Day 11 San Sebastián SP

---

Another magnificent day. We awoke and immediately pulled the curtains to enjoy the sea view of this beautiful bay. There was a lot of activity going on early in the a.m. A street sweeper/washer was cleaning the boardwalk and a large piece of machinery was combing the sand (remember space balls movie where they were combing the desert!). The tide is really varied here as in the early a.m. it was very high and minimized the size of the beach as the waves splashed up towards the sea wall. By noon, the tide was so low that it was out away from the sea wall about 100 feet. We ate lunch at La Perla right on the boardwalk and enjoyed 2 glasses wine with lunch and the waitress told us that by 3-4pm the tide would come back in and would cover the beach again with water.

We finally have a leisurely day where we just wander and do whatever we want. We walked through the shop area to the Maria Christina hotel to see it and find San Sebastián foods where we meet tonight for our Pintox tapas tour. I booked this from our home months ago and we are exited to go. Sitting watching all the activity and people, reminds me of Maui and makes us excited that we are heading to that beautiful resort next month.

We met our tour group from San Sebastián foods at the Maria Christina hotel at 6:30pm. Our Pintox guide Vickie, 3 couples from Australia and 2 single ladies from Australia and Norway. The tour was scheduled to include 6 Pintox bars with wine and 2 Pintox at each bar. The Aussies were a blast and we had such a great time with them. We had the most fantastic food and such fun.

Here is a list of bars and street and what Pintox we were served:

Casa Urola, Calle Fermin Calbeton….Gilda (Combination of Anchovies, Guindilla Peppers and Green Olives) La Vieira (Grilled Scallop in white garlic an coffee foam) and Rueda White Wine.

Bar Sport, Calle Fermin Calbetón ….Crepe de Txangurro (Fresh, sweet crab meet flambéed in cognac served with a tomato - rich vegeatable sauce before being baked) Foie and Rioja White Wine.

Gandarias Calle 31 de Agosto... Solomillo (Beef Tenderloin), Jamón de Bellota (Bellota Ham) and Ribera del Duero Red Wine.

Goiz Argi, Calle Fermin Calbetón....Brocheta de Gamba (Prawn Skewer) Pimientos de Padrón (Padron Peppers) Guindillas de Ibarra (Ibarra small Peppers) and Txakoli White Wine.

Astelena, Plaza de la Constitución….. (Beef Cheeks Braised in Red Wine Sauce) and Rioja Red Wine.

Atari, Calle 31 de Agosto…..Torrija (Pain Perdu with Ice Cream)

We absolutely had a blast but were totally ready to explode. All portions were small but still a lot. Time to head to sleep as we have an all day Rioja wine tour tomorrow.

---