We are on week two of our time here in San Sebastian. Having a second week here is a luxury and has allowed us to slow down on cramming in tourist activities and to live more in sync with the rhythm of the city. We have finally honed in on our favorite gelateria and our top 3 favorite bakeries.
One of the traditions here in San Sebastian that we have been taking on is the afternoon stroll. After school and work get out, the residents go on walks together throughout the city center. We love this tradition. I still cannot get enough of the streets here, which allow us to walk and even play safely in a highly urbanized setting.
There are streets where cars have the right of way, and other streets that are open to cars but where pedestrians have the right of way (such as the street where our apartment is located -- see the first picture below). And then there are streets which are completely closed to cars for certain times of the day (or at all times). These latter two categories of streets are alive with people during the afternoon strolls as well as into the night.
The strong pedestrian orientation furthers a robust retail environment, along with a high level of social interaction. I love the practice here of designing streets as social spaces. On the play front, we saw lots of children riding their trikes and playing ball in the streets, especially in the larger plaza-like areas.
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| Pedestrians have right of way here |
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| A block from our apartment. |
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Another block over, cars have right of way
on this street,... |
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| ...but my kids can still safely cross. |
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| Kids playing ball in plaza-like street. |
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| Soccer in the street. |
Here are some links I quickly found on designing family-friendly streets:
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