Day 32 - San Sebastian (06-May-2018)

Woke up to a beautiful blue sky, had breakfast, orange for me and bread, butter and jam for Ursi. As usual, Ursi made the lunch, 2 small bread rolls each filled with avocado, ham, cheese and lettuce; I do appreciate the time and effort she puts into making the lunch. Our apartment is on a side of a steep hill; there are several steps or optional elevators to take one down to the metro station, which is what we took. Within 15 minutes we were in San Sebastian.

Hoards of people on the train but we found ourselves a couple of seats. The streets outside the metro station in San Sebastian were fairly deserted as we made our way to the beachfront promenade. There was police presence closer to the beach, they were diverting the road traffic as a fun run was going on. Hordes of locals lined up on either side of the street in front of the beach, encouraging family, friends and strangers taking part. San Sebastian had really put on a show to impress us; it’s a beautiful town.

Made our way to the tourist office seeking maps and information on what to do and see; armed with that we criss-crossed through the cobblestoned old town (Parte Vieja), with upscale shops, neighbour vibrant pintxo bars pairing local wines with bite-size regional specialties.

I know the Tanks don’t do queues but queue we did, outside a bakery in the old town; didn’t know why people were queuing, but found out after we tasted a couple of pastries. They were so good we went back to get another one later on. Recharged ourselves with our daily lubricants and off we went to the top of Mount Urgull.

We climbed the steps and/or path on the bay side of the hill flanked by exotic vegetation, which lead us to picture perfect panoramic views of the bay and the town below. It’s absolutely worth taking the time and making the effort to do this. On the way down we were using the paths facing the ocean towards the beach; lots of people sunbathing, some in the water and kids having fun. What is very obvious here (and throughout Spain) is that the Spaniards love eating and drinking during lunchtime as witnessed in the bars, cafes and restaurants. They were all packed with young and old local folks (and tourists) having fun.

13.5km later we arrived back home, where we had left over salad for dinner. I watched a soccer match, with a disappointing result and was quiet for the rest of the evening. Ursi gorged herself on a Danish thriller on SBS on demand, which was gripping drama.