15 June
After breakfast we met up with our walking tour guide, Keith. We expected an English guy but he was an American from Alabama, an ex coast guard who has married a Basque woman. When I asked how long he had lived in Spain, he said he visited quite often, but he'd lived in the Basque region for over 12 years! The story of the Basque is similar to the Catalans - suffice it to say that neither are happy to be part of Spain and each would like to be independent. Unlike the Catalans though, the Basque believe they could easily survive as an independent country. For many years, there were violent struggles, especially after the death of the dictator Franco, however the last bombings were in 2005 and since then, the pro Basque group have aimed for a political solution. It's still ongoing. Meanwhile Donostia, or San Sebastian as the Spanish call it, is quite a beautiful place. Can you have more than one favourite? Keith showed us around the old city and told us a lot of the history of the city (and the region around it).
Keith offered a Pintxo tour straight after our walking tour. We explained that we already had one booked for 6.30pm that night. He was surprised, as pintxos are small snacks taken with drinks prior to lunch, not like tapas in the rest of Spain. We liked Keith (despite his being an American!) and decided on the spot to do the Pintxo tour too. We visited 5 Pintxo bars (including one that was a favourite of Anthony Bourdains - and the baclau pintxo was amazing!) with five paired drinks. It really was a great tour. It will be interesting to compare it to the evening one!
We made a pact not to tell Jon, our next guide, that we'd already done a pintxos tour ... that very day! Right from the start it was an entirely different vibe. There were 9 of us: two other Aussies (Nick and Charlotte), from Melbourne, two Americans (Tina and..?) , a South African, a Dutchman (Gerben) and and Irish woman, Lena! They were all very friendly and lovely. We'd all introduced ourselves before Jon got there! He started us in the underground food market, with two types of ham, local chorizo and cheese. I enjoyed the cheese! Greg had double of the others. Then on to an award winning stall - she sells pickles and beautiful olive oils. We had the Gilda, the combination of olives, peppers and ahchovy, which you eat in one go. It was delicious. Then we had several types of olives and also tried some olive oil - all very tasty indeed. I'd be buying my olives there if I lived locally! By now we were quite thirsty so we were relieved to be served some local cider, poured from a height to get maximum taste! Greg and the other Aussie, Tim, had a go, it was harder than it looked obviously! Here we had grilled prawns on bread, and chorizo on bread - I had a croquette of calamari in squid ink! It was all very nice. Our next stop gave us the chance to sit down, and enjoy really wonderful scallops, fried shaved fresh asparagus and a mushroom muffin served with a warm egg yolk. We could not have ordered so well ourselves! This was served with a red wine. Walking to our next spot, Jon spied a friend in front of one of the private men's clubs, and we were able to pop in quickly for a peek! Our next stop you could have either braised port cheek or cod wrapped in a pastry coloured by squid ink, it was lovely. This was served with white wine. Finally, Basque cheesecake with a sticky and sweet sherry - just like fruitcake, I loved it - and a pink shot which tasted a bit like medicine so I sculled it down! Jon left us then and we chatted on for a while, eventually 6 of us had a last drink at the bar across the road. What a great night!
16 June
Today I thought we should walk along the ocean promenade around to the far side of Mount Urgull and then climb up to see the statue of Jesus which overlooks the city. It was a lovely morning. The tide was just coming in and the sea was really clear and beautiful. We started the climb up Mount Urgull. For many centuries it was owned by the army, who used it to defend the city. There are many tracks and roads so we just kept steadily climbing uphill. Its densely wooded and was quite lovely. When we were nearly at the top, and I was feeling quite thirsty, we found a sign saying "Bar" and followed it to get a cold drink and use the loo. We met some men lugging the drinks down step stone stairs to the bar - it looked like very hard work! Lovely views looking over Santa Clara Island We reached the Mota Castle and the Sagrado Corazon (Sacred Heart) Monument which overlooks the city.
After lunch it was time for our bike tour. Our young guide, Carlton, was a very confident young man. An American, whose mother is Basque, he has been living in Donostia for three years - and he's only 23! There were three others on our tour: a Dutch couple and an American, who promptly told us he was both a lawyer and a judge. Of course Greg said nothing! The e-bikes made riding very easy, as did the dedicated bike lanes - its very difficult to drive or park in the city now, and more and more people are using bikes. After telling us a potted history of the area (which we really should know off by heart by now!), we rode to the promenade overlooking La Concha Beach (which was heaving!) then onto the Miramar Palace, built by Queen Maria Christina but now used for events and functions. The gardens are open to the public. Then it was up and up and up part of Mount Igeldo. Thank goodness for turbo mode on the bike, it was hard work and would have been impossible for us without the assistance! Going down again was fun but also hazardous, as we had to clutch our brakes to control the speed! We then rode through some residential areas to reach the campus of the Basque university. On the way he pointed out the Basque police station: they have both Spanish and Basque police forces in the Basque region! We continued our ride through the longest bike tunnel in Europe, to the football stadium, where he talked about both soccer (and how well Donostia are doing!) and also Jai Alai, a very popular Basque sport, which is apparently the fastest sport in the world. We rode back towards Gros, where our apartment is, via the old tobacco factory which overlooks the train station (currently being rebuilt) and the Urumea River, and into our neighbourhood! Finally, we rode down to Zurriola Beach. This surf beach was apparently pretty much man made. They dredged the sea to provide the sand and created sand banks to cause the waves. Our apartment is very close to the beach. Greg's been down at least twice a day hoping for good waves. They rent surfboards AND wet suits although apparently the water is a warm 20 degrees! Then it was back into the city to return our bikes!
Tonight we had dinner at Muka. Keith had told us that the owner has a Michelin starred restaurant out of town, and has just opened Muka. He rated it highly, and it was located at the cube, right around the corner from us - and we were able to get a booking. For the very early start time of 8.15pm! Tourists, right? We had the Muka menu, for 52 Euro a head. There were 9 courses. No wine pairing available, so I took their recommendations on wine by the glass. It was really very good. Highlights were the white asparagus, cauliflower and almond, and the marinated anchovies with lemon and garam. Instead of the pork belly I had mushrooms on toast, and instead of the beef I had roasted pumpkin.
17 June
We started the day with a visit to the Basque museum. The San Telmo Museum celebrates Basque society and history. The museum is housed in a former Dominican Convent that was built in the 12th century, and extended in 2011 with a modern buildings. Most of the signage was in Basque and Spanish, but there was some audio with English subtitles which was very interesting.
Then we took the bus up to the Funicular. I was keen to ride the Funicular, so Greg humoured me. The view from Mount Igeldo over San Sebastian is an iconic one, however it was quite cloudy and overcast - rain was forecast for later in the afternoon. It was quite cool today, so it seemed likely. By the time we got up the top it was nearly 2pm and we were starving, so we had lunch in the bar overlooking the city. It was expensive and pretty ordinary. We followed it up with churros from one of the stalls near the adjoining amusement park. They were also pretty ordinary, unfortunately. The Amusement park was built in 1912 and I don't think there has been any changes to it since! It seemed to be open when we arrived but by the time we wandered around all the rides were closed, Maybe it was the lunch break? After lunch we took the Funicular down, the bus back to town, and went back for a rest.
Greg returned from (reluctantly - the glue hadn't worked!) buying his new suitcase soaking wet. It had started pouring with rain while he was out! It rained very heaviy and we lost power for a few minutes with the lightning strikes. We set off with our umbrellas to brave the rain and walked to the famed Hotel Maria Christina for a gin and tonic. It was beautiful, very flash, and we were lucky to find a seat. However when we got the drinks menu... the gin on offer was Bombay Sapphire, served with lemon cordial and schwepps tonic.. for the princely sum of 24 euro! We changed our mind and walked toward our restaurant, and had a much cheaper drink in the bar next door!
We were eating at Bodegon Alejandro. This was another of Keith's recommendations. In the Michelin guide, but not yet with a star. The tasting menu was 58 euro with the wine pairing just 21 euro. And it was simply magnificent. Everything, from the asparagus cream with wafer thin toast amuse bouche to the final bite of the caramelised French toast, was a taste sensation. Amazing food paired with delicious wines and beautiful service. Greg could not find fault in a single dish. We really had a sublime evening - its probably one of the best meals we've ever eaten. After dessert we ended up chatting with the three Irish girls at the next table and the solo American, sitting behind Greg, joined in and we had a lovely conversation. The mother of the girls is a huge fan of the Kazakh singer Dimash. I listened to him back at the apartment - a really amazing voice!
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