WEATHER: Cooler 16C and rain – a drop of 15C from the day before
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Pub Crawl
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Rain, rain and more rain
BUYS OF THE DAY: Pub crawl for 25EUR and a therito (baby beer) for 1.20EUR
WORD OF THE DAY: Dos therito par favor – 2 baby beers please!
A 9.30am start today – just heaven. I’m getting a good 6 hours sleep at the moment and I feel like a new woman. I think the antibiotics are starting to kick in today, so I have finally turned a corner, health wise just in time for Barcelona and Ibiza!
We got our day song today and Rach has picked the cheesiest song she knows and our day song is Ave Maria by David Bisbal. It sounds like an 80’s Rick Astley type of song Spanish style, but has a really cool beat to it and you can’t help but smile when you hear it. It is something you aren’t going to hear on a normal radio station and Rach has made it quite clear that we are not to request the song in Ibiza as they will just laugh at us, but we are in Spain and it is cool to have a Spanish song no matter how corny it maybe. I guess it is a bit like Shut Upa Your Face is to Italy or Kookaburra Sitting in the Old Gum Tree to Australia. It is cool though and I like it.
It has occurred to me that I have now found a Contiki Husband in Marc. He is a proud and loud gay man from Ottawa and I love him to death. Now I would just like to make it clear that he doesn’t replace Cruise Husband, but we get along just fine and it is great to have a partner in crime along with Andrew ( can you believe his name is Andrew) from Boston. Great travel buddies to have made – love ya guys xx
We drove for 1.5 hours to get to our main destination of San Sebastian today. As the weather and Mother Nature would dictate, it is rainy and there is a small, but brisk chill in the air. Luckily, I was going to pack my sweater and scarf in my main bag this morning, along with my umbrella, but decided at the 5th hour to keep them out and it has been the best decision made to date. There were a lot of people dressed in their beach gear, as the plan was to get some sun today but alas had to change their plans and were stuck in the cold wearing the wrong clothes. The surfers still had their lesson and we went and watched them for a bit and then decided to talk a walk around the city.
I thought San Sebastian was a lot smaller than what it was, so I had promised Bek I would check out her bar and I just didn’t get a chance. Apparently San Sebastian has more bars per square meter than anywhere else in Europe, big call. We had just over an hour to do our own thing before we had to meet back at 12.45pm for our pinchos and thereto walking tour. Which translated is tapas and small beer tour. We went to Playa de La Concha, which is the main beach, to have a look and get some photos. It is a shame that the weather is crappy, as I am sure that when the sun is out that the water would be a beautiful shade of blue. The tiles / main pedestrian walkways are made of marble, add rain / water to that with my jandles that have zero anti slip / grip left on the soles ( which I didn’t realize till now ) made for some pretty funny ‘near misses’ gliding our way around the streets of San Seb. I wasn’t the only one, Marc had some close shaves and a bunch of us looked like we were walking funny, but we were just trying to keep ourselves upright, toes curled and small steps, seriously every couple of meters, someone would do the slip, and the arms would flail in the vain attempt to stay on their feet. HILARIOUS and as far as I am aware no-one actually fell over.
We met back up at 12.45pm and started our pinchos and therito tour. It was the same guide that took the surfers for their lesson – Wade and he was actually Australian! We visited 5 bars, that offered us 5 theritos ( basically it is about 300ml of beer in a shorter glass) and a tapas ( pinchos) that was bite size, or a little bigger of some local food. We bought a few additional theritos as we waited for the slow pokes and they were only 1.20EUR! What great value for money! The places that sell the theritos don’t really have a lot of seats, it is a drink and run type of theory and the pinchos are all lined up on the bar on plates, and you just pick what ones you want and pretty much eat and drink standing. Some of the pinchos looked amazing, but we only had a set menu, but could have bought some more if we wanted. They looked delicious! We did try a local bask beverage which was called Kali-mocho which quite simply was red wine mixed with coke. Weird combination, but man it was delicious and something that could easily be re-created anywhere! That is one thing I will definitely be taking back home with me. And I don’t even like red wine much, but Sangria and Kali-mocho have grown on me both being red wine based!
So even with the crap weather we had a great day in San Sebastian. I am sorry Bek that I didn’t get to your old bar – but I certainly had a drink for you, and you definitely lived in a beautiful city.
Back on the coach, with half of us a bit tiddly and heading to Pamplona. As mentioned in my Facebook status, there will be no running with the bulls, but I just may have one for dinner. After checking into the hotel, we got a small walking tour of Pamplona and we walked the 850m that the crazy people run with bulls chasing them. It seems insane, but it has been a tradition carried on from the 15th century and made popular in the early 1900’s when Ernest Hemmingway wrote about it in one of his books. It is a shame we didn’t get longer here and to see the bullring, but we can only do what we can.
Day 4 and we decided to have a break from Spanish food, so we found this awesome Italian restaurant, where they made their own pasta and the food was just delicious and the company was great with Ash and E and my Contiki family, so it was just a pleasant evening all round. The walk back to the hotel was 40 minutes, but with the temperature around 12C it was quite refreshing to walk off some of the dinner.
Off to Barcelona tomorrow with a stop in Zaragosa on the way. We have 2 nights in Barcelona, so it will be good to not have to pack up the bag and I will also be able to get some washing done as well. My chores are never completed……… ho hum……
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