Corinne CrawfordThe next day was beach day. It wasn’t the sunniest of days but there definitely was sun mixed with clouds and the temps were warm. I walked the 15-20 minutes to La Concha and found it was not super busy, which is just how I like it and I found a patch of soft fine sand to lay my towel and get relaxed with my book. After heating up for a while, I made my way to the water for a dip. The water was neither warm nor cold and the bottom was sandy and shallow for a bit. The tides are pretty big here and every six hours, the water will pull back about 3 football fields before coming back in. I think it was right in the middle of it coming back in while I was there. I also noticed a cool beach accessory that the woman on the sand a bit in front of me had. After swimming, she returned to her spot on the beach and put what was like a small sheet with an elasticized hole in the middle so she was completely covered up almost down to the sand. She then changed out of her wet bathing suit and was able to put on dry clothes under there with modesty. When it came time to put the top on, she just ducked her head under the hole, put on her top then chucked the whole thing off. I returned to my towel to warm up again and decided to do as the Europeans do and take off my swim top so it could dry out in the sun. I lounged and swam about two more times while my top was drying and when it was dry enough to put back on without leaving two wet spots on my shirt, I gathered up my things and walked back to my room.
During many of my walks,I noticed what seemed to be the must-have accessory for San Sebastián and I would notice it again in many other cities and towns I visited for the next several weeks. A baguette. Everyone seemed to be carrying a fresh baguette. I figured if I wanted to seem like a local, my best best would be to just carry a baguette with me everywhere.
