A little drive into Spain – San Sebastian - part one

City, beaches and mountains

After having two weeks with guests, we had a few days to spare and decided to take a little drive with our most recent visiting friends.

Blue, blue sea and sandy beaches

San Sebastian was calling. For those who have been there , need I say more.

The 'old town' and ruined fort

It’s just a little less than a four hour drive, so for Australians, nothing. After an uneventful cruise down the autoroute we arrived on the outskirts to find that our GPS was confusing this San Sebastian with a suburb of Madrid, a 450km drive further south. Jan to the rescue with her trusty phone app and we eventually found the hotel. One thing we have learned over the years, never totally trust ‘madam GPS’.

Spot Jan and Daryl in the crowd

The sun was shining and the beach and old town beckoned. Such a wonderful mix of architectural styles and open boulevards , and then the narrow alleys filled with pintxos bars in the  ‘old town’  and pedestrianised streets with fabulous shopping in the  ‘romantic’ area. As the town centre is flat it’s perfect for walking between beaches, river and seaside headlands.

the headland walk

We had decided to spend Friday night on a bar crawl and check out the pintxos on offer. This weekend featured the San Sebastian Marathon, so lots of extra visitors in town. The lane ways were full of people eating and drinking outdoors and noisily enjoying themselves, young children and dogs included. The occasional street musical performance added to the party atmosphere. We tried a number of versions of sangria  ( in the name of research, of course), and quite a lot of interesting looking 'finger food' eventually finishing at a bar near our hotel for that last glass of local wine. The most curious dish we found was a plate of mini hamburgers  coloured 'glow in the dark' electric blue ! You would have to be starving and quite inebriated to try those.

lanes full of pintxos bars

fabulous architecture

 And then a good night's sleep in preparation for another day exploring.

On to part two.....