Getting Ready to Go

Hello and welcome to my blog, "Pavlin in Donostia". Donostia is the Basque language (Euskara) name for the Spanish resort city of San Sebastián on the north coast of Spain, in the Basque Country, very close to the French border. (See map)

In January, 2010, I applied for and received a grant from the Fund for Teachers (www.fundforteachers.org) to spend two weeks in this beautiful city on the Bahía de Concha (Kontxako Badia in Euskara) in the Basque province of Guipúzcoa.

Long a sleepy fishing village which had briefly been an important merchant port in the thirteenth century, Donostia was given new life in the the mid-nineteenth century. Taking her cue from Napoléon III and the Empress Eugénie who'd transformed the nearby French coastal village of Biarritz into a resort of international renown, Queen Isabella II chose San Sebastían as her summer residence. Her presence brought new life and caché to Donostia and for decades, San Sebastían rivaled Biarritz, Deauville, Venice and Nice as the summer destination of choice for Europe's wealthy and royal movers and shakers. With the 20th century came the collapse of the old order and a new generation of bankers, senators, film stars and industrialists found different beaches to play on. Donostia has remained a popular destination, however, for people around the world who come here for the beauty of the town and surrounding countryside as well as for cultural events such as the San Sebastían International Film Festival, the Semana Grande which is an international fireworks constest, and Basque Week. None of these events will be taking place during the time I am in Donostia, unfortunately, but this will leave me more time to study and immerse myself in the daily life of the city.