We head out along the beach for a walk to the same place we wanted to go for breakfast yesterday. Today we get there later, albeit still early at 11:50am. La Madame is the place. Has an interesting modern Spanish brunch menu. We get some juice and coffee then some huevos rancheros. Sim has the eggs benedict. That's followed up by a sweet course, churros for sim and French toast with cream for me. A mimosa to top it off and all in all a nice brunch.
We stroll back in to the town centre and up along the water front.
Today we are going to climb Monte Urgull. It's a blue sky day and the sun is beaming as we wind our way up the various paths along the ocean side of the mountain. It's such a nice landscape and rather peaceful as it's quiet. The high tree canopies and dense vegetation at the lower parts of the fortress offer some relief from the sun.
There's various remnants from San Sebastiáns military past, with fortress walls, ramparts, watch towers and canon batteries all over the mountain. They're cool structures to wander in and out of and these days make for great scenic lookouts over the majestic La Concha.
San Sebastián is amazing from above. The shallow waters of the bay are a beautiful green blue and the boats dot the blue water somewhat like a Brett Whitely painting.
After taking endless panoramic shots and selfies we head to the top, following the path to Jesus who stands atop the mountain. The view gets better and better the higher you go. Now we get wider regional views over the surrounding hillside and valleys that make up the Basque Country. It's so lush and green.
We wander through more narrow stone fortress walls and up steep tight stairs until we finally arrive at the top, literally at the feet of Christ. Up close the little antenna coming off his hand, which I'm assuming keeps away birds and lighting, makes him seem like a wizard. Maybe he was! After all he did perform miracles. Maybe there's a concealed gospel called Mark 9 and 3/4, a little like Harry Potter.
Anyway, we take in the view before taking the short but steep winding descent down the mountain on the city side of the mountain. We head back into old town which is busy after the lunchtime pintxos. We peruse the streets again before stopping at a bar in plaza Zumardia for a wine and a sangria for sim. We sit outside in the sun in the plaza. Again it's s great place to just sit and people watch. The red wine here is awesome too. The basque Rioja valley region has great wines and anything you seem to order is tasty.
One interesting thing we've noted here is the basque Spanish words have lots of x and z's in them. They create a ch sound. For instance much would be mutx here. Interesting.
We get some gelato and stroll back along the beachfront. There's so many people out now, and a few nudists too. One guy is flaunting his pintxos all over the place. He would be arrested for indecent exposure to kids back home. We head back to the hotel for a change and a short rest before hitting the beach ourselves for the afternoon. Plaja Onderetta is the beach just west of the main town. The tide is high but heading out and the bay appears larger again. There's lots of people on the beach now, so many families too, which is nice to see. We head in for a swim. The waters actually not as cold as I was anticipating. It's refreshing. After a short 15minute dip we chill on the sand and get some drinks. Beers for me and more sangria for sim. Surprisingly they give it to you in a glass, which could be a recipe for disaster in the sand. After a good hour or so soaking up the afternoon sun we head back to the hotel. The sun is starting to descend behind monte Igueldo and we head back for a shower.
It's nearly 8 now and I still haven't gotten used to the long daylight hours. Still feels like 3or4 in the afternoon. It's quite tiring as you try to make the most of it but at the same time you're body gets tired doing so much.
We head out for dinner but first stop to get some cash as we don't have any. We can't find the atm we want however, as all the ones we see charge exorbitant fees for withdrawing cash. €5 one is. Crazy! That can buy you a beer and a pintxos. Ridiculous.
After perusing what was on offer in Onderetta we head back to the restaurant at the base of our hotel. The atmosphere there is lively and the food menu looks good.
We order some wine and some more substantial portions of the pintxos bar food, called racciones here. I order beef ribs and sim gets some patata bravas and a sautéed mushroom dish. It's all amazing. Especially the ribs though, which are so tender and slide off so easily. They come served in this delicious mash potato as well. So yum. We have a few more glasses of wine and share a cheese plate for dessert while watching the euro on tv. A nice end to the day.
Did I mention how sunburnt I got? I'm like Rudolph with my red nose.
Very thankful that the sun came out. It's amazing how weather impacts on perception of a place. San Sebastián transformed today into a magnificent paradise.
One last morning here tomorrow and then it's off to Bilbao.
mat + sim
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