I promised a post on San Sebastián so here it is.  It’s not that I don’t want to write about our four days there, it’s that there is four days worth of stuff to write about.  Sometimes I can’t believe the amount of walking and exploring we do and still have time for siesta everyday (except for the day we met Geert, but you know that from reading the previous post).  There’s no way I could fit everything we saw or did in San Sebastián into this post, I just don’t have the energy, have to save some for the Camino, which we start tomorrow morning (grits teeth in nervous anticipation).  Anyway, here are the highlights minus our experience with Geert, which you have already read about… right?  If not, go read that first and come back to this post.

First off, the weather.  Each day we woke up to a completely clear blue sky and a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean.  Every day was warmer than the next, causing you to shed layers in the sun and put them back on when walking the narrow streets in the shade.  By the third day, however, t-shirts and jeans were sufficient everywhere and on day four, both Jen and I were in shorts and sandals.  Spring had definitely arrived.

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The next highlight, the city itself.  Donostia – San Sebastián is absolutely stunning.  Also, some of you may be wondering why I interchange Donostia and San Sebastián.  We are in Basque country, a region of Spain and France that dates back before Roman times.  Needless to say, they are proud of their heritage and their language, Euskara.  So, every city has two names, the Basque name (Donostia) and the Spanish name (San Sebastián).  You will also find street signs, menus, and pretty much anything for the public eye printed in both languages.  But I digress once again…  San Sebastián is absolutely stunning.  Everywhere you look is a photo opportunity, whether it’s the architecture, the beaches, or one of the many hill-top views.  The public parks, both large and small, are tended and planted with fresh flowers.  The streets and beaches are clean and you will not find one piece of garbage on them.  The water, both the river and ocean, is crystal clear.  And, like Blibao, the locals are out enjoying the city every day; jogging, surfing, taking a stroll with friends, or joining them for an adult beverage at their favorite cafe/bar.

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Speaking of cafes and bars… the food, oh the food.  Everything we read about this city mentioned how great the food is.  I’ll admit, we were not impressed at first.  Pintxos, pintxos, pintxos, that’s all the tour guides talk about.  Don’t get me wrong, the pintxos (which is just the Basque word for tapas and pronounced “pinchos”) are nice and everyone should try going to a few pintxos bars, but it’s just fancy bar food.  The experience is what you go for.  The ability to point at what you want or just put it on your plate, have a drink, then hop over to the next bar for another round.  It’s fun, but in a city that has the second highest number of Michelin Star restaurants in the world, pintxos are not what we salivate for.  For the first couple of days, we thought the only way we would get to enjoy this good food we’d heard so much about would be to suck it up and splurge on a high-end meal.  Fortunately, we struck gold before needing to dive into our bank account.  Que the food porn:

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Elostra – hands down the best sushi we have had… possibly ever.  Yes, a bit more pricey than your go-to sushi place at home, but it is oh-so worth it.  We stumbled on Elostra by accident and, after seeing the prices on the menu, thought we’d start with two rolls just to try it out.  Um yeah, another roll, some nagiri, a bottle of cava, and a dessert was our reaction to those first two rolls.  Our next find was a vegetarian restaurant called MapaVerde.  Yes, yes, vegetarian in the land of jamón is sacrilege, you say, but you will change your mind when you try this place.  We sat outside and watched as people crowded around the limited seating like vultures.  They would even sit and order a beer from the cafe next door so they could keep an eye on who was paying their bill next.  Before a person leaving had even put on their coat or grabbed their purse, their recently vacated chair was pounced on.  Yes, it was that good… but this isn’t a food blog so let’s move on.

Yesterday we left San Sebastián, the land of Springtime, and headed for Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port (SJPP), the traditional starting point for the Frances route of the Camino de Santiago.  It was surprisingly simple to find our way there.  After taking the regional metro train to the French border, we hopped on the SNCF train to Bayonne.  There we transferred to the train going to SJPP.  It was easy to find, just follow all of the other Pilgrims with their lives stuffed into backpacks.  The whole process took a little over two and a half hours.  Once in SJPP we checked the weather and learned that “winter is coming.”

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The weather yesterday and today has been fantastic, and had we known yesterday what we know today, we’d probably be over the Pyrenees already.  Today would have been a great day to start.  However, the route we plan to take, the Napoleon route, does not officially open until April 1st.  That’s tomorrow.  And that… is when winter comes.  If the forecast is right, the rain moves in tonight and it will get a bit colder again.  The good news is that our backpacks will be a bit lighter.  The bad news is that they will be lighter due to the extra layers of clothes we will be wearing in the morning when we set off.  I wonder if I’ll get another chance to wear my shorts again on this trip.  Eh, whatever.

Buen Camino!