City Spotlight :: San Sebastián - Part Two

A few more pictures of beautiful San Sebastián...

A few more food pictures...

The pintxos are usually displayed on the countertops. They remind me of sushi.

SO the second part of my adventure began when J and I missed the last train out of San Sebastián ... by 10 minutes! We did not know that the train service stopped earlier on Saturdays and Sundays.

For about half an hour, we moped inside the train station, semi-panicking and wondering what to do. J made a phone call to her parents, while I proceeded to take pictures of some of the candy I purchased earlier.

We contemplated looking for a place to stay overnight, but we already looked into hostels and knew that everything was booked because of the film festival. And we definitely did not have a few hundred extra euros lying around to book a hotel.

In the end, we decided to make the most of our situation and explore San Sebastián´s nightlife. Hey, when life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade - or limoncello!

We watched a fútbol match between Bilbao and Barcelona. It was fun to cheer for Bilbao, along with the rest of the Basque folks (even though Bilbao and San Sebastián are rivals).

We also stopped at a pintxos bar, just to hang out. We ordered some sidrá, which is a type of cider. J got some practice pouring it the right way - as high as you can go!

All in all, it was a great trip to San Sebastián.

Unfortunately, the last leg of our trip ended on a bitter note. We took the first train out and knocked out, after being awake for more than 24 hours. About 3 or 4 stops before our destination, J woke up to find that her camera and cell phone were gone. I checked my bag and realized my phone and coin purse were missing as well. The culprits even took the candy I photographed above!

After talking to the train conductor, who told us he saw three young boys hovering around us (via the video camera onboard), we trudged home feeling very dejected. We somehow filed a police report, with our limited Spanish, and felt even MORE dejected because the police officer basically told us that there was not much he could do.

I think this was the first travel experience that left me extremely homesick and painfully aware of the language barrier.


NEVER let your guard down folks. Lesson duly learned.

City Spotlight :: San Sebastián - Part One

I went on a day trip to San Sebastián with my roommate J on Saturday. We definitely had an interesting time. It was an amazing trip, mixed with some bad luck and an unfortunate ending. Anyway, here goes.

This city is officially known as Donostia-San Sebastián and is located in northern Basque Country, right on the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay. It is a beautiful and picturesque city.

It was raining on and off, but I was able to enjoy a brief moment of sunshine and capture a few photos of the beach.

I think I´ve already mentioned how Basque food is supposed to be the best in Spain. Well folks, Donostia-San Sebastián is known to have the best Basque food in Basque Country! And I must say, I have to agree. 

J and I arrived in San Sebastián around noon, and almost immediately, we went pintxo hopping.

First stop was Goiz-Bargi. The second photo is "txangurro para calentar," a spider crab dip, served hot and with bread. The third photo is "brocheta de gambas," a skewer of freshly grilled shrimp with some sort of salsa on top. We ordered this after one of the servers told us that it was the house special, and we were so glad we did. It was perfectly grilled and seasoned.

Next stop, Bar Borda Berri. Here, we ordered "carrillera de ternera al vino tinto," beef cheeks braised in red wine sauce. OMG, the meat was super tender and flavorful. This was by far one of the best dishes I´ve tried in Spain. We also tried "risottos de hongo," a creamy and cheesy risotto. I didn´t put up a picture because it came out too blurry.

Next up, Tamboril. I tried their "croqueta de bacalao," a deep fried mixture of cod and potatoes. J tried "taco de bacalao," which most certainly did not look like a taco, but was really tasty.

Finally, the last stop of our afternoon pintxo run was Txepetxa, a place known for their fresh anchovy pintxos. I tried the anchovy pintxo with sea urchin roe. It was good, but I definitely prefer pintxo calientes (hot pintxos) because it is cooked to order.

After a successful pintxo run, we decided to check out San Sebastián´s international film festival. Apparently, we missed Julia Roberts by a few days!

After taking photos like quasi-celebrities, we took shelter from the pouring rain at a nearby bar for a mid-day coffee and pastry break.

I had a café cortado and a custard filled pastry (name unknown). While sipping our cafés and eating our postres, we decided to watch one of the films listed in the festival. It took us about half an hour to figure out what to watch because we were looking for films subtitled in English. We decided on "Lo que más quiero," a film by an Argentinian director.

This was the theater where the film was showing. Very cute. Afterwards, we wandered around the city for a bit before going for our second round of pintxos.

La Cuchara de San Telmo, which literally translates to The Spoon of San Telmo. This joint is known for their foie gras with apple jelly, and of course we had to try it for ourselves!

A huge chunk of foie gras, grilled and placed on top of a delicious apple sauce. This was definitely a piece of heaven in my mouth! I would definitely come back to San Sebastián solely for this (and the beef cheeks).

I don´t remember the name of the next bar, but it was a hole in the wall place, popular with students for the cheap eats and drinks. We ordered patatas bravas, potatoes smothered in garlic mayo and tigres, mussels in a slighly spicy tomato sauce. 

One eccentric thing I´ve noticed in Spain is that people throw their trash on the ground. It is actually rude to place your used napkins back on the bar countertop. Don´t believe me? See below. Very strange, and something that I´m still not used to.

For our last pintxo stop for the night, we went back to Goiz-Bargi and ordered the house special again (the shrimp skewers). We ordered another item recommended by the same server. I forgot the name, but it was grilled calamari.

  Delicious!

And that pretty much sums up the first half of my adventure in San Sebastián. Stay tuned for part two.

Mi Piso

A few pictures of my flat.

From the door, this is the view to the left.

View to the right.

My tiny dresser. I tried to organize by using plates and cups from the kitchen. A girl´s got to make do with what she has!

The normal looking key is for my bedroom, the other gigantic piece of metal is the key for the front door.

Just for kicks, I thought I´d introduce you to my new teléfono móvil. Isn´t it sexy? Yes folks, this is a state-of-the-art and cutting-edge piece of technology. It´s a total upgrade from the blackberry I use in the US.

 :D