At our Barcelona hotel check out we confirm our Metro choice with the desk - just to make sure we got it right - no mistakes - because the train to San Sebastion leaves with or without us at 10:05. The door man looks at us funny because we don't want a taxi. We talk briefly about Barcelona and that we are heading to San Sebastion and he lights up about the food there. We are convinced that very few people who stay at this nice of a place ride the Metro. He smiles, watches us and gives us the thumbs up, he sees the two bottles of wine sticking out of our backpack. We meander down the street with bags in tow - traveling like locals is more our speed. It makes us smile too.
The Metro takes us to the Sants Estacio station. We read the signs quickly and find the above ground train station with ease. Checking the board we know the 10560 train to Irun (its final stop) leaves from track one. Everything was smoother than expected, so we have over an hour before departure time - no complaints though - it is better than running to catch the train. We are sick of "jamone" sandwiches and see a McDonalds. We decide a couple of egg and sausage biscuits sounds good and the image in our mind seems exotic. They were not exotic after all.
While eating, Dave talks to a group of Australian's and as it turns out - we are all going to San Sebastian. They just finished a cruise and will stay a couple of days in San Sebastion, then over the border into France. We learn they are renting a boat that you drive slowly up the river somewhere near Bordeaux. Monique looked into doing the same thing but we chose a different path. The conversation leads to our travels and they are all amazed with the size of our bags - “legends” is what they called us. Because of their cruise, they had to have fancy clothes for dining, clothes for all weather, etc. and the size and quantity of bags they were towing reflected that. To us it looks like way to much work. We are even dumping clothes that we deem unnecessary. Different strokes for different folks. The Aussies notice our 2 bottles of wine and we point out that on a five hour train ride a bottle of wine is necessary and the second bottle is needed if the first goes down too fast. They laugh and say they may show up at our seats with glass in hand - that would be fine with us - but they never show.
We choke down our sandwiches and venture over to track one. Here there is a security check to make sure only ticket holders get onto the platforms. A queue forms so we get in it. Our tickets are scanned, we quickly locate coach 3, seat 19a and 19b and decide a little cat nap is in order. We awake to a new landscape - farms, fields, small towns, rolling hills and then smaller mountains - our route is just south of the Pyrenees Mountains. The wine tastes good as we work on our blog - should we open the second bottle? - life is full of these quandaries lately. Dave says we "need to keep our faculties" so when we arrive we can find our hotel. Sound advice - our buzz carries us the final 45 minutes.
Monique fires up the hot-spot, plugs in the address and away we go. First impressions…the weather is absolutely perfect. The train station exit spills us out to a promenade along the river. Good start. We check in to our new hotel, enter our room, then plop down on the bed. In Spain they eat late and it's only 14:00. We could take a siesta and then be on their schedule - no justification necessary - it makes perfect sense.
Monique fixes the noisy air conditioner grate and we both sleep. We awake at 17:00 refreshed and soon are walking towards Old Town toward the beach - it’s Saturday night and the boardwalk is hopping. People of every age are strolling on a pathway that surrounds the "C" shaped bay. Many are dressed up - looking smart in case they run into someone they know. We have a great feeling about this town. There is a park that looks interesting so we venture towards the carnival atmosphere and see 2 girls with marienette puppets. They portray the band "The Beatles" with a stage, flashing light show and music playing. Their puppet work is really great - you believe the puppets are singing, strumming their guitars and drumming - all in time with music. We look at each other and smile. There are younger kids seated all around the stage with parents watching and enjoying the music. Most of us put euros in their box. Pretty ingenious way to make some money on a Saturday night.
Our stomachs are grumbling so we look around at various restaurants on the streets in from the beach area. We pick one, and after a short wait for a table to open up and soon we are sitting el fresco. The menu has English subtitles and of course almost everything has "jamone" in it or on it. We make our selections and eat more than our fill as the portions are too big. Our bill is settled and so begins the long walk back to the hotel. We booked the place only a few days before so the selection was limited in our price range. It’s a 15-20 minute walk from the beach but tonight we don't mind because the weather is perfect and we need to walk off some of the dinner we ate. Tomorrow is a new day to explore and we are excited to see what we find.
Living’ in a hotel…down by the river (thanks to all who “get” the Chris Farley reference)
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in the downtown area of SanSebastian - what a beautiful sight. It was built in the late 19th century in a Historicist Neo-Gothic style. The church, dedicated to the Good Shepherd, has held the rank of cathedral since 1953.
This is one of the most original sidewalk entertainers we have seen - nice job ladies!
A walk along the stone boardwalk - beautiful weather, beautiful people, beautiful scenery - it doesn’t get much better!
The beach lights up as does the statue of Jesus - which is perched above the town on Monte Urgull.