After flying in late Friday night, we started the day on Saturday with rainy weather. Fortunately, it wasn't a complete wash out and armed with umbrellas, we headed out for a walk along the beach and up to Mt. Igueldo. There is a funicular which takes you to the top where you can get some of the best views of San Sebastian and its iconic Concha Bay. There is also an amusement park at the top, complete with bumper cars and a roller coaster, which we, of course, had to ride. Even though it was rainy, the sun broke out a few times and we still got some pretty good views.
Concha beach:
Mt. Igueldo:
funicular:
views from the top:
Jake won Dan that stuffed snake in his pocket in one of the carnival games:
riding the roller coaster:
After taking the funicular back down, we headed for the Old Town for lunch. We found a great spot right on one of the city squares to grab some pinxtos but unfortunately got rained on about half way through eating. After lunch we stopped into a ridiculously overpriced organic market after having failed to find the large grocery store we had looked up. However, after checking out the bathrooms across the street, Jake and I realized that store was actually right there in the basement of the building next door. Ohhh well.
City Hall:
still wearing "Jake the Snake" in his pocket;)
The sun came out for a pretty sunset as we relaxed back at our condo, right on La Concha beach. That night we had reservations for dinner at Arzak, a 3 Michelin starred restaurant ranked #8 in the world. It was absolutely the most amazing meal we have ever had. There was a tasting menu but our waiter actually suggested that we instead order half portions from the a la carte menu, that way we could try just as many things but make the choices. So we all ordered 2 appetizers, a seafood main, a meat main, and 2 desserts, and then tried everything. The presentation and service was unbelievable. I ordered sea bass and it was served on a clear plate set over a tablet playing an ocean scene! They paired such unique flavors and everything was delicious. Everyone aside from me also had quite a bit of wine with dinner and we were by far the loudest table in the restaurant. At one point, we got into a conversation about the correct noise that a rooster makes, the argument being that the noise Natalia was taught in Venezuela was different than the American "cock-a-doodle-do" version and she thought, more accurate. I believe Jake's quote was, "It's been a while since I made animal noises in a 3 Michelin star restaurant." It was a great night; it was pricey, but well worth it.
our condo:
Arzak:
"tools" made of chocolate:
the sea bass:
The next morning we drove along the coast to Biarritz, France for the day. Biarritz is about 40 minutes east of San Sebastian, and although it is in France, shares the Basque culture. The town has a much more upscale, Riviera, feel to it than San Sebastian, and is known as a surfing mecca in Europe. There was actually a surfing competition going on while we were there. Although it was chilly, it was bright and sunny, so a great day for walking around. Jake had to do some work in the morning so while we waited for them to arrive, Pepe, Kate, Dan and I took a walk up to the lighthouse.
Afterwards, we walked through town and then met Jake and Natalia for a drink right next to the Rock of the Virgin, which we checked out afterwards. Being that it was Easter Sunday, service was insanely slow and it took us probably 30 minutes to even get a server to take our order. Kate got so fed up she had to take a walk and let off some steam to which we all noted, "She hasn't been in Europe long enough, she'll get used to it."
We sat at the bar right on this beach:
Rock of the Virgin:
That evening, after another gorgeous sunset on Concha Bay, we headed into the old town again and ate a late dinner at a cute restaurant/pinxtos bar.
The next morning we were up early to drive down to the Rioja region for a couple winery tours. Our first stop was Bodegas de la Marquesa, home of Valserrano wine. Our guide gave us an extensive tour of the winery and then we had a tasting of 6 of their wines, which were all very good.
Our next tour was at a small winery in the same town, Berarte. The tour was given by an adorable woman, Inma, who owns the winery with her brother and operates it pretty much on her own with just a couple helpers. She also teaches wine making at a local college. Her English was not great so upon learning that Natalia spoke Spanish, she had her do a lot of translating. It was so helpful to have Natalia there as I'm sure we got a lot more information than we would have if she was just struggling with English the whole time. She took us through each floor of their building, explaining their process and letting us taste along the way. They use the traditional method of concrete tanks and she let us taste straight out of the tanks, which was cool. We even tried some wines that hadn't been aged in barrels yet to taste the difference that makes. After touring the building, she actually drove us out to the see the vines in her own car and explained everything from their age and yield to how they harvest them. It was fantastic and it was really interesting to see a smaller, family run operation after touring a larger one like Valserrano.
town of Villabuena de Alava:
After our tour, we made our way over to the medieval walled village of Laguardia. It was an adorable town and reminded me a lot of some of the small ancient walled towns in Tuscany. Unfortunately, we were looking for lunch and with it being a holiday weekend, there was not much open but we did find a decent place to grab some pinxtos before starting our drive back to San Sebastian.
We took a different route on the way home, climbing up over the mountains just north of Rioja, where we got some great views back over the valley.
That night we had some of the best pinxtos of the trip at a small place called La Cepa. Everything was wonderful and they had galician octopus, which is my absolute favorite Spanish tapas food. We all said we wished we had found this place the first night because we would have eaten here for every meal!
The next morning we flew out of Bilbao and back to London for our last week in the city:( This trip was a great finale to our amazing time in Europe. This has truly been the most incredible experience and some of the best years of our lives. It is a time we will never forget and hopefully this blog will be a great way to cherish those memories forever.
