Surfer's paridise, San Sebastion

Ever get off a train and not know anything about the town you just plopped down in?  Not even the direction of the beach?  Yeah that was me when I arrived at San Sebastion, Spain.  It wasn't too bad, luckily I speak Spanish.  Even with my Spanish being rusty as hell, and in San Sebastion they speak a lot of Basque, I managed to find my way over to the old city.

 San Sebastion is a picturesque Basque city.  The architecture is stunning and it has a small town feel to it. After I found my hostel, I took a shower.  Sometimes after traveling I just feel so dirty.  It was so nice to be clean and have internet again I just stayed in and relaxed.

In all seriousness, there is not a lot to do in San Sebastion.  It a place to sit on the beach and watch the surfers or read a book.  And that's what I did, and then after my planned six days were up I extended my stay another 4 days.

But let's talk about the first six days of laziness.  I think I watched the surfers on the beach while getting a tan for the first two, and at least four out of the next six.  This place is amazing for waves.  They are great almost every day!  They have two beaches, one for walking, family fun and swimming and then one devoted to surfing.  In La Zurriola (surf beach) the rip tide is much stronger than the other beach, it is not encouraged to swim unless you know what you are doing.  I guess in the winter is when the waves are best.  I've heard this on Jeju as well.  It seems winter weather brings more extreme weather, making surfing conditions better.

So in between reading books on the beach and
watching the surfers I also met a slew of new people.  I haven't stayed in hostels in a while and I forget how social they can be.  I plopped down on the couch to read a book and got introduced to six or more people.  Some were working at the hostel through a site called "workaway," which volunteers your work out for a room and board at places all over the world.  Other people there were travelers passing through, or people who were passing through and then decided they like San Sebastion too much and extended their stay.  I met people from Austrailia, New Zeeland, Astoria, Finland, Sweden and more.  It was nice.


After meeting them I discovered that they had a routine of cooking food from their countries and sharing it with everyone at the hostel.  I got put on the list to make Korean food (American food is just not that interesting) later in the week.  Yay!! I love cooking for people.  Now what can I make?  I hope they have kimchi here.  In the end no kimchi was found, so I made Korean pancakes.

I also met a guy who does dreads professionally that night.  I asked if he would be willing to do them for me.  I mean ,why not? I have no place to be until maybe march.  I could sport dreads for a while. The next two days were spent doing dreads in my hair.  He used a crochet hook to pull my hair in to tiny knots.  He said it would be painful, but in the end, it was just painful in a few areas.  Right behind my ears and at my temple were the most sensitive areas.  I had no idea what I was doing when I said yes to dreads. My hair shortened, that makes sense, and then stood on end.  I look liked I had been electrocuted.

I also got to see some really pretty sites.  San Sebastion has quite a bit of nature surrounding it.  One of the hills has an amusement park and old trams, and the other has a giant statue of Jesus.  I picked the Jesus hill to hike often.  It was easier to get to, and the walk up was just beautiful.

I liked the dreads and the new people, so I went out to discover the food.  Did you know that San Sebastion has the most Michelin Star restaurants than any other place in Europe?  This tiny little beach town.  I actually got to eat at one, and a few others not quite up to par but still delicious places.  So let's talk food.

Pinchos, or pinxos in Basque, are an amazing creation.  Usually it is beautiful and tasty master pieces balanced on a slice of baguette, but it can vary from that.  Basically it's appetizers that are uber gourmet.  I dinned at these restaurants a couple of times during my stay.  The first time there was a special, 1 pinxo and 1 beer for 2 euros.  Can't beat that!

So I had the tappas or pinxos of the town and then on my last night in San Sebastion I had a 5 course meal.  I went with some of the ladies from the hostel to enjoy the fabulous restaurant week.  This is a special where you get an amazing meal for 25 euros, including coffee and wine.  Jesus, what a great thing to do.  So we went to La Perla, a lovely little spaceship designed restaurant. We had five amazing courses, which you can see here.  

We started with a marinated sardine salad with a side of guacamole, then followed with a potato egg soup that had the perfect amount of cheesy foam and bacon bits. Next came the entrees.  There were 3 of us, so we all tried different ones.  They were all perfect!  A beef roast, falling apart on the fork, with a savory sauce to accent the natural flavors.  A fish, so velvety you knew it was the perfect cut and temperature.  A marinated pork roast that zinged you with ginger and then brought you back with the crispy outside.   Last, but not least, was the dessert.  We had a choice between a crusty flan, or maybe it was a creme brulee, with a cinnamon dusting, or a spritz strawberry drink; complete with a rhubarb foam and tiny fizzy candies.  I picked the latter, but one of the girls pick the first one. It was equally amazing.  I will never forget my 25 euro Michelin star meal.

The last few days I also got to meet Mike and Andy, two older guys that were staying in the room with me.  Andy had just walked the camino (a spiritual walk over 2,000 miles) and had many stories to tell.  Mike had been on vacation for 17 months and is a photographer that like to make slide shows with his trips.  They were both super sweet, and I'm glad they got to stay in my room with me.  The last day I was in San Sebastion (not night), Mike and I went out for pinxos.  It was great.  Sometimes I forget home much I appreciate people who are older than me.  They always have great stories and opinions.  Often times when I am talking to some one my age or younger, they have few stories and no opinions.  What a way to deflate a conversation.  I want spice, give me some spice!  That only comes from experience, some young people have it.  Most don't.  I have a hard time adding spice to my stories I tell, but I am convinced that has to do more with my story telling skills than my life.  ;)

In the end this little trip was amazing.  I did end up with one bad thing though.  Lots and lots of bug bites.... ugh.  sometimes warm weather is not so good.