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Published: June 14th 2006
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Playa de la Concha, San Sebastian
Traveling isn't all it's cracked up to be. Lie on the beach or go for a swim? Decisions, decisions. San Sebastian should be on anyone's 'to do' list if you are looking to visiting Spain. The book that I have says that they have some of the best urban beaches in the world. And they are right. The beaches here are ridiculously beautiful. Plus the wheather here is so nice. One can not help but want to stay on the sand all day. That is becuase usually people are resting from an all night party. Im getting ahead of myself though. We were so excited to come here and it was a bit off the cuff, so we didn't have any reservations. I tried to make some online, but on such a short notice and it is such a popular place, I was unsuccessful. But I also know that the majority of hostels will hold beds for walk-in customers. It is actually fairly common for places to only allow so much of the accomoidations to be booked online, or via telephone, which allows for the unexpected weary traveler from California who just walks in hoping for the best.
But of course I did not find this place when we arrived. No, instead we spent hours of our first night
San Sebastian Catherdral
Here's a picture of church. I know some of you haven't seen one in a while. there, looking for a place to sleep in town. Everyone told us the same thing. "Booked solid due to the nice weather and weekend." We even went as far as to drive into nearby France to look for 'chambres libre'. "Non chambres, hotel complet", is what we found in France also. That is french for, you are screwed. Screwed or not, the thought of spending the night driving even further, didn't sit well with us. Plus the sight of a gorgeous city with plenty of nightlife was just too apealing to pass up. So we found a hotel with a gas station next to it. Used the toilet and slept in the car. Not too bad, got a bit chilly in the early morning hours. But I have slept in worse places. So we got up early found another gas station with a toilet and parked in town, did some sightseeing and went to the beach. How can you go wrong? I found the hostel later on when I was walking around buzzing doors asking for rooms available. It said it was a hostel, but acted more like a hotel. We even got a decent rate. I thought they would
Adios del Sol
Its about 930pm. Time for dinner. just gouge us, but I guess when they are this busy, they are still making enough money.
Just so happened that the city was having a Cava tasting that weekend, behind the catherdral for seven euros. Cava is spanish champagne, and fun to drink. So we mozzied on over to the tasting and spent the afternoon acting snobbish, like we knew what we were doing. That was until the 4th glass hits you. Cava es me amigo. Great start to what would be a long night for me. Had some dinner and Galaxya decided to call it a night. I on the other hand, did not drive for 10 hours from Lisboa, sleep in a car and hunt down a bed at the height of travel season in a mecca for spanish tourism, just to say goodnight after a few glasses of chamspaine. Oh, ney ney, I say my friends. Not I, not here. Would not want to leave all of you hanging like that. Out I went and fun I had. Made a few friends from the east coast of America and north coast of Spain and spent the night yelling over loud music, avoiding a would-be fight,
Cava Wava
A toast: To sleeping in cars near the French border. used some 'free shot cupons' and danced at the Bee Bop Club till 4am. Not a bad time indeed.
In S. Sebastian for about 3 days and had to get back to Madrid to return the car and my co-pilot. Found my way out of the city and onto the autovia with ease. Headed straight for Madrid. After a couple of weeks behind the wheel, I finally got the hang of these spanish roads. Gotta love it. Even made my way into Madrid with only one misdirection. Third time for me in Madrid and Im quite good at getting around in that city, wether its the metro, walking, or dare I say, driving. Found a parking spot and asked a local how long I could leave the car there. She said to just pay till 8pm then I would be fine. Got to our hostel and settled in. Met some guys from Michagin and we all went to the movies. I knew where there was a movie theater that had movies in English. Missed the begining of the movie because I looked at the ticket upside down. So we were munching our popcorn in theater 6 and missed the
S. Sebastian
Just wondering the streets. old guy dying at the start of the movie, instead we should have been in theater 9 laughing at Tom Hank's hair. Who knew that in spanish, 9's look like 6's? I will have to work on my spanish numbers. Besides, why should going to the movies be any different than the rest of my trip?
So Galaxya left and I was left to my own devices once again. Moohoohaahaa. That is how I prefer it. I had heard from a few people about a city in the south of Spain called Cadiz (Ka-theez). Supposed to have some great beaches and a very relaxed attitude. Sound like something right up my alley. So I booked passage on a train the next day and would go to see for myself, how good it is.
Before I left though, I met a crazy trio from Texas (Gus, Martha and Frank). Two brothers and their sister traveling together. I knew where there was a decent Mexican resturant so we all went together and spent a couple of hours talking and laughing over food and drink. They were hilarious. Haven't laughed that hard in a while. Emailed them for the pictures of
State Building
Looks important doesn't it? us out that night. I will post them when I get them. Wish I had more time to hang out with them, but we were all pretty tired, so we called it a night around 11pm. Early by spanish standards. Plus I had a train to catch in the morning. Washed, folded and packed my possessions away for the 5 hour train headed south. Not sure what to expect there. Geez, I hope I can meet some fun people, relax a bit, and enjoy some topless beaches. Odds are looking good. To Cadiz train conductor, and step on it...
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