Four years ago, Pete and I apartment swapped and took a holiday in Spain (always think of the Counting Crows song!). We spent time in Barcelona and surrounding areas and then flew to the Basque region to spend a few days in San Sebastian. I had seen pictures of the striking city beach and had to see it for myself. It did not disappoint and Pete and I talk often about how that is our favorite city in Europe. When planning our Bordeaux trip, I saw how close it was to San Sebastian and knowing that we would have Rachel to help with the travel, decided to make a return visit.
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| Rach somehow got him to sleep on the train ride. We took a French train as far as Hendaye and then transferred to a Basque regional train. |
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| Train 2- refreshed from nap time |
There weren't a lot of AirBnB options, even when I looked months in advance. We were happy with the one that we found in the Gros neighborhood. It was a good 20 minute walk to the old town, but a shorter walk to the Zurriola surfer beach. We quickly got ourselves ready and hit the beach.
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| Topless ladies and hunky surfers galore :) |
After the kids were asleep, Rachel and I headed into old town. I had raved about the food scene and she was excited to experience it. San Sebastian is the home of the pintxos (or tapas to us non-Basque speaking folks). There are dozens of bars that have spreads of cold pintxos to choose from on the counter and other hot ones that you can order. The idea is that you have a pintxo or two at one bar and then move on to the next in a pintxo-hopping sort of way. When you finish your pintxo it is custom to toss your napkin on the floor. We had already eaten dinner at home so we didn't have room for food, but enjoyed a few rounds of wine. At 2-3 euros a glass this was hard to resist! It was a Saturday night and the old town was a scene. Stag and Hen (Bachelor and Bachelorette) parties galore and a lot of debauchery. Made me feel young again :)
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| Crossing into old town |
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| "I can't do selfies"- Rachel |
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| Pintxo scene |
The AirBnBs where we stayed each had two bedrooms including a twin room. So Rachel and Jude shared a room and Jude got to have his first experiences sleeping in big boy beds. It didn't always work out well....
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| He is covered in mosquito bites from Bordeaux :( |
Sunday we went into old town and found the trifecta of fun for Jude- playground, carousel and beach!
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| The Basque language. Lots of Xs and Zs! |
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| Keeping watch |
Then it was time for the beach! At first, in the morning, the oceanfront was a sort of walking promenade with hordes of people walking in both directions. Then, by mid morning the beach starts filling in and then it is a sea of people!
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| Looking back into old town from the boardwalk |
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| Wrought iron gated boardwalk |
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| Me and my girl |
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| The mosquitos got her, too :( |
Getting crowded....
Holy Moly!
After a morning of sun, we headed into old town for pintxos lunch. Jude promptly fell asleep as did Maeve and then we enjoyed some adult only time wandering the old town, enjoying sangria and beer.
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| Square where there used to be bull fighting |
Pete and I had a night out on Sunday, trying a few pintxos places and sitting on the church steps with a drink, recreating one of my favorite memories from our trip here 4 years ago.
Us now...
And 4 years ago...
Our last day was a scoorcher. Temps felt like 100 degrees and the sun was blasting. While Rach spent the morning hiking the town hill and sitting at the beach, we lazed around at a playground. After nap time, we walked into old town and beelined it for the air conditioned aquarium. Jude was bored after an hour, but we did everything we could to keep him entertained there longer as we didn't want to face the heat outside!
Wherever there was water, people (and dogs) were in it, trying to stay cool!
A final stroll through old town and an early pizza dinner. Pete stayed in so Rach and I could grab some pintxos in our neighborhood. We found a very local spot. For my glass of white wine and serrano ham pintxo, I paid 3.20 euro! Man, I miss Spain already!!
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| The gang in the sweltering heat! |
Adios San Sebastian! See you in another 4 years?
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