In the day time, between the hours of eleven and four, the streets are practically deserted, for the sun is so hot that work is impossible. Later in the afternoons the boulevards and squares are crowded.
The Spaniard, the most courteous of all men, is insanely fond of bull fights, cigarettes, coffee, wine and women. The drinking taverns are always crowded in the evening with customers, who sit and sip their strong black coffees and puff their cigarettes, while they chat of dancers and matadores.
A thing most peculiar to Spain is the large amount of counterfeit money which is in circulation. Whenever one purchases any thing and tenders a coin in payment, the shopkeeper invariably tests the purity of the coin on a sounding slate.
From Madrid we journeyed to San Sebastian, where we visited the King's summer palace, and saw his Majesty. We happened here on a Sunday, and we did not miss the opportunity of seeing another bull fight.
San Sebastian is the most fashionable watering-place in Spain and there all the nobles and wealthy people of Portugal and Spain spend the hot season. Here we spent several days in preparing for our journey on foot across the Pyrenees Mountains. I had always wanted to cross the Alps or Pyrenees on foot, so when the opportunity was presented, I surely was not going to let it go by.
Securing heavy walking shoes, suitable clothing, heavy walking sticks, we boarded the train at San Sebastian and alighted at the foot of the hills, where the road starts its winding way across the rugged slopes. Our only arms consisted of a couple of daggers, which we purchased at Toledo and a thirty-eight Colt's revolver.
These lofty mountains and rugged foothills are inhabited by a lawless and murderous set of treacherous Spaniards, who strike whenever they have an opportunity. Not heeding wild stories, we set out upon a journey calculated to test to the utmost the metal of your companion and one's endurance.
The first day carried us into the heart of the wilderness, where on every side one could see nothing but lofty crags covered with large boulders and shaggy grass.
"The First Day carried us into the Heart of the Wilderness where on Every Side one could see Nothing but Lofty Crags."
(Wanderlust.)