Day 14 – San Sebastian

July 2, 2019 – Today we woke up to very cloudy and misty weather. There is a possibility of rain but it was still warm.

I was up, dressed and ready to go first this morning and went into the dining room to get us coffee and Ana was there to greet me. She had our breakfast of bread, jams, coffee, milk, fruit and cold water laid out and ready for us.  She asked what our plan was and I told her we were going to go out and walk the city and explore.  She pulled out a map and showed me highlights of the city’s things to see. She also gave several recommendations of good places to get pinxtos. She is very sweet and so very helpful.

We set out for our walk and decided to walk along the beach. It was misting a little but not enough to bother us.  Most places along the water were still closed. Much of Spain doesn’t really start opening until about 11 or 12.  Ana had told me about a big market downtown and I really wanted to check that out because I really love those big open-air markets.  San Martin was not an open-air market. It was more like a small mall with 4 floors.  The bottom floor had several vendors selling produce. The ground floor had meats and cheeses.  The 2^nd floor had fish.  It was a great market if we wanted to buy food to prepare, but that will come later in Portugal and Montenegro when we actually stay in an apartment.

We also saw some cool fountains, artwork, and plazas with fountains. 

We also came upon a small trailer that had Picasso information about his Guernica painting and his anti-war activities.  We went inside and looked around, but it was all in Spanish and Basque.

Next we decided to go into Old Town as it was getting to be lunch time (and Sharon was getting very cranky) and there were a couple of Pinxto Bars that we wanted to check out.  Wayne had done some research on some of the best Pinxtos in the area and Ana told us some.  Some of them were the same so we figured coming from a local (and Wayne’s exceptional research), they must be good.

The first place we stopped was called Gandarias and we had a few pinxtos and a beer.  It was a really busy place.  The bartender gave us our food and we wanted to go out on the patio and eat.  I tried to pay but he said pay later.  Seems like we totally could have dined and dashed but when I went back in to pay, he knew exactly what we had ordered.

We stopped at another bar called Atari Gastroleku and had a couple more pinxtos and another beer.  This place was also very busy and the food was so good.  The sun had come out and it was getting warm so the beer was so good and refreshing.  There is just something about European beer.  It is just so good.

After bar hopping, we thought we should go back to our room for a siesta before Wayne started work.  We got a little way down the coast and Wayne got a wild hair and wanted to climb the hill to visit the giant Jesus statue the overlooks the bay.  I reluctantly agreed and we turned around to head back to Old Town to Monte Urgull.  At the tallest point on Monte Urgull stands the 40-foot-tall San Sebastian Christ statue, Sagrado Corazon (or Sacred Heart) and a castle with a free museum.  I wasn’t expecting to visit a castle because it’s hard to see from the city.  The Mota Castle has historical significance, some parts date back to the 12th century and it was conquered by Napoleon’s French Army.   Of course, the exhibits did not have English narratives, but that’s ok…we are getting use to it.  There are several old cannons up around the castle and fortress and the area had some amazing views! 

After our hike, we walked along the beach toward our room and it was getting hot…we found it best to stop for ice cream to cool us off.  We were both exhausted.  We walked 9 miles today.  We had a very short siesta before work.

It was a beautiful day!  We love San Sebastian.

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