País Vasco: Basque Country

Lindsey arrived on Thursday about 2:30pm and we immediately headed to the bus station to catch the 4pm bus to San Sebastian. It was about 6 hours, más o menos. We checked into our hostel, which was right on Playa Zurriola, and went to dinner, then crashed. The next day we did a bunch of sightseeing. We hiked Mount Urgull, which had amazing views of San Sebastian and Playa Concha and was very beautiful itself. Then we explored the Old Quarter and some of the famous cathedrals. I had a minor heart attack when my camara stopped working for the longest 10 minutes of my life, but luckily turned back on! We stopped in the Old Quarter for tapas. Apparently, San Sebastian is famous for its unique tapas. They consist of a lot of seafood, which I like, and they were very different than any tapas I've had before...except croquetas of course! They definately put a new spin on tapas and they were delicious!

Cathedral in the Old Quarter

There were about five pavos reales in one of the parks we explored

One view from Mount Urgull

Playa Concha/ San Sebastian Old Quarter skyline

Fresh fruit from a local market

The river and Old Quarter at night

That night we hung out with people from our hostel and we all went out together. Everyone was really nice and it was one of the best hostels I've been to. The next day we woke up pretty late and then went to the beach right by our hostel with some lunch. We stayed at the beach most of the day, then went souvenir shopping in the Old Quarter.

Playa Zurriola, the surfer's beach, down the block from our hostel

Old Quarter

We went out again that night, but came back "early" because of our 11am bus the next day. Sadly, and MUCH to our regret, we had to leave and head back to Madrid. That night we went to dinner at Café Principe where we ate seafood and chicken paella. I was stuffed, then waddled back to the metro to go home because I had homework. Today Lindsey is out and about sightseeing while I had class, but tomorrow I'm showing her around and then at night we are going to a flamenco performance with my culture class.

Love you all!