I am so grateful because less than 3 months after leaving my semester abroad in San Sebastián, I had the privilege of returning. This trip was very special to me because I had the opportunity to share my home away from home with Nico. Knowing that we both were going to be making this trip made the months of long distance and missing each other a little more bearable during my time abroad.
This time, Nico and I stayed at my friend Unai's house since I'm assuming my beach-view apartment is now occupied by a new tenant.
Cata, Unai's cat
After dropping our stuff off at Unai's, Nico and I walked around a little bit. I showed him where my apartment used to be, we walked along the beach, and I showed him how I'd get to school. That evening, we did my favorite Thursday night activities: gastro pote and pintxo pote.
First, we went to gastro pote, which takes place at Mercado San Martin. There's live music and small bites of food to eat plus wine and beer. My favorite food to get was the pizza empanada. Back when I was living in San Sebastián, gastro pote was the place to be on a Thursday night if you wanted to have a pretty relaxed evening. If you wanted to party, pintxo pote was where the night usually started. Some nights, you could fit both in, which is what Nico and I decided to do.
Pintxos (from this post)
After eating a few empanadas and rolls of sushi, Nico and I left el centro (where Mercado San Martin is) and headed back to the neighborhood of Gros (where I used to live). In Gros on Thursday nights, pintxo pote takes place at most of the bars. For 2 euros you can buy yourself a pintxo (Basque tapa) and a drink (wine, beer, cidre, sangria, or kalimotxos - equal parts red wine and coke).
I know where all my favorite bars are to go to on Thursday nights. There's a bar that has pizza pintxos, there's a bar that has what's essentially a fried ball full of spicy meat, there's a paella bar, and there's what the international students called "Blue Bar." I don't know the real names of all these bars but I could definitely find them again probably 10 years from now. Nico and I met up with Unai for pintxo pote and then walked to Parte Vieja to go out to some of the bars there. This was the normal procession on a Thursday night.
Nico, Unai, and I went to a bar called Iguana, a favorite of mine and Unai's to hang out at. If I were following the drunk pack of study abroad students, the favorite bar to go to would be Arkaitzpe, where everyone would hang out at until 1am and then head over to Molly Malone's for 1 euro shots. If you were still alive and awake after that point, you'd head to Bataplan, San Sebastián's disco, and possibly stay there until sunrise. This Thursday, however, Nico, Unai, and I went home after Iguana.
The next day, Nico, Unai, and I took Pancho (the dog) on a walk to the neighboring town of Pasaia. We walked to the end of the harbor and got drenched by a wave slamming against the concrete. We decided after that that it was a good time to walk back home.
Before getting splashed by the wave
Photo by Unai
Later, we did something that I'd never done the whole time I lived in San Sebastián. We met up with some of Unai's friends and had a Basque BBQ. First, everyone went to a rather large (for Spain) grocery store and bought a ton of food. Most of it was large cuts of meat with a few loafs of bread. Then we went to Unai's friend's mountain home in Hondarribia. It was pretty fun to sit around and eat food and pretend to understand what everyone was talking about as they switched between Spanish, Basque, and English. Nico and I made up for it by kicking everyone's butt at archery later on.
That afternoon, I took Nico on a walk up Monte Urgull to see the Jesus statue and the beautiful view. We followed that up by having dinner at La Mejillonera, one of my favorite bars in Parte Vieja. I love to order the patatas bravas and the large caña (beer) but the bar is mostly known for its seafood (they have a calamari sandwich).
Gros and Playa Zurriola in the background
Playa de la Concha
Dried papaya, one of my favorite snacks & the Basque flag
That night, we met up with Unai again and went to a Basque rock concert in Gros. Being in San Sebastián, we couldn't attend an outdoor concert without having to periodically take shelter from a downpour of rain. We actually got separated from Unai because of this but met up at the house again later.
For our last day, we just took it easy. Nico and I had to do some laundry and buy bus tickets. Unai's family made us lunch. Nico and I walked around town for a bit and went to Campero's for sandwiches. I showed Nico some of my favorite places. Here is a list of my San Sebastián favorites:
Restaurants:
La Mejillonera (Seafood pintxos, Parte Vieja)
The Loaf (Bakery, Gros)
La Tagliatella (Italian, El Centro)
Oiartzun (Bakery, Parte Vieja)
Portobello (Fried ball of meat for Pintxo Pote, Gros)
Bar Campero (Sandwiches, Gros)
Activities:
Hike Monte Urgull
Surf at Playa Zurriola
Relax at Playa de la Concha
Take the tram up Monte Igueldo
Visit a Basque cider house
Walk around Cristina Enea Park and look for peacocks
Bars:
Iguana (Parte Vieja)
La Mejillonera (Parte Vieja)
Arkaitzpe (Parte Vieja)
Molly Malone (Miraconcha)
Bataplan (Miraconcha)
Sunset at Playa Zurriola
#europe #secondeurope #backpacking #Spain #studyabroad #sansebastian #gastropote #pintxo #pintxopote #MercadoSanMartin #Gros #Basque #basquecountry #cider #kalimotxos #ParteVieja #Arkaitzpe #MollyMalone #Bataplan #Iguana #Pasaia #hondarribia #monteurgull #LaMejillonera #PlayaZurriola #PlayadelaConcha #Campero
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