Sep 20, 2010 - Biarritz/ San Sebastian

We decided since we were only an hour away, we might as well have a beach day. We decided to drive the coast from Biarritz to San Sebastian. In Biarritz we parked the car and walked the beach. It was absolutely beautiful here. There weren't many people swimming, but there was a surf lesson going on. I wanted to join, but I didn't know how well it would go in French (especially since I was having troubles understanding the south accent). We walked all the way down to the end where the beach was blocked off due to rocks falling. Near here,...

Sep 12, 2010 - Final stop - San Sebastian, Basque country

San Sebastian day 1 and Mugaritz We checked into the Maria Christina Hotel (once again built in 1912) and decided to hit the Parte Vieja (the old part of the city). We went to La Cepa at stood at the tapas bar. We had several small plates and our favorite was the pimento con carne (roasted pepper stuffed with meat) and the murano (roasted pork skewer with Moorish spices). We then explored the old part of the city including the beaches. We then went to a café and had a few glasses of white wine and watched the people go by. We are still...

Sep 12, 2010 - Consumption

Greece/Spain Protein List By Land/Air: Pigeon Chorizo sausage Salami Prosciutto Pork cheeks Chicken Basque chicken Beef Ham Bacon Pork sausage Foie gras Lamb Pork tail Bull tail Duck loin Roast suckling pig Baby lamb Blood sausage Iberico chorizo Iberico ham Duck tongue By Sea: Monkfish Calamari Lobster Mussels Shrimp Octopus Sardines Tuna Salt cod Sole Baby eel Salmon Clams Cuttle fish Langoustines Razor clams And the booze . . . Sherry Sangria Cava Sparkling wine Ratki Retsina Ouzo Metaxa Campari Vodka Gin Curacao Beers – Greek, Spanish,...

Jul 27, 2010 - A fantastic dinner

I slept in today and went straight to the beach for a few hours. Switching between the low wave beach and the surfers beach. I was planning to do some body boarding but when I got to the beach they had red and yellow flags up and there weren't many people in the water because of it. So I decided to skip the body boarding and just lay out. When I was tired of laying out, I went back to the hostel and showered. Then I found someone from the hostel who wanted to go to a nice dinner like myself. So we went and I treated myself to a delicious 4...

Jul 26, 2010 - Ah! White Sand Beach

I woke up at 445 today to catch my 600 train to hendaye which is a french town on the spanish border. From hendaye, I caught a small train to San Sebastian. I checked into my hostel and headed straight to the beach! It was the first white sand beach I have been to. The weather was perfect, low 90s with a slight breeze. I took my first dip in the Atlantic ocean today. It was so nice. After that, I headed to the other beach which has huge waves and lots of surfers. It was great to watch people out surfing. After laying out in the sun I went...

Jul 24, 2010 - FOUR mars bar ice creams

It was a shock to the system today, we had to be up really early – for us anyway. Having showered last night the plan was to eat, get dressed and leave. I am still carrying around oats in my bag and we planned to eat them for breakfast, but when my alarm went off at 7:15am I was unmotivated and to sleepy to get out of breakfast to eat. Instead got up with enough time to get changed, my bag was already packed. Seriously with the amount of stuff jam packed into this bag I will be surprised if it lasts till the end of the trip – Ashlee it is...

Jul 23, 2010 - I am loving San Sebastian more and more

I figured since the hostel didn’t provide breakfast I wouldn’t set my alarm, we are always tired and the beds uncomfortable so any sleep is good sleep. I woke up about 9:30ish and Bek was still sleeping. I figured I would let her sleep in a while and I would catch up on uploading our most recent holiday photos on Facebook. I wasn’t keen to leave my warm bed anyway, I came to San Sebastian for sun, beaches and tanning and instead got storms and winter clothes. Feeling hungry we got out of bed and got ready. Luckily when we were leaving the...

Jul 15, 2010 - Bilbao, Spain

The only reasons I came to Bilbao were that it wasn't too far from San Sebastian and the Guggenheim was there and I had read that it was the subject of a lot of controversy since it was supposed to be a very modern structure. The Museum was great. Much better than I had expected and all the exhibits were great. the Building itself was amazing! Other than that not much else to see in Bilbao.

Jul 12, 2010 - San Sebastian, Spain

No more tours now all by myself now. Most people after the running head to Northcoast of Spain to detox. The most popular spot is San Sebastian. This place was great. It reminded me of a New England seacoast town like Portsmouth, NH in the summer. I spent 3 nights here and from here on out the places and had no plans on where I was headed next. The only goal was to try to get in as much of Spain.

Jul 1, 2010 - Into the Wild

We left San Sebastian today on our the final leg of our journey. We're traveling through the Rioja wine region en route back to Madrid. Today we stopped in a small town on the Ebro river called Laguardia. It is one of three towns that make up the northern Rioja region, along with Haro and Lograno. Laguardia is a small walled town on a hill that offers great views of the wine vineyards in all directions. One of the coolest looking bodegas (winery) is Ysios, whose roof was inspired by casks in a wine cellar. We're planning on visiting one of...

Jun 30, 2010 - Lazy in San Sebastian

We've been in San Sebastian for 3 days now with plans to leave tomorrow for the Rioja wine region. We're having a great time here, back at the beach where the water is warmer than the Med. For a beach town Stef and I both prefer Sitges, but there is a certain elegance and grace to this town that is different. It's like comparing La Jolla to Encinitas. Also, the water is warmer here which was a surprise to me - I had assumed that the Med would be warmer than the Atlantic. Mostly we're spending our days at the beach and evenings wandering...

Jun 30, 2010 - Paris to San Sebastian

The trip from Paris to San Sebastian occurs on Sunday, but preparations begin Friday afternoon. That's when I visit the concierge at the hotel to help me book tickets on the high-speed train from Paris to San Sebastian. With the help of a 10 Euro note to keep his attention, he helps me to complete the seemingly-overcomplex transaction in about 30 minutes, much to the dismay of many older Americans wanting to know where they should eat that evening and if the restaurants are open at 5. Day two of preparations is on Saturday when I need to go...