This place is just as quiet and frozen in time as this picture makes it look.

Ataun, Gipuzkoa. Basque Country, but in the purest sense of the word. A beautiful mini-world where everyone understands each other and no one from outside understands anyone. We were the only foreigners in the town, apart from a few Muslims and a Basque-speaking American woman long since married. This was the view from our window, the center of town culture, the ancient Ataun cathedral. We were housed this summer in the priest's apartment, and I would spend hours reading the history of the church and the village.  Sundays we went to mass, which barring any special occasion would be held in the small chapel to the side. The crowded, warm (because even in July it was cold in this village) chapel was preferable to the  echoing of the hymns off the mostly-empty pews.

Photo #2,316 of 11,269 photos. Randomly selecting one every day this month for  a little thing called National Blog Post Month.  See what memories it conjures up of my life here in San Sebastián.