Probably stayed out a bit later than normal for us old Australian folk, as we all ended up a bit rusty Saturday morning. The locals eat around 8.30 - 10 pm so it is hard getting used to the late dinners. (Marg & Jit you wouldn't handle it)
Anyhow we had a hop on hop off bus tour around the old and new cities. For those that don't know San Sebastian is in Basque country and in Basque it is know as Donostia. Basque is a very ancient language with unknown origins and completely different to Spanish. The people here are very friendly and speak Spanish and a little English so you can get by fine.
Our apartment is opposite the surf beach with lovely views and decent internet for posting blogs..
We spent Saturday afternoon on the beach getting burnt and Saturday night had a great organised foodie tour with local guide Amaie. She took us to a gastro club to check out the kitchen and dinning rooms. Gastro clubs are big in the Basque country with some clubs being over 100 years old. Members take food to the club and they can then cook the food on the commercial stoves and equipment. They are able to take guests but you can not go unless you are with a member. Excellent atmosphere and great for social interaction. We could learn a lot from the sense of community in this country..
So Amaie took us to some special bars for some great wines and Pintxos. Most of which we hadn't had before so it was a real treat.
It's Sunday now, so we are off to lunch at Mugaritz the number 6 restaurant in the world...
We will add details of that experience to the next post.
From our balcony
Our first night with Pintxos
On the foodie tour
Dancing in the plaza
Janine & Tony on the balcony
What a hoot! Dancing in the plaza and eating, drinking, and socialising at 10.30pm, You're right Janine, Jiti's and my digestion couldn't cope. Grandmas like to eat by about 6.30pm and then we're heading to bed by 10.30pm most nights! Different constitutions and cultures. Hope you are all keeping up with the Europeans.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a buzz of a place! (Didn't see you dancing though...)
ReplyDeleteYou'd need to adapt to the traditional long midday siesta to cope with the late summer nights eating and drinking (...You'd kind of get two days out of one, wouldn't you... Now that's 'bizi-poza'!)