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San Sebastián
On Sunday, October 2, 2016, we took the short drive from Pamplona, over the Pyrenees to San Sebastian. The main highways in Spain are great! We stopped at a rest stop for a snack
A Spanish tortilla and a bocadillo with some chips and beer. The alcohol limit for driving in Spain is 0.05% yet they sell beer and wine at roadside rest stops? I guess one small glass is OK.
We couldn't get in to our VRBO until 5:00, so we went exploring.
The horseshoe shaped beach.
Looking toward Mont Urgull
Some sand art
Alameda del Boulevard
Puente de Zumola, looking toward the bay
The Catedral de Buen Pastor, near our VRBO.
Munchies
"Stars in Donostia new firmamant" I know Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastian but I'm not sure what this means. Is that Springsteen and a bull fighter?
Puente de Maria Cristina
My new grill. Not really.
Jamón, jamón y mas jamón.
We found a market. Here are the sweets.
The main plaza in "Parte Vieja". They used to hold bullfights here. See below.
These are private apartments (on the same plaza as above) but the city reserved the rights to sell seating space on each balcony to bullfight patrons. If you lived there, you were allowed to look over the shoulders of the paying customers!
We met Ben Rozzi from San Diego by chance (he was wearing a Padres hat) on the street in Parte Vieja. He married a Basque girl and moved to San Sebastián.
He opened a brewery and is producing West Coast style IPA's and apparently is doing quite well. His beer was pretty good!
We took a hike up Mont Urgull. This was at the beginning looking back at the harbor.
On the way up looking across the bay, the Island of Santa Clara and Mont Igeldo on the other side. The structure is part of the fortress that occupies a large part of this hill.
Looking at Plage la Concha, the beach.
Heading up to the Castillo de La Mota.
The protector of the City
The other protectors of the City
...and another
Lorri atop the castle
Lorri heading back down the other side of the castle
Looking east from Mont Urgull toward the "Gros" district and Zurriola Plage.
Ok, we've worked up an appetite!
This was good stuff - looked pretty, tasted better
A close up. The best pintxos were ones that combined good taste and pleasant texture in a nice presentation.
Buen Pastor, the Good Shepherd
This was our landmark. If we got lost on our way home we looked for the spire of Buen Pastor and headed toward it.
It's not an ancient church but it is impressive.
Josie and Skip texted me a list of bars and restaurants recommend by a sommelier acquaintance of theirs. I mapped 'em out and we tracked 'em down!
Gazpacho, chorizo, tostaditos, etc. It's all good.
Typical bar
On our way to the next one
Ongi etorri! Welcome! in Basque
and on to the next one... We had a great night "Pintxo hopping"! I want to go back!
The entry to Puente Maria Cristina
We decided to walk from the eastern-most beach and go all the way across the waterfront and up Mont Igeldo on the funicular! Here is one of the two surf breaks in town.
Looking up the beach toward Mont Urgull.
The other break and a place where you can get surf lessons.
Looks like some lessons about to begin.
Looking across the mouth of the river
Looking right!
Looking left!
Looking for something to eat on my birthday!
Looking at Santa Clara Island
Looking at me!
Looking at us!
The Funicular Building
The Funicular
This was our second funicular ride in Spain.
They are quaint but they get you to the top
Or the bottom, depending.
Good old Coca Cola
Almost to the top
A not selfie
Looking back across the bay to Mont Urgull, where we were the day before.
That's where we were headed. Way up there.
Only 40 kilometers to Biarritz, France!
We had to climb a lot of stair and pay a guy a couple Euros for the pleasure
Selfie from the top
OK, let's go back down
Looking up at where we were
We had a nice lunch at La Perla
Later, we met Skip and Josie at their hotel room at The Londres, a nice hotel just across the street from the beach.
These are the views from their room where we started the evening with a bottle of bubbly.
We had dinner at Ankabar, which was highly rated
But turned out OK
Dessert. This was my birthday dinner.
I guess I should have taken better photos, and more of them.
It was fun and great to celebrate with good friends!
We left the next morning to go to Logroño, the capital of the Rioja wine district.
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