Friday, June 13th

We had a quick breakfast in the apartment, Charlotte and I went out for coffee at the place right near our apartment where they had this outstanding magazine for ultra-rich jetsetters called Monocle. No offense to the coffee shop, but I don’t think they were getting very many rich jetsetters there! We left the apartment by the designated time and schlepped our luggage to the subway station, where we stored it in the lockers there. We were not the only ones with this idea as a lot of the lockers were full, so we had to use two small ones instead of one big one. Then we went shopping for a bit, and Genevieve got a cute pair of tennis shoes. We had lunch at a fun restaurant called Cult of Pita. We returned to the train station and had to beg stores for change to spring our luggage. These lockers really need to get Apple Pay or credit card readers–it’s ridiculous. We took the subway to the airport (it became an above-ground light rail for a lot of the trip!)

We were hanging out in the airport killing time waiting for our flight, and Charlotte and I were getting our steps in when the plane went from “boarding started” to “last call” within 10 minutes! But we did make it on the flight. Once we landed in Bilbao, we tried to buy tickets for the next bus to San Sebastian, but they were sold out, along with the bus after that. So we got to spend hours of quality time in the Bilbao airport….Yay? We got wine and cheese and bided our time until our 8:45pm bus. It had started to really really rain by now. Scott, Genevieve’s boyfriend (whom Mark and I had not yet met) greeted us at the bus station and gave us big hugs before we braved the rain to get to our apartment. When it’s raining that hard at some point you just give up and surrender to the fact that you are going to get really really wet. Which we did, even inside our suitcases as the water seeped in through the zippers. The Airbnb was nice.  Scott had gotten the basics, like simple food for breakfast and beer. We unpacked, hung stuff out to dry and went to bed.

Saturday, June 14

We woke up nice and early and were at the restaurant across the street for breakfast at 8, when they opened, and it was packed! We met the van for the tour to a winery further down the same street at 9:30. There were two other people in the van, a very polished mother and high-school-aged daughter from Berkeley on a girls’ trip. Our first stop was to a small seafront village, Getaria, where we got to spend a wee bit of time (a wee bit of time because there was a triathalon later in the day and everything was going to be closed as a result) learning about Basque fishing history and the explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano who was the first to sail around the world with Magellan. The town’s entrance is through a tunnel under a 13th-century church. They used to store munitions in the tunnel, so of course that blew up, and they rebuilt the church in the 1800s in the neogothic style. We walked around for our allotted half hour and really could have stayed a bit longer, but of course nobody wanted to get stuck until 9pm so we left for the winery.

We arrived at Gañeta for our txakoli tasting. We got to tour the grounds, learn all about the history of txakoli and what it takes to be a txakoli winery, and then we returned to the winery to have a nice txakoli tasting with food pairings. We then raced out of the winery and back the way we came before the roads closed at 2.

Once we were back in San Sebastian, we pointed our van mates in the direction of the old town where all of the pintxos bars were. Charlotte and I went in that direction ourselves to return to Borda Berri to see if the orzotto was as good as we remembered (it was). The streets were very full on a Saturday! I got an expensive but stylish umbrella, which did come in handy later. We crossed a bridge to get to the side of San Sebastian where we had stayed when we first visited in 2016, and found a nice coffee shop and Genevieve and Scott joined us. After our coffee, we set out to find our old apartment, and then we went to Basqueland brewery . Boy did they have a lot of choices! Geneveive had a blueberry muffin stout, Scott had a coffee stout, I had a fruited sour and Charlotte abstained.  We returned to the apartment, where Genevieve took a nap (naturally) and Charlotte and I went out in search of a grocery store to get breakfast. The first target was a bust, but the second store was really good, one of those ones that’s underground. We roused Genevieve when we got back to the apartment and went to dinner at a really good very small Middle Eastern restaurant, the Chutney Gastrobar. One of those places where they have a limited menu and you order based on what the chef recommends. We had millet, which we never would have ordered normally but was very good. They used broken-up taco shells to dip into hummus, which actually worked pretty well. After dinner, Mark returned to the apartment, and the rest of us went back to Basqueland. This time, I got the blueberry muffin stout, and Charlotte had lemon meringue pie sour to start, and then there were many more beers. After this, Charlotte and I returned to the apartment for bed, and Scott and Genevieve checked out Pokhara Taberna near our apartment, which was hopping.

Saturday, June 15

Charlotte and I got up early and had our yogurt breakfast then headed out to a nearby coffee shop to get everyone coffee. In case you’re wondering why we didn’t just have coffee in any of our rental apartments it’s because they all had keurig machines which are an abomination. I miss the days when they’d provide a simple french press. Anyhow I digress.

We were all ready for our private food tour with our guide, Cara, booked through San Sebastian Food Tours. She was a lively woman who reminded us of Mark’s Aunt Marcela. She had created for us the most amazing tour, and following is where we went and what we had:

ITXAROPENA
Local Grilled peppers: guindillas
Wild Mushrooms
Green beans with scallops
Friend white asparagus with yolk

Wine: Txakoli, local white,

SIRIMIRI
Risotto de trufa y queso de Idiazabal
Tomato salad
Piquillo peppers
Cheese pintxos from the counter

Vino: Albariño white

KAPADOKIA
Spanish omelette
Artichokes with potato foam
Lobster ravioli

Wine: Rioja, Crianza
Ramón Bilbao winery

LA VIÑA
Cheese cake

Wine: Sherry, Pedro Ximenez

Along the tour she told us about San Sebastian, how she was exiled from Spain during Franco’s rule, and how she was so happy to return. It definitely seems a good place to live, the locals all know each other and on Friday nights there’s traditional dancing in one of the squares and everybody goes. Very family friendly and a good vibe there, even with all of the tourists. She also explained the food we were eating, gave us suggestions on where else to eat, recommended that we walk around the bay and take the funicular up to the top of the hill and ride the little rides and enjoy the view, so that’s what we did. Besides the original little water ride there was a small amusement park up there. On the way back we walked along the sand instead of the road and that was nice. Once we were back in the old town we went to La cuchara de San Telmo for goat cheese and then to Carlos Arriola Maestros gelato which we ate facing the river. We returned back to our apartment for some foot masks (bought earlier on the trip from Normal of course!) and wine. Scott didn’t really understand the point of the foot mask but I bet his feet were nice and moisturized anyway. It was a very long but very fun day, and the sun finally came out!

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, June 16

We had a nice brunch at Delices Maiatza, and then Genevieve had to return to the apartment to work while the rest of us went to take the walk up to the castle. Unfortunately for us, the easy way was closed so we got to take a steeper climb. The castle was really cool with lots to explore and climb on. There was also a bar attached to the castle, and on our way there we saw a stag beetle in the wild! Genevieve was so jealous when she heard, as you can imagine. At the bar, they had the bramble beer I’d been enjoying at the brewery. We climbed back down the hill from the bar, and Mark returned to the apartment, while Scott, Charlotte, and I joined Genevieve for lunch at said brewery. Charlotte and I had stopped for poke for lunch because we didn’t want bar food, but they wouldn’t let us eat it at the table, even though we bought beer, so we were isolated at a nearby park bench. Once we were done with our lunch, we got to go back to the table to drink our beer. That was a bit lame but whatever.

After lunch, Charlotte and I went vintage shopping, and she bought a shirt, and then we walked along the water while we waited for other shops to open. We stopped for coffee, and then I heard a ping and the lens popped out of my reading glasses. I didn’t want to be unable to read the rest of the vacation, so Charlotte reached out to Clara from the food tour, and she pointed us toward an optometry shop that did have reasonably priced reading glasses. We finished our shopping and then returned to the apartment to get ready for dinner at Raviolina. I got to wear my fancy dress just so that I could say I wore everything I packed! We met up with Scott and Genevieve leaving the beach, they looked so relaxed and happy! The food at Raviolina was good but not amazing, and after we ate it was a mad dash to find a place to have dessert because everything was closing, but we did find a gelato place thank goodness!

Tuesday, June 17

Charlotte and I went out to get coffee and pastries for the crew for breakfast, and then Genevieve settled in for another work day. Mark went off on his own, and Scott, Charlotte, and I walked to the aquarium. Scott decided not to go in, but Charlotte and I did, and we really liked it. It had a lot of information on the history of Basque fishing, and the fish tanks were good for a small aquarium. After the aquarium, a dress store Charlotte was interested in was open, but upon closer inspection, the dresses were all a bit much. The aquarium had had some vintage posters, and we thought those would make a good souvenir, but none of the tourist shops we went to had them. Missed opportunity there! There was lots of local art, though, which was nice to see. We walked back along Gros beach to meet up with everyone for lunch, this time at Bidassoa Taproom where we had a pleasant meal outside. Scott and Genevieve went shopping, and Charlotte, Mar,k and I returned to the apartment where Charlotte and I put on swimsuits and stripped down our possessions so we could leave our stuff on the beach. So strange to be without a phone! We did have the waterproof camera, so I was able to get some great shots of her rocking a vintage outfit on the Spanish beach. We swam up to the platform where all the kids were, but did not go on, and then we dried off (sort of) on the beach for a bit. Then Genevieve came to find us because Mark was taking a nap, and she did not know the plan. She returned to the apartment, and Charlotte and I went to a bar to have an aperol spritz (of course), after which time we met up with everyone to redo the greatest hits from the food tour. We also drank way too much wine! After dinner, Scott, Genevieve, and I went to try a final brewery, but it was closed for vacation, so the universe was trying to tell us something. We walked along the beach to the apartment, where I tried another yummy beer Scott had brought, but I was too full to finish the whole thing. And off to bed!

Wednesday, June 18

We woke up and went to a new bakery and coffee place. I made the mistake of ordering caramel macchiatos, and they were way way too sweet. We cleaned up the apartment and then headed to the bus station. This was a lot more pleasant in the absence of pouring rain! Once at the station, we had to wait for the bus company to post the gate, which they finally did at the very last minute. This bus was a double-decker, and we were on the top, so the view was nice, but the motion sickness was worse. Once in Bilbao, we took the luas/light rail to get to our hotel, but still had quite a bit of schlepping to do. It was extremely hot as well! We dropped off our stuff and went to the Brewery Basquery. Just for the record, it was not just me who was into beer. Scott has made it a quest to try as many different beers and get bottlecaps as possible. The food was good, but all the beer on top was IPAs, but fortunately Charlotte and I found a sour in the fridge (surrounded by IPAs). After lunch, we walked to the old town and checked out the Desigual, but they had nothing I was interested in. And then it was time to say goodbye to Scott and Genevieve. That’s the problem with having a daughter who lives in Europe: you’re always saying goodbye! Mark walked back with them to the hotel while Charlotte and I explored Bilbao a bit more. We were going to see the church, but it was 10 euros to get in and that wasn’t happening. We visited some shops, chatted with the shopkeepers, and I wound up getting some earrings at a glass-blowing studio. We stopped for coffee, and we also got to see a recital taking place at one of the churches, which was pretty cool, and a band concert at the main stage in the park, which was a little less cool because they weren’t that good. For dinner, Mark kept changing his mind but eventually we went to a Greek restaurant where awkwardly we were the only customers, but the food was good at least.

Thursday, June 19

We got up on time, and had the hotel call us a taxi, which was a lot less expensive than an Uber (29 euros for the taxi vs. 50+ for the Uber). It was a beautiful day, and that always makes it hard to leave. The airport was fine, unlike the US TSA, there was no yelling, which we definitely appreciated. We had a surprisingly good breakfast at Giraffe (breakfast sandwiches), and I can confidently recommend that chain. The plane arrived pretty much as we needed to board which was funny it was so hurried. Once we got to CDG, we had to walk to a little room where we waited for a bus to take us to the terminal on a very long non-scenic route.  At CDG, there were very few food options but lots of designer stores? French priorities, I suppose. They did have many options for games like foosball and video games, all at no charge, which was a nice option for the kids (and plenty of adults too).  We boarded the plane a full hour before takeoff, so this is not the airport to have a tight connection, as you’d never make it. We had a three-hour connection that turned into 1.5 hours, which was just enough time to get food and get our steps in for the day.  The flight was fine, Air France is nice to their passengers. Unfortunately, the lamo in front of me reclined her seat immediately, so I had no room for most of the flight. And she wasn’t even sleeping, just playing on her phone. Some people! Hopefully, she just didn’t realize how hard that is for the person behind her, and she’s not just a jerk. While we were taking off, you could hear a very unhappy dog barking in the hold, and then it got mysteriously quiet during the flight, which worried me, and I can only imagine how the owner felt. We all breathed a sigh of relief as it started barking at the landing. Poor dog. We sailed through customs, got our luggage, and took a Lyft home. We immediately picked up Sookie. The cats were very happy to see us–and very loud about it too!

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