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Published: September 13th 2008
Guggenheim Museum
Bilboa, Spain
This is the most amazing building. An architectural masterpiece. Erin has been begging all year for us to try and squeeze in a trip to San Sebastian before we head back to Oz; however our calendar was full - much to Erin’s disappointment. So as a little surprise, Stacy secretly organised to meet with Jason and Marissa in Spain for a 5 day getaway. When Erin found out she was off to San Sebastian, she was over the moon!
As part of the trip, Jason and Marissa suggested that we should also go to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao before our drive out to San Sebastian, and that we should also head up to Biarritz (France) for a couple of days. We took both of their recommendations and were not disappointed!
Day 1 - 07/08/08
As per usual we took the budget airline option (Click Air). Whilst being a cheap airline, our tickets were anything but cheap as our booking was at the last minute! But they were the best you could get from London to Bilbao with only 10 days notice.
When we arrived we bumbled around trying to find the car hire desk, and joked about what type of dodgy car we were going
Art?
Or Stacy just being a goose....? to get for 20 euro/day - but upon arrival we were offered an upgrade for only 1 euro/day! So it was straight into the brand new Audi A3, 2.0L TDi - and it was quick!
First stop: Guggenheim Museum. This is Frank Gehry’s signature building, and it is absolutely incredible. It far exceeded our expectations. We spent 4 hours taking it all in, and Erin eventually had to drag Stacy out!
We then hit the road for the 2 hour drive to San Sebastian. Unfortunately, Stacy took the wrong option at a fork in the road, and ended up taking the scenic route, which was twisty as hell, and took a good 30 minutes longer; but it gave Stacy the chance to put the car through its paces, and give Erin a good case of car sickness!
San Sebastian (Donostia in the Basque language) is in the Basque country of Northern Spain and is the “true treasure of Basque resorts”. It’s the summer capital of Spain, and the cultural capital of the Basque country. It is ideally situated on the Bay of Biscay, surrounded by beautiful mountains. From June to September, the population swells as droves of
Pinxos at the bar
The food was plentiful! Spanish tourists head to this elegant resort to escape the heat. We were witness to this first hand, as the place was absolutely buzzing! It is a bustling city with a population of 185,000, and thousands of tourists during the summer months!
We checked into the Arrizul Hotel in San Sebastian by about 7pm, and planned our night out with the intention of meeting up with Jason and Marissa by about 10pm. We headed out for a wander, and tried to choose between the 100’s of bars serving pinxo’s (pinxo’s are like tapas and are unique to the north of Spain). There were literally 20 different Pinxos to choose from, scattered across the bar - the only problem was, there were so many people! We couldn’t even get to the bar! We also had no idea how it worked - do you ask for a plate and pay in advance? How much do they cost? How do you get to the bar without being rude? After finding a bar tender that spoke English we asked a few questions and found out that you: ask for a plate, fill it with what you want, then hand it back over to
them to figure out what it costs, pay, and then stand around blocking everyone else whilst you eat at the bar! We never knew if we were getting ripped-off, but it never cost more than 10 euro for a feed.
We then hit a bar for a few drinks, expecting to soon meet with Jason and Marissa - unfortunately they were running late, and by the time they arrived at 12:30, we were both well into party mode. So it was catch up for Jason, whilst Marissa took it easy (as she was 6 months pregnant). We ended up having a huge night, and got back to the hotel at about 3am! Not the perfect start to our first morning in San Sebastian!
Day 2 - 08/08/08
In the morning Jason and Stacy decided to deal with the hangover by going for a bodysurf. After the recovery swim the four of us took a wander along Playa de la Concha (the main beach at San Sebastian), and walked via the marina, out to the eastern point of San Sebastian. We then took our time to stroll through the narrow streets of the Old Town, and had another
great feast of pinxos.
Straight after lunch we left San Sebastian and headed for Biarritz. Marissa suggested we go via San Juan de Luz, so we stopped for an hour or so and took in the scenery of this beautiful little beach town. By 3pm we were checking into the Escale Oceania Hotel in Biarritz. Biarritz lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in southwestern France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers. Biarritz also boasts some of the best beaches in Europe and has won multiple awards for their top class standards. Biarritz is a little bit glitz and glam, but at the same time it’s still quite small, with plenty of little hidden gems.
Upon arriving at the hotel we were straight out the door and down to the beach. The boys hired surfboards in the hope of good surf the following morning. We also found an amazing restaurant whilst wandering around during the day, and booked it for the following night. We ended up finding a nice little place for dinner and retired early so the boys could be up for an early surf.
Day
More pinxos!
They just fill the bar! The smoked hams hanging from the ceiling are also a nice touch. Pinxos are unique to the north of Spain. 3 - 09/08/08
At 7am the boys headed for the beach, boards under arm, praying for surf. Meanwhile, the girls slept through till 10! By mid-morning we all starving, and on the search for breakfast. We stopped at the first place we could find, and ultimately paid the price. We all ordered simple meals, but the language barrier go the better of the waiter and 2 of four meals were completely wrong! But without complaint we just laughed it off as part of the adventure. We were also offered juice cocktails by the waiter and without hesitation or question said: “Yes please!” Needless to say, there was a good reason why they weren’t on the menu - that’s because they were 8 euro each! That’s $15.00 per juice! Bugger…
We put our 76 euro breakfast incident behind us and headed for the beach. We decided that a tour on the Le Petit Train around Biarritz would be the best way to see the town. The scenery was amazing, but the commentary must have been written by a 6 year old! The boys then decided to be adventurous and jumped off the rocks into the ocean. Unfortunately they forgot
San Juan de Luz
A lovely little town just on the French side of the border. to check where they would get back in and quickly realized that the only way in was back over the rocks! After the adrenaline rush it was time to chill out and take in some sun on the beach for a few hours. Thinking that life couldn’t get much better, we topped it off with afternoon drinks overlooking the beach.
After a late wander through the shops, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our much anticipated dinner at the restaurant we discovered the day before. Upon arrival at the restaurant our seats were not available, so we were whisked off to the bar for free champagne! It was a great night; the food was sensational, and the wine was beautiful! On our wander home we ended up catching a fireworks show over the beach. It was the perfect end, to an exciting day.
Day 4 - 10/08/08
Jason and Stace made another early dash for the beach, only to be confronted by a lake (glad we hired those boards for another day!). But they jumped in anyway for a paddle, and used it as their early morning wake up call. We decided against
Hotel Du Palais Biarritz
One of the finest hotels in the world. breakfast at the same café (unsurprisingly!) and had a little more luck finding something cheaper. We took the morning to wander around Biarritz for a final time, and then before lunch we drove back to San Sebastian. We went straight into the Old Town for another feast of pinxos at a great little bar as a bit of a farewell to Jason and Marissa. They had to head back home, but we had 1 more night left in San Sebastian.
After saying goodbye to Jason and Marissa, we walked up to the Macho Del Castillo Roouero (the castle on the hill at San Sebastian). The views from here were sensational. When we got back down we were lucky enough to see a huge street parade (see the video).
Day 5 - 11/08/08
So before we knew it our 5 day getaway was almost over. We drove car back to the airport for our early morning flight home. We returned to London for the night and prepared to head out to Germany the next day, but that’s the next blog….so stay tuned!
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JK
non-member comment
Nice one!
Looks great guys. Can't wait to catch up in a few weeks.