San Sebastian

Last week we visited northern Spain. At the kind invitation of our friends, Maite and Mariano (currently living in Houston), we were able to stay at their home in Pamplona. The kids did great on the three hour train ride from Madrid, as they were eager to finally visit the city of the running of the bulls (as well as the home of the University of Navarra!). Our first day there we just settled in, but on day two we took the 1 hr bus ride to San Sebastian. So, this first post will be about the day we spent there.

San Sebastian is located in the Basque region of Spain, which is adjacent to Navarra. Located on the Atlantic coast, this little down is absolutely adorable. Some of our friends from California said that San Sebastian reminded them of San Diego, and indeed it is very much a beach town. Touristy, beautiful, cultural and a place where one would love to retire. The kids were delighted to finally see the ocean (after all, Madrid is smack center of Spain, so no coasts there!) and to spend some time in the sun and sand.

 
After spending some time at "La Concha," the shell-shaped beach, we walked through the streets and found a delicious tapas bar. Needless to say, the food was spectacular -savory pinchos comprised of calamari, shrimp, mushrooms, red pepper... wow, even the kids were licking their fingers! Then we went back to the beach and walked its perimeter to the farthest point west where we knew there were "blow holes."

After a long walk, we finally reached the blow holes and boy, was it worth it. The kids squealed in delight as the waves crashed along the rocks thrusting air into the stones and up through the air vents!!!

I was the only one willing to look like a fool and stick my head over the hole, but it was worth it to see the kids laughing their heads at me!


Next to the blow holes, one finds some modern art sticking out of the rocks. However, the real art in my opinion are the exquisite geologic formations, as can be seen above.

 We could have spent several days in San Sebastian, but alas, the bus trip back to Pamplona forced us to say goodbye to this beautiful little town on the Spanish-French border.

Next post: the trip to Lourdes, France.