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Pintxos and Txakoli
A fantastic way to dine out if you can actually pronounce them!!A French style leisurely start from St Jean De Luz and we were in Spain before we knew it - literally. No passports, check points or even a “Bienvenida a España” sign (“Welcome To Spain”), if only moving between countries was that painless in the rest of the world!! Within half an hour we arrived at our first destination of San Sebastian, or Donostia as it is known locally. Hugging the shoreline around the picturesque bay of La Concha, the town is enclosed by rolling, low hills and is a popular holiday resort for the Spanish.
The reason for its second name is that we were now deep in Basque country and didn’t you just know it. All around, graffiti and posters pledge support to Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, translating literally to Basque Homeland and Freedom" and better known to us as the terrorist freedom fighters of ETA. As their name suggests, supporters want independence from Spain and even have their own flag. More confusing still is that, although they do understand Spanish, they speak their own language too. And, oh my word, what a language!! It’s origins are unknown and it seems to be based on the premise that every
La Concha Bay
Set around this beautiful bay, San Sebastian is fiercely proud of its Basque roots and feels totally different to anywhere else in Spain we've been. word should be made up predominantly of k’s, x’s and t’s - make a mental note to never play Scrabble against a Basque, it could end up in lots of arguments.
Regular readers of this blog will have noticed a theme running through it detailing how much we are enjoying the culinary element of our tour (collecting lots of recipes and ideas that we’ll try to recreate when we get back home but will no doubt taste nothing like the original dishes). Nowhere though has come close to the culinary experience or enjoyment we had in San Sebastian (the Basque region is recognised as having the best food in Spain). Whilst there are plenty of “normal” restaurants, there is also a unique method of dining out which was much more to our liking. I’m referring to txikiteo, which is the Basque word for roaming from bar to bar and dining on pintxos (I did say it’s a different language...................!!).
Essentially, every bar has its long oak counter groaning under the weight of an unlimited range of pintxos, which are similar to tapas but of a greater range and much more tasty. They can be served both hot or
Logrono In Rioja
Logrono is the capital of Rioja, a region that produces some of our favourite wines. cold and the idea is to order drinks first and you will be given a couple of empty plates and a fork. You simply help yourself to whatever takes your fancy and enjoy with a glass of their local sparkling white wine, txakoli. The barman takes serving this wine very seriously as it must be poured from above head height into glasses on the counter - this is supposed to release the bubbles and flavours and is not meant to show off in any way...............
Despite all the bars being packed, an honesty policy is in place where, when ready to move on, you simply report how many pintxos you’ve had and pay accordingly. Two glasses of the wine along with a couple of these mouth watering dishes will set you back around €5, about the same price of a cup of tea in France!! You then wander to the next hostelry that takes your fancy and repeat the process (the way to select the best places is to note how many screwed up paper napkins are on the floor near the bar. Punters just drop them where they stand when used and the larger the quantity, the better
The Pilgrims Progress
Countless tiny villages like this one are used as stopping off points for pilgrims along the route of the Camino de Santiago. the food. We giggled like little girls when we first started to do this as it seemed wrong, but you soon get used to it).
Our drive through Spain was to take us across its North West highways with a view to arriving in Portugal after about ten days or so. We deliberately programmed our Tom Tom to avoid motorways and toll roads, not (just) because we’re tight fisted but so we got to see more of the rural side of the country. (Incidentally, this Tom Tom One is proving to be the best hundred quid we’ve ever spent; the Europeans aren’t as upfront when it comes to speed cameras and they are craftily disguised and sneakily hidden; thank goodness our friendly satnav device gives us plenty of warning about them). Avoiding the motorways means we’ve spent a good amount of time driving alongside pilgrims from all over the world following the Camino de Santiago. This is a pilgrimage that starts in France and makes its way through the Pyrenees to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela where, legend has it, the apostle Saint James is buried. This well worn trail has been trodden for over a thousand years
Championi's Ole Ole Ole!!
Leon 21st May 2008
My lucky t shirt worked again as the glory days of Manchester United roll on and on and on.............. and more than 70,000 believers walk it every year. They make their way from village to village, each one made up of stunning stone houses and wonderful ancient churches dominate their skyline.
By now we were in the world famous wine region of Rioja (it does seem we find our fair share of wine regions!!) and stayed a couple of days in its capital, Logrono. Like many Spanish cities, it was beautifully constructed by the Romans and its numerous plazas are surrounded by spectacular architecture. Whilst in Logrono, we were carefully researching our next stop off point as it would span the Wednesday the 21st of May, a date now etched in sporting history. We selected the ancient city of Leon as the place to watch the first ever all English Champions League Final.
Founded in the first century as a military camp, Leon is another striking Roman city and many of its buildings have to be seen to be believed. I always considered England to be at the forefront when it comes to having wonderfully historic cities (the likes of Stratford, York and Chester) but most of the places we’ve seen in Spain would put them to
The City of Leon
The architecture in Leon is fantastic and is typical of the cities we visited during our time in North West Spain. shame. Every corner you turn draws another gasp of incredulity as you gaze in awe at the magnificent architecture. As I’ve mentioned before, neither Angela or I consider ourselves particularly culturally minded but even we just have to marvel at the beauty of these places. Created with style and panache, it appears their development over the years has been done with far more consideration than back home.
After the joys of the pinxtos in San Sebastian we really didn’t think there was a way any other city we visited could find a way of improving this method of dining whilst bar hopping. Leon did though..............to our delight we found this is one of the only cities in Spain where bodegas serve FREE tapas!! Yes, as long as you buy a drink you’re served a portion of the house speciality - gratis - that’s one of the best reasons I’ve ever heard for going on a pub crawl. It’s a wonder any of the restaurants there stay in business as the tapas are filling and very tasty - I really must stop going on about food so much!!
As if providing us with free food wasn’t enough, Leon will
also always have a special place in my heart as it was the place we watched the ’07 / ’08 Champions League Final. I hadn’t slept properly for three nights before it and every minute seemed to last an hour on the day itself. My nerves were in such a state that I wouldn’t have been safe to watch it in a bar, hence the reason we’d carefully chosen a hotel where we could “enjoy” it without fear of upsetting or offending others. I put my lucky t shirt on (bought at Old Trafford prior to our victory over Arsenal earlier this season and it’s not let me down since) and the rest, as they say, is history.
This has been by far my most unusual season following United; we’ve hunted out bars, streamed blurred images of games onto our laptop and got up at ridiculous times to watch them. On most occasions you’ve not got a clue what the commentator’s going on about because he’s Japanese or something but, without doubt, it’s still much better than enduring Andy Gray’s drivel on Sky............ Since our travels started, we must have seen the mighty Reds in around twenty different countries
The Streets of Santiago
The narrow streets of Santiago de Compostela were full of character and beauty. The cathedral in the background is well over a thousand years old. and this triumph was a fitting way for it to end - thanks to poor Angela for her patience and for ignoring my maniacal and incredibly biased ranting.
Our final stop in Spain (for the moment at least - we’re coming back here after a sortie into Portugal) was in Santiago de Compostela, set in the heart of the province of Galicia. It is known as one of the country’s most beautiful cities (there’s a lot of competition from what we’ve witnessed so far) and it’s easy to see why. This is a highly religious place and is the ultimate destination for the thousands of pilgrims who have walked its eponymous Pilgrimage. Many churches dating back as far as the 10th century make for stunning spectacles, none more so than its imposing cathedral. Building first started on it in 977 and this fantastic Baroque pyramid of granite has been added to over subsequent centuries. Countless statues of St. James and other pilgrims are hewn from the same stone and you really have to strain your neck to view the many bell towers in their full glory. Angela and I aren’t great church goers but this place amazed us and
Cheeky!!
This photo proves I'm still irresistible to women even in that cardy!! Look, it was raining and we're travelling with a limited wardrobe................. we descended into silence as we went inside and saw the mighty stained glass windows.
This type of structure is typical of the rest of the city and has led to the whole of Santiago being designated a UNESCO World Heritage site; it was also European City of Culture in 2000. It has many other appeals as well though, not least of which are the thousand plus bars and restaurants this relatively small city has crammed into it. Most of them are situated in its cosy old town and it’s here you can attempt the “Paris to Dakar Rally”. This involves starting with a small beer in Bar Paris and then working your way around a circuit of forty eight hostelries, having a drink in each one. The finishing line is Bar Dakar and, as long as you can stagger into it before midnight, you’ve completed the challenge. Needless to say we didn’t attempt this and went for more of a nice Sunday drive in the country (?!!).
The bars here can opt to be either smoking or not and advertise their choice in the window. It’s remarkable that, despite the ban being less than twelve months old
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral
Typical of the architecture that has led to the whole city being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. in the UK, it already seems like going back in time when you see someone light up a cigarette with their drink. Equally unusual is the National obsession of bull fighting - punters crowd round TV sets to watch “fights” whilst getting excitable commentaries and then in-depth analysis and replays during breaks. Bull fighting is almost unavoidable at times - coverage comes from all over the country and it’s followed with as much passion as football back home. It’s definitely not to our taste though and the first thing we do if it is on when we go into a bar is ensure we get seats facing away from the TV.
Santiago de Compostela provided a fitting conclusion to our drive across Northern Spain - our plan now is to head into Portugal for a while and then re-enter Spain further south. Angela’s Dad lives in Andalucía so we’ve visited this country on many occasions before. This time though we’ve seen aspects we didn’t know existed and that were a great surprise to us. The Basque Country, Galicia et al have shown us the huge variety this nation has and it’s been really interesting to witness the different languages, traditions etc. This country is often referred to as “Los Espanas” (The Spains) by its people rather than as a single entity; the vast differences between the places we’ve visited even so far make this statement eminently understandable.
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