Travelogue San Sebastian 2017: What country are we in?

Technically, I suppose legally, our trip last autumn included 4 countries - France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. But actually, the time we spent in San Sebastian really should have counted as a fifth country - Euskadi, the Basque Country. The food, the people, the language (sure, they all speak Spanish, but among themselves, they speak euskara) all are distinctly Basque. Even the name of the city is differentiated; call it San Sebastian if you want, but you'd better understand that locally it's called Donostia.

This was the second city in a long trip that my wife and I took. In many ways, it was my favorite. Getting here from Paris did present some logistical challenges. I considered taking a train. But that would have taken most of a day. So we decided to fly to Biarritz and then took a bus to San Sebastian. We had to get up early to get to the airport, and then after we arrived in Biarritz, we waited for about an hour for the bus. It wasn't bad, but in the end, we might have been better taking the train.

When we arrived in San Sebastian/Donostia, the weather was beautiful. It was much warmer than we expected for mid-October. So after checking in to our hotel, we headed straight for the beach. We didn't have swimsuits, but we did roll up our pants legs and stroll the beach with the cool waves washing over our feet. Idyllic!

Beautiful weather, beautiful beach

Unfortunately, the weather didn't stay so nice. When we woke up on Day 2, it was overcast and threatening rain. So we grabbed umbrellas and hopped on a bus to Bilbao (about 90 minute ride) to see the Guggenheim Museum. It was a fantastic museum and well worth the day trip. We didn't need the umbrellas that day.

There are 3 major hills in Donostia that surround the city and provide beautiful vista views of the town, the bay, and the ocean. During our stay, we hiked each one. On the day we arrived, after walking along the beach, we walked up Monte Igueldo. At the top of the hill is an amusement park. We weren't very interested in that. But we did enjoy the views. If you're not in the mood for a long walk, you can ride a funiclear to the top.

I noted above that threatening weather on Day 2 prompted us to take a day trip to Bilbao. The weather on Day 3 actually was worse. This was the day we chose for our second hike, to the top of Monte Urgull. It was my favorite. A trail near the boat docks in the harbor leads you to the ruins of an old fortress. At the top of the hill, amidst the ruins, is a very enjoyable museum. That was lucky for us, because it started to rain (and we had neglected to bring along umbrellas). We spent about an hour in the museum until the rain ended. It was very informative and enjoyable.

On our last day, the weather once again turned beautiful. We set out to walk around on Monte Ulia. It was a nice walk and the area is noted for its hiking paths. But we felt the views we'd already seen from Igueldo and Urgull were nicer.

Pintxos at Casa Alcalde

Hotel: We spent 4 very nice nights at Legazpi Doce. The room was comfortable. The wifi was reliable. The staff was very helpful. When we made our reservation, there was a special offer to include free breakfast (and a discount on the room rate) for paying in advance. Guests who took advantage of this offer got coupons for breakfast at a cafe across the street, BideBide. It was a good and hearty breakfast. Our room faced onto Legazpi Kalea ('street' in Basque). It was a fairly busy street and somewhat noisy during the day. But it got quieter at night.

Food: We got very enthusiastically engrossed in the pintxos (Basque tapas) culture. There are so many pintxos bars in the Old Town that it's hard to know where to begin. Based on a Tripadviser review, our first stop was Bar Sport. We arrived late afternoon, shortly after it opened and asked the server for a tutorial on ordering pintxos. He was very helpful and gave us good advice. It was a good thing we came early because we walked by again later in the evening, and Bar Sport was jam-packed. You couldn't even get in the door.

We ended up eating pintxos for dinner every night. They probably weren't the most balanced meals of our trip. But we were satisfied and it certainly was inexpensive. I liked Bar Sport the best, and we did return there on our last night in Donostia. My wife liked Casa Alcalde best, and we ate there twice. We also had pintxos at Izkina (the bar, not the restaurant) and another bar called Mendaur (which was our least satisfying of the bunch).

Nightlife: One evening after dinner, we dropped in at Altxerri Jazz Bar. It was a very enjoyable venue and we heard an exciting, energetic Cuban singer. I had a cocktail. It was good, but kind of expensive. My wife had a nice glass of local wine that was delicious and inexpensive. I know that San Sebastian hosts an annual jazz festival. I had kind of expected we'd be able to find more jazz venues. But during our stay in October, Altxerri was the only one we found.

Cuban jazz at Altxerri

In many ways, our stay in Donostia-San Sebastian was my favorite part of the trip. I've recommended it as a destination to friends, and I'd gladly return someday.