Mitten in Britain: Donostia

Part 2: San Sebastian, Spain

After a few days on the French seaside, we spiced things up a bit and headed to another Basque city - San Sebastian. San Sebastian, or Donostia (Basque name), is only a 40 minute bus ride from Biarritz, but the landscape changes dramatically. Although the city is still on the Bay of Biscay, the architecture is completely different from France. We stayed in San Sebastian's Old Town, which is nearly 500 years old. The city has seen its share of monarch changes and sieges over the centuries, and the buildings have both French and Spanish influence.

Our Airbnb was at the top floor of this building

With this view from our balcony!

Sunset perfection

Most visitors flock to San Sebastian for two things (and we were no different): the food and the beach. The city has become a Michelin-star mecca, home to more starred restaurants than any other city in the world except Kyoto, Japan. We skipped the pricey dining in lieu of eating our weight in pintxos, tapas unique to the region. My favorite one was called "Gilda" named for a Rita Hayworth film. The pintxo consists of pickled guindilla peppers, a salt-cured anchovy and a green olive. The hot peppers were a reference to the sexy screen siren. And to note, anchovies in San Sebastian are NOT the slimy, tinned anchovies you are thinking of - these are fresh and delicious! I've never eaten so many anchovies in my life...I never thought I would say that!

Gilda pintxo

We spent our days walking around the beach, playing in the waves, and eating and drinking the local fare. The food in pintxos bars are often spread out across a very long bar. There isn't much (if any) seating, so most people chat with each other and the restaurant staff. On a food tour to the best "local" places, we learned how to order pintxos (grab them off the table and start eating, counting your items) and which ciders and wines paired best. It's a bit chaotic, but we were pros after a day.

Popular pintxo bars in the Old Town

The beach was one of the best I've visited - silky, soft sand, clear water, and subtle waves. I didn't take photos because I was too busy being in heaven. :) Aside from the beach, the city was surprisingly green compared to the other Spanish town's I've seen (all in the southern part of the country) and made for beautiful photographs. B did a stellar job as vacation photographer, as always!

Feeling a bit heavy after all those pintxos, we hiked a portion of the Camino de Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage trail that ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, or St. James, where the saint's remains are said to be buried. There various routes that start across Europe, but the most common one starts in France and takes pilgrims about one month on foot. We saw a few pilgrims hiking with their packs while we just did an easy three hours. Our guide said most people today walk the route for a spiritual/meditative escape from modern life, not necessarily for religious reasons.

Camino de Santiago sign on our trail

View from the trail

While the trail was certainly beautiful, I preferred to escape the bustle of city life at the below hilltop bar. I mean, can this view get any better? At the top of the hill was a statue of Jesus, so I think hiking up there and drinking kalimotxo (red wine and cola) counts as a spiritual pilgrimage?

Swoon

One night we took a funicular up to the top of one of the hills to catch the sunset. While the clouds didn't cooperate too well, it still made for a lovely prom photo.