred you paid in cash. Swear I saw an 8 year old on a quad once, alone, just gunning it and doing donuts on the beach. And  NO ONE was wearing a helmet on their scooters or quads. I just assumed it was like Florida and there was a no helmet law. Asked a local and they said in theory there was a strict helmut law for Rhodes. Where in the heck the police were I have no idea. Maybe they hadn’t gotten paid yet from the state and were like, “Fuck it! I ain’t doin SHIT until I get paid! They can kiss my hairy Greek ass!” Even at the police station in the town we were at, never a police officer. No police car, no police coming in or out, no sign that the station was even open if you wanted to go in and look for a police officer. Damnedest thing I’ve (never not) seen. 

OBSERVATIONS OF SARDINIA and CORISCA

Many moons ago I used worked in Sardinia. I loved it so much I tried to get a job there so I could live there on a permanent basis. Alas it didn’t work out. But I was excited to be able to go back and explore the parts of the island I didn’t get a chance to see when I lived there. Corsica had always been on my list and I decided it was now or never. These are my observations of these two incredible islands that even though very close together are worlds apart due to their food, culture and landscapes. 

SARDINIA

When I worked in Sardinia I was always at the very south, Cagliari. On this trip I decided to explore the North around Olbia. Here are the things I noticed about North Sardinia. Well, the first thing I noticed was on the plane from Berlin and it wasn’t a very nice observation for me. There were A LOT of young kids on the plane ride over, young meaning 5 and under. “What’s his problem with young kids?”. Nothing, I have absolutely no problem with young children. I hope to have at least one of my own one day in the near future. But I can’t STAND loud screaming obnoxious  spoiled kicking my seat like it’s a football rotten kids. Luckily the flight was only about 2 hours. Any longer and I might’ve hurt a parent for allowing their little monsters to run around the plane like that. Another passenger told me that a lot of German families hit Costa Smeralda for their vacations. Costa Smeralda is close to the major city of Olbia and very close to the airport. Needless to say I knew I wasn’t going to be spending too much time there. I did however spend most of my time in a small town called San Teodoro. It’s about 30 minutes south of Olbia and in my opinion the best place to use as a base to discover the Northern part of Sardinia. 

As I used to live and work in Italy I learned enough Italian to get by without any problems which is always helpful in Italy. If you don’t speak any Italian you’ll be able to get by, but you are going to have to work for it. Most menus are in multiple languages, but whether or not the waiter will be able to understand your questions about the menu is a totally different thing. But hey, vacation stories are always better with one funny story about misunderstanding something on the menu. I lucked out through and my roommate spent many summers in San Teodoro and told his friends to expect me. The town was READY when I got there. At the restaurant he told me his friends owned they had a table reserved when I got there, WHA WHA!! Seriously, what is in the water that makes island people so dang nice!? I have yet to visit an island where the people weren’t super friendly and welcoming. Somebody needs to breakdown the chemical components so I can bring it here to Berlin and sell it! Friends of my roommate dropped by to talk and give advice on the best places to go and compare schedules to see if they had time to give private tours. Lovely lovely people all of them. I went at the end of May beginning of June so the island was preparing for the tourist season. When I’d worked in Cagliari it was always the end of August beginning of September. This leads me to my second observation of Sardinia.

End of May/early part of June take a sweater or light jacket. It gets a bit nippy in the evenings. On the very tip of Sardinia where you can see Corsica in the distance it was even dare I say, cold in the evenings. That wind is no joke! I’m not a bodybuilder, but I’m not small either. The wind was strong enough to push me along a few times. Bring something warm or you’ll be adding to the local economy buying warm clothes for the evening. I came from Berlin so I had a jacket and sweater but there were a lot of tourists who were surprised.

Me at Santa Terese di Gallura

The beaches in Sardinia are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Period. I haven’t visited Southeast Asia yet or the Philippines. Hence me using “I’ve ever seen.” You could go to a beach, be amazed, then go to another beach just 2 minutes away from that first beach and it would look totally completely different! Felt like you were moving from country to country and not just beach to beach. Another great thing about Sardinian beaches is the color of the water. Whoa! I’ve seen photoshopped images of water that color before but in real life? The greenest greens and the bluest blues I’d ever seen. And CLEAR! Went on a boat tour and you end up at a secluded beach you can only reach by boat. One poor kid thought since the boat was close to shore he could just jump out and walk the rest of the way. It looked like knee deep water and I almost did the same thing he did. Luckily I move slower in my older age and the kid jumped out first. WOOSH! Looked like he was in a special effects movie with how far he kept going down. Talk about a WTF moment! Boat driver said the water was over 6 meters deep! That’s almost 20ft for my US readers ;-) But that was the only beach like that. All the other beaches I visited you could walk out half a mile into the sea and still be only in waist deep water. For a black person you can’t ask for better beaches than that! Super clear water so I can see sharks and super shallow so I can run back to shore just in case I do see something I’m afraid of. Only sorta kinda bad thing? The water was COLD! I think in the 6 or 7 days I was in Sardinia I went into the water maybe 2 times. When I say in the water I mean walking into it at all. My feet went instantly numb the first time I went in so that was pretty much enough for me. I took some nice photos of me standing directly at the waters edge. More than enough thank you very much.  

I know I already spoke about how nice the people are but it deserves special attention. The people were so nice a part of you thought they were trying to scam you. At one point I missed a bus I needed to catch after the rental car was turned in. No surprise I missed some form of transportation. A taxi driver offered to drive me where I needed to go but it was like €85 for what was a €7 bus trip. I decided to wait for the next bus which was like 5 hours later. When the taxi driver realized I was OK with waiting he kept on trying to give me tips for things I could do while I waited. At first I was like, “Back up homie.” I get uncomfortable when people invade my personal space! But he kept recommending and I finally relaxed and caved. He told me about a restaurant close by and I went. One of the BEST decisions I made on the whole trip! Was a REAL husband & wife place. While the wife cooked the kids did their homework in the kitchen with her. Talk about home cooking! The husband was telling me about all these places I needed to visit and people I should call once I got there. It was like visiting cousins family introduced you to online and you were meeting for the first time. In other places I visited things you had to pay for were not only free in Sardinia, but they were a little offended you thought they would charge you for it. How can you not love that!? 

Ok, my last observation of Sardinia is the food. Very very simple menu but always cooked with such a high skill it made it seem like you were eating at a Michelin restaurant. Perfect example of why people should be using fresh and local ingredients when they cook. Basic stuff I cook myself just tasted 20 times better when I was there. 

CORSICA

Ok, so let me begin my observations of Corsica what I ended with Sardinia, food. But before I begin I

Bonifacio, Corsica

have to say I didn’t spend as many days there as I planned. Due to loving Sardinia more than I thought and staying an extra day I didn’t see nearly enough of Corsica. Also an unexpected French holiday which meant absolutely no public transportation happening also limited my Corsican experience. 

So, Corsica is a French island while Sardinia is Italian. Italian food is amazing. I love it thru and thru. French food is a cuisine as I always tell people. It’s more complicated with many more layers. Some people like it, some think it’s too much. I lived in France before so I knew what to expect. In saying that, the food in Corsica was on some nother other level! Steak was rarely on the menu in Sardinia, but in Corsica it was always one of the main dishes. When in Rome.. Lord have mercy that steak I had in Corsica! If my mom would’ve asked me for a bite I would’ve had to think long and hard before I gave her a piece. I never knew beef could melt in your mouth like that! I could cut the dang meat with my SPOON it was so tender! Every restaurant had proper COURSES. The last place I ate in Corsica I ordered Guinea fowl on what I would have to describe as a golden lawyered potato cake. The waitress tried to take it before I’d eaten licked the plate clean and I almost karate chopped her in the throat! When food makes you consider resorting to being stingy with your momma and violence you know it’s good! Say what you want to about the French, but they throw DOWN in the kitchen!

Another thing you notice very quickly about Corsica is that it has more class and this definite elegant undertone that Sardinia doesn’t have. It’s not better, just different. Without anyone saying anything you automatically want to dress up a bit more when you go out for dinner in the evening. Coming from Berlin with its constant laid back casual style it was a nice change. I personally liked it and appreciated the people there stepping out looking well put together. Normally island folk are always casually dressed, not so much in Corsica. If anyone was dressed super casual you knew they were a tourist and not a local. All the time would be a bit too much for me but for the time I was there I appreciated it. 

The people. Yes. Well Corsicans are certainly nice, I mean it is an island after all. But at the end of the day they are French. There was still this very palpable distance with the people in Corsica. Could’ve had something to do with the language. Very few people spoke English and I don’t speak French. Normally you go somewhere where you don’t speak the language you ask young people. In this day and age most young people listen to English music and have contact with the language often enough they have a basic command, normally. No, not in Corsica. I would ask people, in French, did they speak English. They would answer “A little bit”, then proceed to speak in very fast French to answer my question. Wait. What? How does that work?? I ask you if you speak English, you say yes then proceed to only speak to me in French? And they didn’t even try to speak to me like I was deaf and dumb, meaning veeeery slooooow and loudly. Nope. They just spoke to me like I was born and raised in Paris and would understand everything they said to me. The only places people spoke English was in the hotels. As soon as you left the hotels French. Yeah, a bit more difficult to communicate than in Sardinia. 

What’s interesting is, as cultured as the cities and towns of Corsica are, the nature and landscape is WILD. In Sardinia you get the feeling the island has been run through with a comb. Like it’s been tamed to a certain degree, not in Corsica at all. Has this very real sense of wildness and rawness to it. I personally loved the contrast it creates between the cities and open spaces. That wildness though? Fucked my allergies UP! The last time I had an allergy attach THAT bad was well… in France! Years ago when I lived there near Lyon. I took allergy medicine the entire time I was in Corsica and double the normal dose when I felt the attack coming on. Didn’t help in the least. My eyes swole up so bad it looked like I’d smoked out on purple haze for 2 days straight! I was so congested I had to breathe through my mouth and still sounded like Darth Vader. I sneezed 19 times in a row with no break, TWICE! Just achooachooachooachooachooachooachooachooachoo. I was a HOT mess! To make matters worse, that was the day I was trying to catch a bus to another town and no one told me that it was a French holiday so nothing was running and all the car rental places were closed. I was standing at a bus station all alone looking like homeless junky cause I couldn’t see well enough to walk back to the city center to get another hotel. I had to wait it out until the swelling went down in my eyes enough for me to see which was oooh about 3hrs. Surprised no one called the police on me! Not the best memory of Corsica but I go back I’m taking a kilo of medicine in case that happens again!