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Published: September 30th 2017
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Playa de la Concha ...
... much calmer than Playa Zurriola, which is considered the surf beach in town. When the tide starts coming in, much of Playa de la Concha disappears. Off in the distance is Monte Urgull. Geo: 43.3231, -1.98137
I love San Sebastian, and not only for the beautiful beaches, the beautiful food, and the beautiful women - I love it also because there's a special place in my heart for my boy Sebastian, for whom this town was named after. How did we meet? Well, in a previous life, I was a master noodle maker living in China - growing tired of life there, I decided to spread my message of love, Buddhism, and noodles across the world, starting with what was then the Roman Empire. And yes, it was actually me that had brought the notion of pasta to the Italians, so their entire cuisine wouldn't be half of what it is without me!
It was there on a fateful day in 285 AD that Sebastian happened to attend one of my cooking classes, and we became fast friends, despite our religious differences. We spent many a night eating noodles, drinking wine, and engaging in philosophical debates, contrasting the differing beliefs of Buddhism and Christianity. Sometimes our discussions became heated, but when it did, we just had some more noodles and wine and voila, all was good again! But our times together were often sad, because even though Sebastian could be himself around me, he could never reveal
Way Too Much Wine ...
... after all that wine at dinner, and some beer and shots afterwards, Tri thought this statue was actually one of the many human statues you'll see all over Europe during the summer. Bravo, Tri! his true religious beliefs to the ruling Romans.
Sadly, that all came to an end when the Emperor Diocletian found out the truth and shot my boy full of arrows. Now, had Sebastian been Buddhist and not Christian, our friendship could have continued in a different time and different place, but such as it was, our bond ended forever in Rome. I've never forgotten the friendship that Sebastian and I shared, and over the years, the best way of honouring his memory has been to make the pilgrimage to San Sebastian, stuff my face with delicious Basque food, and get sloshed on Spanish water.
So what exactly is Spanish water, you ask? Well, it's actually wine, but it's so bloody cheap here that it might as well be water! There are few countries in the world where you can get a drinkable, if not even pretty decent, bottle of wine for just a buck or two. And it's not only cheap in stores, but pretty affordable in Spanish restaurants, as well. At a pintxos bar, you ca get a glass of good house wine for only a couple of bucks, and at a restaurant, a whole bottle can cost next to nothing.
Spaniards love their set menus, which typically include an appy, main, and dessert, along with bread,
water, and wine. A funny thing here - in any other country, even if they did include wine with the meal, you'd only get a glass of it. But not here! We actually burst out laughing at dinner when our wine was brought to the table - some of us ordered red, some white, and some rose, and the next thing you know, a bottle of each magically appeared! It was a very good thing, because my drink order was completely ignored, though I desperately tried to get the server's attention by crawling up her smooth and supple leg ... uh, what was I talking about again?
Oh, yes - so our plans quickly changed after a killer Nuevo Basque dinner, where we were completely stuffed to the gills with food, and all that Spanish water - this would've been the first night where we actually went out drinking to honour my boy Sebastian, but we were so disgustingly full that we could only manage a few beers and shots after dinner. But that's the cool thing about Spain - you don't need to make the effort to go out drinking, since wine and beer are a necessary part of the day already built into your normal routine.
Between our late lunch, a pre-dinner
Playa Zurriola ...
... my photo composition was a little bit off, because I was too distracted by the Spanish senoritas on the beach. drink back at the apartment, and our three bottles of wine at dinner, we'd already averaged about five or six drinks before our after dinner drinks. How can you not love a place like this? So it was not important that we never ended up with a big night out as planned, as I know my boy still would've been proud - to San Sebastian - salud!
Peace out,
Lil B
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