Judy arrives a day late but with enough money to try and buy
me enough beer to make up for yesterday, I’m fine and don’t need it just glad
she is finally here to share San Sebastian with me. She unpacks and I finish getting ready before
we go out for coffee. We are staying in
a really well located hotel right along the side the Buen Pastor Cathedral in
the center of town but they don’t have any coffee facilities. We both like our coffee in the morning.
By the time we’ve finishing our coffee and catching-up on
what each of us did with our solo days it’s almost noon. San Sebastian has some really nice shopping
and we are not even past the cathedral before we come to a leather shop that
has things that are really nice and a little whimsical at the same time. We
both are attracted immediately to these ‘telephone purses’. Their handles are handsets and they have an
old rotary dial in the middle of the bag.
I’m telling you they are something special and probably before we leave
San Sebastian we will both own one.
Leather is very good here it’s that soft buttery kind in all
sorts of luscious colors and even though our next shop is a clothing store I am
drawn to the leather jackets. This is
impressive when you consider the heat wave continues and it is around 90
degrees at the moment. I am stunned by the prices for these jackets at between
$50E and $70E one of the few bargains I have found in Spain. This is a looking day so there aren’t any
purchases but tomorrow will be a buying day.
Sue and I had come to Spain planning on buying ‘Cocktail
Cowboy Boots’ but low and behold we barely could find any cowboy boots at all
much less the fancy party boots we had in mind so we finally just had to
abandon the idea all together. I’m thinking
one of these pretty leather jackets will make a dandy replacement for the boots
that didn’t exist.
Our next stop is the ocean and its cove that defines San
Sebastian. The weather although hot is
overcast today and there are fewer sun worshippers than there were yesterday
but it is still a busy place. They have
these defined bike lanes where the bikers rule and the walkers aren’t allowed
but they run right through the middle of the crowd and it takes a long time to
train yourself to be aware of them so there is constant confusion as the
tourist walkers are being beeped at by the flying bikes. Judy and I each had to save the other at
least once today.
I have had a lifelong love of all things horses and that
includes merry-go-rounds. Yesterday in
my wanderings I discovered the beach carousel and promised myself a ride
today. Judy, always the good sport is
game and I get us both a ticket. On this
carousel there are the usual assortment of animals and things to ride in but
there is one and only one ‘bull’. I
simply must have a ride on that bull and I am very proud when I race all the
little kids to get to it first!!
Completely satisfied with our go on the merry-go-round we
start walking the short distance to the old town. I must say it is far more orderly than most
of the old towns in Europe. The streets
are laid out in a grid pattern so in some ways it reminds me of New
Orleans. The old town of San Sebastian
is known for their ‘pintxos’ and we are going to find a nice little pintxos bar
for lunch. The way these work is that
the bar prepares many dishes that are small, only one or two bites and displays
them on the bar. You walk along the bar
and simply take the ones you want. It
gets a little crazy as some people eat right there at the bar and some people
are asking what they consist of and ordering drinks and reaching over you to
take one that you’ve taken too long to decide upon but it is all good fun and
in the end you have an interesting bunch of stuff to eat.
Judy and I were lucky enough to get our bar of choice
selected from the many, many there are and had chosen the Nagvsia Lav Bar just
ten minutes ahead of the crowd. While we
were eating at a small table right next to the bar we were able to watch the
circus of ordering and confused tourists take place right in front of us. We both liked three of the four items we had
selected so we considered that a success.
Our favorites were crab dishes, different ones but still crab
what can I say deep down we’re both California girls!
San Sebastian shuts down almost completely between 2pm and
4pm so it turns out to be a great time to return to your room for a
siesta. Judy had to get up at 5am to
make her plane so she was ready for a nap and I spent the time writing
yesterday’s blog. About 6pm we found a
neighborhood bar who didn’t mind us playing Rumicube, which Judy had been
packing with her this whole trip, as long as we bought a beer now and
then. Judy and I are evenly matched
players and we both enjoy the competition of our games. Yesterday’s victory was mine but I know not
to count on the next one!
Upon returning to our hotel we got a list of the best
restaurants in San Sebastian for dinner and then went to our room to do some
reach on the computer. Trip Advisor
helped us whittle down the list to our top three and we went to the front desk
to ask for help in making reservations.
The desk clerk called all three only to get no answers and advised us
that traditionally all good restaurants were closed in San Sebastian on Mondays
and Tuesdays. We were skunked! Not ready
for another pintxos meal so soon Judy declared she just wanted a burger.
We weren’t sure how hard this might be to find but all
places have a burger joint if you look hard enough. We found ours when we spotted a place with a
line running down the sidewalk out front. The only problem was that their
outside dining area was very small and tight.
Judy and this Italian woman found it somewhat difficult to share such a small space
but I’ll let Judy tell you that story some time…………
The hamburger was great and the day as a whole even better.
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