The Most Fabulous of Weekends: Weekend 4

Sunday: We got ourselves, up, packed, and out today by 10a. Kati and her husband allowed us to leave our bags in their hallway for the day so we could go out and walk around for a few hours without all our stuff. We started the day off with an absolutely stunning breakfast at a little café table under the glorious sunshine. The food is still getting my mouth watering when I look at the pictures: Spanish café con leche and two sweet, pastry-type treats. The first was a doughnut that had a crunchy and sweet apple glaze on top and pieces of caramelized apple inside. The second was a soft, slightly sweet warm bread with hardened chocolate on each end, sugar sprinkled on top, and a strip of thick chocolate inside. OH- MON- DIEU!!

I remember eating this, but it feels like it never actually happened because of how much I crave the food in this picture!

After breakfast ( = after tearing ourselves away from this Heavenly spot!) the three of us headed to San Sebastián's Aquarium. Erin wasn't really interested in the Aquarium so she headed off for a walk or whatnot around the beach. But Rosie and I definitely like doing some of the touristy stuff when we're visiting all of these foreign places, so we paid the 8 euros to go inside. Since it was Sunday, there were probably two or three other parties in the whole Aquarium for the two hours we were in there. We had such a great experience strolling through, taking our time, admiring the view of the ocean out of every window, and watching the fish in the tanks but I am really really sad to tell you that my camera died while we were inside. :( I got a couple of good pics of old ships, tools, and expositions from San Sebastián's whaling history while walking through the history-based section, but the highlight of the Aquarium is its underwater tunnel. And this is exactly where my camera died! I had brought my charger with me to San Sebastián but I hadn't thought to grab a different sized plug-adapter for traveling into "Southern Europe."Though this and my "Northern Europe" adapter look exactly the same, apparently they are different. Basically, I was never able to plug in my camera during the weekend. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back. ;)

Notice the whale that was caught, off to the right?

The skeleton of a baby whale

I didn't like this picture at first because it's so dark that you can't see my face; but now I realize that the background makes this picture fantastic and the fact that I am just in it is a bonus.

The view out every single window in the Aquarium.... ahhhhhhh. :)

This was a splendid way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday. Afterwards, Rosie and I met back up with Erin and the three of us walked across the way to a bizarre that was selling San Sebastián and Donostia (the Basque name for the city) merchandise. I bought a few gifts for my family and for a couple of friends and then we headed out to find lunch. Our last meal in Spain was more of the typical fare: I had the same type of ham as yesterday, some fries, a rather bland salad, and two croquettes. Besides the salad, it was bliss. :) When we were good and full, we headed back to our hostel to gather our things and then head to the tram station. We took the tram the 45 minutes back to Hendaye and then had a good half an hour to kill before our train to Pau arrived. We bought some pick-me-ups at a café across the street (I had a cappuccino that tasted more like coffee flavored hot chocolate) and then we had a leisurely train ride to Pau. We switched trains one time in Bayonne but on both trains we had our own empty compartment. It was a very nice, relaxing ride. 

At the train station, Lionel AND Christine were there to welcome me home. :) They offered rides to both of my friends, because they are just that cool, so the five of us packed into their little van. Once back at home, we settled into an apéritif courtesy of Maÿlis. She was leaving in the morning so she wanted to celebrate her last night with us. We had some more of Lionel's Spanish wine, cassis liquor and water, tortilla chips, and barbecue flavored Pringles. As un-fancy as the snacks sound, they were (and always are) served in nice ceramic bowls. We started dinner off with a carrot soup and then moved onto the main course of yummy pasta salad. The salad consisted of those twisty pasta noodles, tomatoes, Greek cheese cubes, cucumber, and green olives. With that we had some more bread and a spinach salad. For desert, a pineapple, apple, and banana salad- it was a salad bar kind of night! 

This was a very excellent weekend for me; I enjoyed my experience in Spain immensely and would love to go back to San Sebastián one day. I ate well, felt the sun on my skin, and saw many beautiful things- I go to bed as happy as can be!

Bonne nuit!

The Most Fabulous of Weekends: Weekend 4

The second half of Saturday: We found another typical Spanish/Basque joint for lunch and I order something that Erin said is truly classic Spanish food: ham, fries, peppers, and a fried egg. It was so good! The ham was super thin and had been fried so it was dry and juicy at the same time. It was truly very tasty and everything tasted good mixed together; especially eating each separate part with a bite of the marinated peppers.

I'm hoping you know what came after lunch. No? Oh come on; what do they do in Spain in the afternoon right after lunch?! Of course, siesta! Rosie and I were totally beat after last night's philandering so we were definitely up for an hour-long nap. Erin had really wanted a siesta too but she decided to walk down to the beach for a little bit instead. She spends a lot of time by herself so I think we were cramping her style a bit; she probably just needed a little alone time. I felt oh so refreshed after my nap and was ready for the evening. Roshanna, on the other hand, hadn't worn good shoes for our walk earlier so her feet were killing her. She wasn't up for going out at all before dinner time. So it was just Erin and I for a little shopping and the short uphill trek to the big statue of Jesus. I bought a really sassy redish-brown purse for 10 euros and got some San Sebastián postcards from some shops near the hostel. On our way to the path that takes you up to Jesus, we saw a parade of people dressed in traditional Basque gypsy costumes singing and banging on instruments. It got us really excited because we had heard about a Basque festival happening somewhere in the city... that evening! 

After watching the parade for a few minutes we walked back out to the walkway around the bay and went in the other direction from this morning to head up to Jesus. He sits in the center of a château-type building/fortress overlooking the city and it just so happens that the sun was setting as we made our way up to the top. I feel very certain that He or He and God together painted the sunset just for us because it was too perfect to be mere coincidence. I found the whole experience of hiking up a steep path, climbing up a lot of stairs, and having to look straight up to look at the statue extraordinarily powerful and moving. The whole thing is very symbolic of one's relationship with Jesus, Biblically and literally. The upward direction to get to Him and the looking up to see Him- it all moved me. I was blown away by the statue too- it is so huge! And He is so high up that when you look up at His face, you notice that there is NOTHING but the sky around Him; like the statue is literally in the sky- another very symbolic thing. And if that isn't enough to touch you, while you're staring at Jesus' face, you realize that He is not looking at you but is looking past you. When you finally wonder, "what is He looking at?" and turn around, the view of the city, the sea, and the sunset nearly knock you off of your feet. It was something beyond my imagination; I'm sorry the pictures don't do this experience justice. I encourage all of you to do this very same thing one day, if only just to know what I am talking about.

On our way up!

There He is

His view

See what I mean about this being created just for us?

The other side:

If I wasn't thoroughly in awe of San Sebastián and the beauty that exists in our world from our walk earlier today, I certainly was after my experience up on the hill. My heart was light and my spirit was soaring. It almost wasn't fair to think that I had nothing to do for the rest of the evening but to go eat more incredible food and have more unforgettable cultural experiences- like seeing a Basque festival! We decided not to sit down to a full meal for dinner tonight, but instead we went truly Spanish and had tapas: small plates of one or two snacks that usually come free or included in the price of a drink from a bar. When Erin studied in Spain last semester, she used to go out for tapas with her friends multiple times a week. We were all so excited for this because tapas allow you to try 5 or 6 different things before you are truly full. We picked up Roshanna at the hostel and then headed to our first place for the evening where got a round of beers and our first two or three tapas. I had a bocadillo that was simply a tiny baguette with a Spanish bacon inside; Roshanna had a small round of bread topped with a pepper, small piece of egg, and sausage and another round of bread topped with a sweet and savory crab salad; Erin had two fried "meatballs." I put that in quotes because it was more like a meat sauce, it was so soft! Roshanna and I also split two pieces of one of the most amazing fried foods I have ever tasted: croquettes! This epic snack is nothing more than an insanely thick mixture of cream, creamed potatoes, melty cheese, and small bits of ham. It's so crispy on the outside that you are surprised when you go to cut it and the whole thing collapses in a melting, creamy, potato Heaven. I have to stop there; I'm going crazy thinking about them!

My bocadillo and beer, and Roshanna's two tapas

The round things are Erin's meat balls, and the things that look like mozzarella sticks? Croquettes :) 

This was certainly not a terribly way to start the evening. We headed to another bar soon after enjoying this delicious dinner-time snack to have more. We got another round of beers there and another round of tapas. Believe it or not, I was actually getting pretty full at this point- those croquettes are dense! I decided to go with another croquette (because it was THAT good) and a slice of baguette topped with marinated peppers and onions, a small piece of smoked salmon, and a to-die-for piece of thick, creamy Spanish cheese. The whole thing was drizzled with a little vinegar. I may have shed a tear or two when I realized I didn't have room for another one. 

Mine and Erin's baguette, pepper, cheese bliss and Roshanna's baguette with a creamy, tangy veggie salad

The bar of tapas

Sorry, I think I may have mislead you. I was getting full of tapas at this point, but I still had plenty of room for dessert! We found a crêperie nearby where an English, French, and Spanish speaking Canadian guy was happy to talk to us in English- a first in Spain! I ordered a warm and melty Nutella and banana crêpe. I think there is no need for me to say anything more. :)

To complete this incredible Saturday in San Sebastián, Spain we found the Basque festival. It wasn't hard really, we just followed the music! I think we are three very lucky girls to have been here while this festival was happening because it was quite simply a celebration of being Basque. When and where else am I ever going to see something like that? The celebration was held in a big square that was surrounded on all sides by apartment buildings. There was a band up on the stage, a group of probably 200 singers/dancers/performers standing in front of the stage, and all were dressed in the Basque gypsy garb. They played traditional Basque music and for most of it, the entire audience- I'm talking thousands of people- were singing along, celebrating their heritage. I think there were at least 50 people who came out of their apartments to watch from above too. It was an amazing thing to see and it made me proud of my heritage as well.

One of many videos from this night. I have more on my 

online gallery: gallery.me.com/ranthy

We walked around a little after the festival, sort of following the band as they marched up and down streets singing and banging away at their make shift instruments. We got a couple of pictures with the Basque mascots too- two giant figures (one and old man, the other an old woman) that were both open on the bottom for someone to go underneath, pick them up, and walk around with them. It was rather entertaining to see a huge figure moving down the street on comparably tiny legs. 

Me, after the festival

Rosie and I with the Basque mascots. Kinda creepy huh?

We were pretty tired after this long and magical day, but I agreed to go out for an hour or so with Erin since it was saturday and we were in Spain and all (Roshanna just wasn't up for it). However, "going out" tonight meant the two of us standing against the wall in a crowded bar talking, yawning, and not bothering to order any drinks. Needless to say, we came back to the hostel after 45 minutes or so of that- too tired to carry on. haha Erin probably could have hung out longer but I wasn't cut out for it. I don't have the stamina built up like she does! This was an absolutely miraculous day: I don't think I will ever forget that walk around the bay and my trip up to see Jesus. There was so much about this day that touched my heart and made my spirit soar. I would love to bring everyone I care about to that promenade along the water some day. :)

Goodnight!

The Most Fabulous of Weekends: Weekend 4

Saturday: Today was an absolutely spectacular day. I got up around 8:45a, took a shower, and then we got ourselves ready and ate a small breakfast (coffee and some packaged treats like croissants and mini muffins) courtesy of Kati. After that we headed out for the day. We went on a little walk to start and it was just beautiful. After the constant chill and grayness of Pau, the glorious sunshine and warmth of San Sebastián was like a much needed summer vacation. We saw a couple of churches that just kinda popped up unexpectedly on busy commercial streets. We found one church whose facade took my breath away.

As we were standing admiring this church, we noticed that just off to the left the street ended and there was a view of the ocean. We looked at each other, took a breath, and walked out to the railing. What- a- view!

The grand, glorious, massive statue of Jesus Christ that can be seen from almost any part of the city at any time of day. I tried to get a picture of it at night but they wouldn't come out. He is absolutely magnificent though; at night, spotlights shine from underneath onto Him and one level down on the base of the hill. The dark space in between the two makes Him look like He is floating gloriously in mid-air, watching over the entire city.

We knew instantly that we had come to the right place at the right time and that this was going to be a spectacular day. We were starting to get a little hungry at this point but it wasn't really breakfast or lunch time yet. However, we found a little café where we could order coffee and pastry-type treats. I got a cup of café con leche and selected a truly marvelous little glazed covered, chocolate drizzled doughnut treat. It had a stripe of solid chocolate all the way through the inside. Oooooo hooooooo is all I can say. :)

Once we felt tingly all over, we decided it was time to go out and enjoy more of the majesty and sunshine of the bay. 

We decided that this is why Spanish people are so good at soccer: they get to play it on the beach.

We slowly but surely made our way all the way around the bay. If you simply walk from one end to the other without stopping it is only 25 minutes, but we took our time and stopped to take lots of pictures. It was one of the most peaceful, beautiful, and soothing walks in my life. The sun was like a warm friendly hug the whole way, the view took my breath away, and I was in the company of friends (not to mention that I had my family and loved ones on my mind the entire way. Trust me, you were all walking with me the whole way around in spirit.) We made it to the other side as the tide was rushing in, so the waves and spray were incredible. We saw these modern art statues at the very end that have adopted the nickname "Wind Combs." I don't think this is actually what they are called because every french person I've talked to hasn't understood a world I'm saying when I translate that phrase into french. 

Wind Combs

At this point we were feeling extremely light-hearted and thought we'd kick our incredible day into overdrive by having lunch. I won't say that we were hungry and it was time for lunch; that doesn't do the good feelings I had in my heart any justice. :)