Hola not Ola!

As soon as we arrived in San Sebastián I fell in love with Spain. The air was different somehow; everything was relaxed. You know when it starts warming up in Perth in Oct/Nov and you can smell summer? Well SS had that smell, that aura, in bucket loads!

San Sebastián is part of the Basque country. This part of Spain has it's own language, Basque, which is very different from Spanish. Nonetheless Spanish is still widely spoken and understood throughout the region. People of the Basque country have fought hard to see their region become independent of Spain but thus far their plight has remained unsuccessful.

View of the bay from the lookout.

Cool sand art in San Sebastián. Donostia is the name of the city in Basque language.

My favourite thing about SS was the Pinchos (Pintxos in Basque). Pinchos are delicious, beautifully presented, tapas style finger food, displayed on the counters of bars at lunch and dinner time. The concept is unique to the region. You get a plate, take what you want and then pay. Most were 2-3€ each. On our second night, the triplets went on a pinchos crawl in the old town! We tried 3 or 4 places - the last was our favourite - it had the best food, wine and atmosphere! I wish I had taken note of the name. Pinchos are usually eaten standing up too - either at the bar or nearby to make it more social and also so you can interact with the bar staff. I loved the culture of this! I even bought a book with the history and specialty recipe of all the pinchos bars in SS. A tad too obsessed? Maybe, but apparently SS has more Michelin stars per square km than anywhere else in the world. So much food so little time!

Our favourite pinchos bar! See how there are plates of pinchos presented on the bar.

Pinchos

That night we also met the Spanish Army. We had had a few drinks and stumbled across a Bacardi bar which had music playing. We had been looking for a place to dance so we went in. Turned out more than half of the people in the bar were soldiers. A lot of them spoke English and a few of them were great dancers so we got salsa'd around the floor - so much fun! Safe to say I had a crazy headache in the morning - red wine and motitos really don't mix!

It was a bit too cold to swim at the beach while we were in SS but we went and sat on the sand in the sun for a while. There was a trio of trumpet players playing on the broadwalk and their music floated down to the beach - they were unreal! The busking and street music I've heard so far on this trip has been top notch - it's that kind of local charm that is just priceless.

Buskers - amazing! Not the trumpet players but these guys were my favourite! So animated!

San Sebastian also has a famous gastronomy society that is still quite exclusive. It is male dominated - only recently have women been allowed to attend society dinners and they are still not allowed to participate in the actual cooking. We were invited to a society member's house for dinner on our first night in SS. There was a bit of a language barrier but we got by - I love that facial expressions and body language say more than words sometimes. The traditional food we were served was delicious and one of the best meals I've eaten so far. Although this dinner was organised through the tour, it's unique, local experiences like these that define what it is to travel.

Our generous hosts. Gastronomy society dinner.

Segovia

Segovia is famous for it's impressive aqueduct and alcazar. It feels as though Segovia is in the middle of nowhere but it's actually only 30 minutes from Madrid. It's an old, almost medieval city with unique character. I loved the old streets, the stone wall that still surrounds part of the city and the way many building fronts were decorated with different patterns. This was also the first place I had churros in Spain - for breakfast, because that's when the Spanish eat them. I didn't complain.

Aqueduct - really impressive, well preserved. It's thought to have been built around 1st century AD.

Carved, decorative building fronts

The Alcazar of Segovia