San Sebastian

June 29, 2011

ERICA  Another unique city near our beach house in Guethary is San Sebastian. We all ventured out into the old San Sebastian streets where we looked in shops, ate at fabulous restaurants, observe all the hustle and bustle in the streets, and go barhopping as we ate tapas (pintxos). The first time we went to San Sebastian we went with the Salmis. We ate at La Cueva, a fifty year old restaurant that is still owned by the same family. I enjoyed a salmon, while others had things like, marinated shrimp, fish soup, and artichokes. Cy even tried out an ox! 


Some of us ordered this...

 

After the meal, we all took to the streets again. We found a very old church, with a massive door and windows. When you stand on the front steps of the church and look down the street, far away you can see a beautiful tower. We did not know what the tower belonged to, but it was beautiful.









We then left the small streets into open squares where we all posed in front of a statue of San Sabastian himself. Unfortunately, it was a bit vandalized and now had a mustache and long, eyelashes.

 

When we were walking back to our parking lot, we passed by a gelateria. And, of course, you can't leave without gelato! When we got back in our car we were all cramped and filled up with sugar! We had a really fun day!








NINA I want to tell you more about our first visit to San Sebastian. After dinner in Old Town, we walked toward one of the beaches and stumbled upon an old fishing port right where La Concha Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. The kids (and Doug) decided to play a very intense game of tag while I walked around and took pictures of the cool looking boats and surroundings.

Before we headed back home we drove up to the peak of Monte Igueldo, where you can see all of San Sebastian and the ocean, and where there was a mini-amusement park. Seems to be a magnet for us -- mountain peaks with amusement parks. The kids were allowed one ride and one game, as we were scheduled to be back in Guethary for dinner. Erica won a soccer ball in the tortoise race -- now how are we going to take that back to SF?

 

 

 


July 1, 2011

NINA The Salmis needed to get back home on Friday but we didn't so we decided to stay one more night in the Basque Coast. Doug and kids went back to our favorite beach in Bidart, Plage de l'Uhabia, while I explored our little town some more. 






After the beach we headed back to San Sebastian -- this is the city we originally wanted to visit and one day was just not enough. Before our pintxos-hopping experience, we strolled around the city. I was fascinated by the bridges over  the main river that cuts across the city (River Urumea). Each bridge is different in design, just like in Paris. After crossing the first bridge (Puente de Zurriola) we went to Zurriola Beach that was filled with teenagers and surfers.

 

 


Then we walked back to the other side of the river, strolled by a row of pop-up bookshops, which we realized were all related to the Basque Separatist Movement, hung out at the beautiful Maria Cristina Bridge, before heading over to the Buen Pastor Cathedral (this is the structure that we saw from the Old Town a few days before). We went into the cathedral and the kids had an eye-opening experience -- the churches they saw in Rome were far more decorated with important paintings and sculptures than this one.

 

After our first pintxos bar (La Vida), we went to La Concha beach, which was a little swankier than Zurriola. There was a different mix of people there, and very well-dressed people strolling on the promenade. There were teenagers there, too, and curiously they were all in little circles, just hanging out. Doug was wondering where all the 20-somethings were!

 

Beautiful sunset over La Concha Bay

ERICA  The next time we went to San Sebastian was our last night in our beach house before we drove back to Barcelona the next morning. We were out wandering the streets again, but this time had our eye out for food. We were barhopping, which is a common thing to do in Spain, where many people eat tapas (pintxos in Basque country). 

Here are some pointers on how to look for a good place to eat pintxos: Look for a restaurant/bar with a lot of people -- that must mean it's good! Before you decide where you are going to eat, scan the food to see if it's something you would even like. There are many places to eat, but you have to choose the right one! Also, appearance can make a difference, too. If you see a restaurant with dirty tables, a sign that's falling down, and smells, you probably want to look for something else. (Obviously that was an exaggeration, there are no places as bad as that.) 

Some things that are cool about the streets of San Sebastian: The old streets of San Sebastian have the most bars in a certain amount of land in the world! Another thing that you will probably notice all around Spain is that many people stand up outside when they eat. And not just a few people that just couldn't get a table, there are a lot. They will even use large barrels as tables! Of course from all the walking and standing, we decided it wasn't working. Plus, the pintxos were delicious, but at the rate we were going we would never get a full dinner! So, we decided to have a full dinner at a restaurant called Bidebide. They had delicious food, and filled up our stomachs. I had chicken wings, my brother had steak, my dad had short ribs, and my mom ate pintxos, for she was already full. After the meal, we all trudged back to the car and drove back home. We slept peacefully that night, until the next morning when we found out we had left Cy's Giants World Series hat back in the restaurant...