picspam for the downtrodden
I had a terrible day. Technology (and its imminent failure) almost made me cry. But I went for a walk after work, got myself a free dinner (it's Teacher Appreciation day, which apparently means a free burrito) and as soon as I post these pictures I'm going to eat some chocolate. Yay!
In June 2003 I visited Spain for five days. They went by too fast, and I didn't get to see nearly enough. Here are pictures from my last full day in Spain, in the beautiful (Atlantic) coastal town of San Sebastian.
This trip actually included six days in France before heading off to Spain. I was with a friend of mine, who speaks much better Spanish than me. This is a good thing--I know enough to get into trouble, but not out of it. Anyway, we went to Barcelona first, then took a bus across the northern part of the country to San Sebastian. Along the way we ended up in conversation with a group of people who were returning to their homes in San Sebastian. Apparently they'd been to a work-related function for a few days. We found out from them that a very big soccer (football, outside the US) game was being played, for the National Championship--between Madrid and San Sebastian. All of the group was heartbroken when Madrid won the game, but they were still feeling celebratory, since it was the first time in many years that their team had made it to the playoffs.
When we arrived in town, very late at night, everyone else was feeling the same way. The game was over, their team lost, but people were out in large droves cheering, waving scarves and pennants--the atmosphere was quite festive... and a bit intimidating. We weren't sure how we were going to find a bus or taxi to our hotel. That's when we did "The Thing I Will Never Tell My Students"--accept a ride in a car belonging to one of the workers we'd met on the bus. Granted that we'd gotten to know them for several hours and that there were two of us to one of him, and that my friend Michele was almost as tall and probably more muscular than him, it's still not something I want my students to emulate. Heh.
At any rate, he gave us a late-night tour of the town and took us safely to our little hotel in the middle of town. We would never have been able to find it (especially not with our luggage in tow) on our own.
Too bad it was cloudy for the one full day I was there.
Near the ocean:
Another view of the same bridge:
Huh. Apparently I really like bridges.
Water! Boats! Old shirtless men!
The water temperature was actually great, in spite of the overcast sky.
We took a tram, if I remember correctly. The view overlooks the whole city.
And that's it. This was my first trip with a digital camera. I've gotten much better (or worse, depending on how you view it) since then about taking lots of pictures.
In June 2003 I visited Spain for five days. They went by too fast, and I didn't get to see nearly enough. Here are pictures from my last full day in Spain, in the beautiful (Atlantic) coastal town of San Sebastian.
This trip actually included six days in France before heading off to Spain. I was with a friend of mine, who speaks much better Spanish than me. This is a good thing--I know enough to get into trouble, but not out of it. Anyway, we went to Barcelona first, then took a bus across the northern part of the country to San Sebastian. Along the way we ended up in conversation with a group of people who were returning to their homes in San Sebastian. Apparently they'd been to a work-related function for a few days. We found out from them that a very big soccer (football, outside the US) game was being played, for the National Championship--between Madrid and San Sebastian. All of the group was heartbroken when Madrid won the game, but they were still feeling celebratory, since it was the first time in many years that their team had made it to the playoffs.
When we arrived in town, very late at night, everyone else was feeling the same way. The game was over, their team lost, but people were out in large droves cheering, waving scarves and pennants--the atmosphere was quite festive... and a bit intimidating. We weren't sure how we were going to find a bus or taxi to our hotel. That's when we did "The Thing I Will Never Tell My Students"--accept a ride in a car belonging to one of the workers we'd met on the bus. Granted that we'd gotten to know them for several hours and that there were two of us to one of him, and that my friend Michele was almost as tall and probably more muscular than him, it's still not something I want my students to emulate. Heh.
At any rate, he gave us a late-night tour of the town and took us safely to our little hotel in the middle of town. We would never have been able to find it (especially not with our luggage in tow) on our own.
Too bad it was cloudy for the one full day I was there.
Near the ocean:
Another view of the same bridge:
Huh. Apparently I really like bridges.
Water! Boats! Old shirtless men!
The water temperature was actually great, in spite of the overcast sky.
We took a tram, if I remember correctly. The view overlooks the whole city.
And that's it. This was my first trip with a digital camera. I've gotten much better (or worse, depending on how you view it) since then about taking lots of pictures.