San Sebastian

Our first trip this summer involved a little jump over the border into northern Spain, to the highly recommended, San Sebastian. Probably, since our very first week here, people were telling us that it was somewhere that we just had to visit. And they weren't wrong. Old, charming, and with its own huge but well sheltered beach, this is one amazing city. The prices reflect it though. We tried desperately to get a good deal on a hotel or even AirBnB but ended up going old skool and getting ourselves a family room in a hostel which was still pricey at €80 per night (with a 45min walk to the old town) Ooaft! Anyway, armed with my new Lonely Planet books, we packed up the car and headed for Spain. Surprisingly, we were able to drive over the border with no checks. I was amazed - I thought we would need to show at least our passports but, nah, crack on people! There wasn't even a sign that said the equivalent of "Welcome to Spain". Just a road toll booth, and suddenly the signs weren't in French anymore. One hour forty later from our door and we were pulling up at the Koisi Hostel in San Seb. So European! We had bagged ourselves a wee family room and it was a decent setup with bunks above the double bed. William is obviously too little for a bunk just yet so we able to move a mattress onto the floor for him. Job done! 

Once we were sorted with our room we headed out to get our bearings. We wandered along the beachfront, enjoying the sea air and found a cafe for lunch. When you're on your holidays, its only right that you start with a GnT aperitif! It immediately became apparent that food on this trip was going to be a lot easier that in France. Just a random burger joint, but "Sin Gluten" available. Amazing. After lunch, we took William down onto the beach for a run around in the sand. What joy to be back at the water. I've forgotten how much it became part of our lives in NZ. 

After our play, we went back to the hostel for late afternoon naps. Well I say naps, but William was far too excited to sleep so it became a lesson in trying to wrestle him to sleep on a mattress on the floor. Hopeless! We finally pulled the pin and went for a wander in our local area, finding a pizza place (probably the equivalent of Dominos) who did GF pizza. Again, when you're coeliac, it's just the frustration of not being able to get your hands on easy, takeaway food that does your nut in. So, San Sebastian being one of the most renowned foodie cities in the world and I was just delighted to get a takeaway pizza and sit down the beach. Simple pleasures. 

 

I'd love to say that we woke up fresh on Friday morning, ready to take on the world but that would be a touch on the exaggeration side. It turned out that the hostel had fire doors fitted throughout the building (and I mean every. single. room) which SLAMMED shut everytime they were opened and left to close on their own. Combine that with sharing a room with a two year old who doesn't know how to sleep on a bed yet and kept rolling onto the floor and waking himself up. By Friday morning, we were ready for three more hours in our bed. Anyway, onwards and upwards. I spoke to the guy on reception who gave us all the info we needed for getting around with a little person. He was quite adamant that we didn't take the car into town. Oh, the joy! - We got to go on the bus! I love getting the bus around town when I'm travelling. It makes me feel like I'm really immersing myself in the place I'm visiting. (Apart from having to get the 62 when I'm back in Glasgow.)

First stop, the Aquarium. We'd heard great things about this place and it did not disappoint. We were there for a good couple of hours, William getting freaked out a couple of times at the crazy underwater monsters on display.

 Always time for a Brent when you're in a tourist destination...

After our morning under the deep blue, it was time to head into the tightly packed streets of the Old Town and pick up some lunch. San Sebastian is famous for its tapas, found stacked high along all the bar tops in the restaurants. The restaurants are heaving around lunchtime with people spilling out onto there streets, eating and drinking, and being very Spanish. However, despite the San Seb finger food being some of the best in Spain, theirs are all generally found on a bed of crusty bread which is not ideal for me so we had to skip the local delights and find somewhere else. We stumbled across in Italian place which had a huge GLUTEN FREE sign on the door. How could I resist? I went for the spaghetti with prawn, garlic, tomatoes and roasted pistachios. It was absolutely incredible. And just a joy to eat out, safely. Cheers to that!

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the streets, doing a bit of shopping and taking in the atmosphere (drinking gin in the sun). We found a great spot on one of the main thoroughfares and people watched the afternoon away, including watching the local jakies having a party in the bandstand. To top off our day, we had a McDonalds for dinner. My first in five years! To be honest, it will probably be another five years until I bother having another one. I forgot how average McDs is.

On Saturday morning, the weather had started to pick up so we headed down to the beach for a couple of hours before getting lunch and getting back on the road home. It was lovely spending time at the water again. How we miss it.

It wouldn't be a trip to a different town/country without me checking out the gf options in the supermarkets. Here's some of the haul. Much of the same stuff as I'd get in France, but some extras that I took home.

All in all, a great few days away and hopefully not too long until we head back to San Seb again.
LM :)