Donostia
A small note… you may have noticed that the site went dark for a couple of weeks. There is a very simple answer… I moved to a new place here in Portland! Moving gets a bit tricky as you can imagine and so I hope that answers that. I have some fun stories in the pipeline and so without further adieu…
Last time on DEFIANT HOP! I told you a tale of walking into the very maw of the North Atlantic and walking away very nearly unscathed. It was only a minor flesh wound on my finger. Now… let's continue the rest of the story…
So… as you could imagine after being in an intense rainstorm for close to two hours… I was beyond soaked. Thank goodness for hair dryers! I spent the next hour+ drying off everything and anything. And taking a boiling hot shower. I have to say I had a pretty good Airbnb and I was grateful for the great shower even though it was one of those small European showers with two glass doors that come together in a corner. Once I was warm and my jacket and jeans were dry… I once again ventured out into the storm. Because… it had not abated. As before… I was determined to make the best of it and this time… I was going to do some Pinxto bar hopping!
Sadly… due to the weather not a lot of bars were open at the time but enough were to make my mission possible. First up was Bar Sport! Which wasn’t a sports bar surprisingly! I had heard that they had an amazing sea urchin soup and delightful foie gras. Once I got in there and stood at the bar and ordered… man oh man was everyone right. Both dishes were outstanding and something I had never had before. This first stop was amazing!
Since I had been told that you should really only have a couple of pinxtos and then move on to the next place… I took that advice and went back out into the rain. The first place I tried… was not open. Completely shuttered but the funny thing was… there was a couple walking near it with their phones out - the same as I - trying to figure out where this place was. The thing in the Old Town quarter is that since the buildings are so close… you really don’t get a good cell signal while you are there. Trying to use google maps? Good luck. So when I saw that couple - I was like… “I don’t think it's open.” They laughed and we chatted for a second but it was a fun moment shared amongst fellow travelers.
The next place that I headed to was fortunately open… its name was Txuleta and I had heard that their meat skewers were out of this world. Once I got inside and sat at the bar, I noticed that there was a family from England sitting at a table directly behind me. Since there wasn’t anyone else in the bar besides myself and them… I couldn’t help but overhear some fun family drama that was unfolding. Something about a sister in-law taking her tennis matches way too seriously against other family members. It was kind of funny. ANYWAYS… I ordered what I had been recommended and this meat skewer… blew my mind. Tender just oh so juicy and I very much savored eating this pinxto. I also took my time because the rain had gotten a tad bit worse and I wanted to relax a bit before heading back out there.
After nursing my beer and that pinxto… I was ready to move onto the next place. Since the rain was just making being outside constantly miserable AND due to the fact that it was in the low 40s… I really wanted to warm up and not be outside for a bit. As I was checking out google maps I did see that there was a museum nearby and once I saw that… the decision had been made. Learning about history and staying warm? I call that a win.
The San Telmo Museum is a really great museum that fully shows the culture, history and more of Basque Country. The museum does an outstanding job of going all the way from pre-history to current day. Whether it be ancient gravestones, medieval swords or art… this place shows how Basque has been shaped by the course of history. Learning is always fun because it gives you extra insight to where you are currently traveling and makes you appreciate it all the more.
After having spent a few hours in the museum… I was ready for the evening to start. Since it was going to be my last night in the city… I was going to see it off with a bang! As I was walking to my final destination for the night… I was greeted with quite the unnerving sight. This clock tower that seemed like it had something out for me. And mind you… there weren’t a lot of lights around when I took this picture. Spooky.
Spooky Clock!
My final destination to end my visit here in Donostia-San Sebastián? Just the first place I visited when I arrived to the city late on my first night here! Basqueland Brewing’s Izakaia! I made a concerted effort to make the most of my time here in this city and whenever I am in a situation where I don’t have a lot of time to spend somewhere. There are two options… try to hit up as much as possible or do a very fine selection and really dig into the culture and ambience of the place. I always think about my time in the Louvre sometimes when thinking about this. There’s always these tour groups that are just racing through the museum and they all just have their cameras out and are taking pictures as they sprint through galleries of priceless pieces of art. Do they really experience it? I don’t think they do. I mean… slow down and smell the flowers. So this is basically the point… I really want to know what it feels like to live in a place and so I will smell the flowers and really make the effort to slow down and take it all in as much as possible. Even though I might not get to see the entire city. But what I did get to see? I really got the feel of the place and met some amazing people that live there.
Go home Tiger… you’re drunk.
I’ll give you a perfect example. I met a guy named Billy on the first night I was there in the city. He’s a super cool local that much prefers wine yet he always hangs out in a beer bar! And guess what? On my last night in the city? It just so happens that Billy is celebrating his birthday and he was extremely kind enough to let me join his party for the night. I was hanging out with his friends and he even gave me some Armagnac that was as old as he was! It very much justified my travel habits and I’m still blown away by how kind and welcoming he was to me. You know… a random stranger who he had met and hung out with for a good while just a few days ago.
If there’s one thing that I will always remember about my time in San Sebastián… it will be this lady living her best life at Billy’s Birthday party at Basqueland Izakaia.
Or maybe not. That was just too amazing not to show. But truly… the people I met in San Sebastián are lovely people and made my visit there outstanding and something I will always remember.
