Au-revoir France, hola Spain!

One of Spain's most beautiful cities, or so they say, San Sebastian, is only 50km from Biarritz, a hop skip and jump, so to speak. And yes, we are happy to agree. Not that we have seen any other cities yet, but if all of them are like this, I think we will have a very good time in Spain. 

Like Biarritz, this is a place for surfers, but less pretentious, less posh, more down to earth. Which suits us just fine. The city boasts three beaches, one particularly good for surfing, the other two better suited for swimmers and harboring small, private boats. All of them very pretty and all of them can be seen from Mount Urgull. Mount is a bit misleading here, the hill is some 120 meters high. But it gives you a great view over the whole city, it's beaches and surrounding area. 

La Cancha

See the numbers above the doors? This place used to be a bull fighting arena and these are the numbers of the loges

What's most important about San Sebastian is, that it is the heart of the Basque region, which is famous for it's cuisine. In fact, San Sebastian boasts more Michelin Star restaurants per square kilometer than any other city in the world besides Kyoto. A good start for a good time.

A specialty of this region are pintxos. Yes, that's a Basque word. They are fond of the letter "X". And has nothing to do with Spanish, nothing at all. Luckily most people do speak Spanish, though, but all signs are written in both languages. Back to the food. So pintxos are similar to tapas. But the majority are served on slices of baguette. This can be fried fish, ham, cheese, any variation of seafood, mushrooms, etc, etc. Think of anything at all - it can be a pintxos.

Oh, and then there are sweets, of course!

So what you do is, you meet with some friends at a pintxos bar, order a drink and a couple of these delicacies, enjoy them and the company of your friends, and then move on to the next bar. Repeat as many times as you fancy, go home very happy and satisfied. The cold varieties are displayed in glass cases along the bar, the hot stuff gets cooked fresh to order. Love the concept!

After visiting the harbor and the markets the next morning and doing some self guided walks in the various neighborhoods, my human decided to see a movie. When was the last time you've been to the cinema? Exactly. The only film that seemed mildly interesting was "Riders of Justice", a Danish production, obviously dubbed in Spanish. And what a pleasant surprise this movie was! It won't get the Oscar like "Parasite" did, but the surprise moments throughout the film were similar and quite hilarious.

The day ended with a few more rounds of pintxos in an uncounted number of bars. This is a tradition one can get used to very easily.

In the morning we drove the few kilometers down to the beach, so my human could run along the promenade at sunrise. Sure, each to their own! Then she went for a swim in the ocean, followed by a shower on the beach. Being close to the ocean definitely has many advantages.

Oh, and one more thing you should know about San Sebastian. They wash their streets and comb their beaches. Literally!

And off we were to Pamplona. And yes, we checked out the bull fighting arena to see what the hype is all about. We still don't know, though. Unfortunately the audio guide is very little help explaining how this still a thing. The arena here is the second largest in Spain and the fourth largest in the world, holding almost 20.000 people. 

This is where the bulls "relax" before a fight

They are quite serious about their fortifications here

Finally in a country where you speak the language. Only to find out there is more than one. The second paragraph is the local language, Basque. Thanks heaps!

The only really good thing about paying to see this place is that the entrance fee is supporting a care facility for 500 elderly people, providing jobs for 300 care takers. Which is somehow weird. Making money of killing one animal to help support the life of another. 

Besides the arena, Pamplona boasts a very serious town wall and fortifications, a lively city center with more pintxos bars than one can count. It seems more local, though, less touristy. And rivers. Nothing major, but very nice to just ride alongside through the valley. Which is what my human did the following morning for some hours. 

No sweat, of course, he is riding piggy back

For lunch she went into town, having a "Menu del día" in a bar. Which means you can choose a starter, a main course and a dessert from a large number of options, drink included. In this bar, anyway. And that goes for anywhere between 12 and 15 Euros. Not too shabby. To drink she ordered a caña, thinking it would be a sugar cane juice. Turns out, caña is the size of the glass your beer gets served in. Oh well...

After lunch, she went to the closest swimming pool to freshen up. After taking down her details for Corona reasons, the guy asked for 14 Euros. Just so you are in the picture, this was a normal outdoor swimming pool. No slides, whirlpools, saunas or similar services. But since the next one was only two kilometers away, that's where she went. For 4 bucks. That's a lot more reasonable.

Nevertheless, this visit could have turned out VERY expensive. While speaking on the phone to a friend, she moved from shade into the sun, grabbing all her belongings, or so she thought. Some time later, she realized that her sunnies were gone. She quickly went looking where she was lying earlier, a space now occupied by two older ladies. After explaining to them what she was looking for, they declined having seen anything.

So she went to see the staff at the entry to check, if anyone had handed them in. No such luck. On her way back, one lady asked, if she had gotten them back. My human declined and went on to say that the glasses won't do anyone else any good, because they were prescription glasses. And, lo and behold, 5 minutes later, they came over and the one lady said that her friend did find some glasses, but hadn't told her until now. Sure thing! 

And when she got back to me she realized that her headphones were not in the case when she put it on charge. So back on the bike she went, flying the 2km back to the pool. And believe it or not, there in the grass they lay unmoved and untouched. 

I'm not saying this out loud, but maybe she is getting a bit scatterbrained.