12 days in Spain & 4 days in Paris- 9/12/14- 9/9/28/14
San Sebastián- Day 1 - The arrival
The 550km drive from Barcelona to San Sebastian takes about five hours and half to 6 hours.
San Sebastián or Donostia (in Basque) is a coastal city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and about 12 miles from the French border.
The main economic activities are commerce and tourism, and it is one of the most famous tourist destination in Spain. San Sebastián is a city with more Michelin stars per square meter in the world (I'll talk more about this when we dined at Arzak) and it is also famous for hosting the annual San Sebastián International Film Festival (FIAPF) in September. We happened to there during the Film Festival which you will later.
Before arriving in San Sebastián we saw a sign to Pamplona, known for the running of the bulls, and since we have time we decided to stop by.
We were so disappointed as there was nothing to see, Downtown looks just like any town, we kept driving around for 10/15 minutes in the hope of seeing something but it was a let down so we left.
We arrived in San Sebastián around 5:00PM/6:00PM just enough time to check in our Pension and to walk around town.
Our Pension is located in Old Town and that's is where you want to stay in San Sebastian. The highlight of the Old Town is it's array of incredible lively tapas bars but since we are in the Basque country it is called Pintxos (PEEn-chohs) and it is also close to the port.
Calle Major with Santa María Church at the end.
|
|
|
We strolled around the Old Town and there are a lot of bars, Case Alcade is one of the many bars around.. It looks good so we decided to try it out.
All the bars are like this one, the counter is literally covered with platters of pintxos. So many choices and they looked pretty appetizing.
|
|
|
You help yourself and pick what ever pinxtos you want...
|
|
|
I never seen so many of pinxtos in my life!!
|
|
|
They are so colorful and it makes it so difficult to pick just a few.
|
|
|
Once you are done with your selection you pay at the bar.
Between the 4 of us we picked a variety of Pinxtos!
We were so disappointed after eating the Pinxtos. They might look appetizing but they did not taste good. Fortunately pinxtos were pretty cheap so we gave it a try, did not like it so we moved on to another restaurant.
|
|
|
We are now walking on the other way of the old Town toward the beach.
The old town is in the back on the 2nd picture.
La Concha beach
The Beach of La Concha (Playa de La Concha) meaning Shell Beach in Spanish is named due to its shape.
Apparently Playa de la Concha is famous beach in Europe as it is frequently featured in travel magazines as one of the best urban beaches in the world.
We asked locals and a few people recommended Narru Bar.
|
|
|
The menu.
|
Anchoas del Cantabrico - Anchovies from Cantabrico -€3.80 |
Arroz de crustaceos con socarrat -Rice with shrimps and Socarrat -€ 3.70 Socarrat means the browned, crusty layer of rice that forms on the bottom of the paella.
|
Both dishes were delicious!
|
|
|
Secreto de Iberico con Manzana de Pais y su Jugo - € 3.50
Iberico secret with country Apple in it's juice. This is really tasty, looks like a braised piece of Iberico pork belly braised with apples.
Really delicious and it is so reasonable.
|
Ensaladilla Rusa - Russian Salad -€4.60 I did not really care for this salad-too much mayonnaise but a lot of Catalan enjoyed this dish. |
Calamares vien hechos-Tasty squid rings - €8.00 |
|
|
|
We ended our meal with a delicious Crema de Queso (cream cheese custard) and a delicious strong cup of coffee.
This restaurant is also very nice and it is a keeper.
After dinner with walked back toward the Old Town and we had to go by La Playa de concha.
The beach is now deserted.
In the distance on top of the hill is the lighthouse.
Next.. A day in Lourdes
