Carol fell asleep, and then I did, so when I woke up I decided we should just walk the beach. Turns out in the San Sebastian sun we could have gone to the beach -- even though it was only 72 degrees, it felt much, much warmer in the sun.
It was nice to walk along the beach on the large sidewalk above it. We went from LaConcha beach, through the tunnel to Ondarreta Beach. We continued on all the way to the end, approximately two miles from where we started.
We hung around at Peine del Viento for a while, watching the waves crash into the rocks, looking back at San Sebastian, and debating the worthiness of the sculptures (Peine del Viento means "comb of the wind," which doesn't really match the sculptures, but okay). I liked them, and I suppose Carol eventually warmed to them.
Walking back, we sat for a while on a bench and watched the swimmers, SUP'ers, kayakers, and boaters in the bay. Some swimmers were going out to Santa Clara Island, which looks like too much work for me.
Returning to the apartment, after successfully having hit the gelato shop across the street, we chilled for a while, enjoying the Rose we had bought on Wednesday down at the Wine Museum in the Monastery. Our goal this trip as empty-nesters to Spain was to not eat early dinner like Americans do, but to wait and eat late.
For those of you who don't know, Carol likes gin and tonics. Looking at the TripAdvisor "Top things to do" in San Sebastian, a gin joint ranks number 10. Which is pretty high for a bar specializing in gin and tonics. It's on the other side of the river, so it was fun walking through a part of town that was new to us. San Sebastian was hopping this Friday night.
The gin place, La Ginoteria Donostiarra was great. After talking to the bartender -- a relatively young guy who grew up in New York City -- we went outside. Carol had her artisanal gin and tonic (a whole bunch of neat stuff went into it) and I had a German white beer. It was a great night to watch the world go by. Carol's glass was over-sized, which gave me the perfect excuse to order a German lager. Fun stuff.
Next, we walked back across the river and off to the old city, where we went to Sirimiri, another pintxos place. It was time for dinner -- probably 9:30. Sirimiri was packed -- wall to wall -- but I fought my way to the front of the bar and bravely ordered two lamb pintxos and two Riojas. Carol wisely suggested we also get the Pan Bao, because she saw an Asian chef working there.
The place was amazing. High energy, food and drink flying from behind the bar to be delivered to customers. The Pan Bao was stuffed with meat and peppers and was oh so good. After the lamb came, we got seats at a lower bar with a view to one of the chefs rapidly preparing Pintxos. We could see her face, only her arms and hands, as she skillfully raced to put together some amazing dishes.
The lamb was fantastic. We reluctantly left, pushing onto our next planned stop. The bar specializes in steak and tomatoes, but alas by the time we got there they had just sold out of steak. It seemed grim at first, but then we realized that's an ultimate in first world problems. Back out on the street, we decided it was time to head home for bed. But, first we got another gelato from across the street. It's all good!
For those of you who don't know, Carol likes gin and tonics. Looking at the TripAdvisor "Top things to do" in San Sebastian, a gin joint ranks number 10. Which is pretty high for a bar specializing in gin and tonics. It's on the other side of the river, so it was fun walking through a part of town that was new to us. San Sebastian was hopping this Friday night.
The gin place, La Ginoteria Donostiarra was great. After talking to the bartender -- a relatively young guy who grew up in New York City -- we went outside. Carol had her artisanal gin and tonic (a whole bunch of neat stuff went into it) and I had a German white beer. It was a great night to watch the world go by. Carol's glass was over-sized, which gave me the perfect excuse to order a German lager. Fun stuff.
Next, we walked back across the river and off to the old city, where we went to Sirimiri, another pintxos place. It was time for dinner -- probably 9:30. Sirimiri was packed -- wall to wall -- but I fought my way to the front of the bar and bravely ordered two lamb pintxos and two Riojas. Carol wisely suggested we also get the Pan Bao, because she saw an Asian chef working there.
The place was amazing. High energy, food and drink flying from behind the bar to be delivered to customers. The Pan Bao was stuffed with meat and peppers and was oh so good. After the lamb came, we got seats at a lower bar with a view to one of the chefs rapidly preparing Pintxos. We could see her face, only her arms and hands, as she skillfully raced to put together some amazing dishes.
The lamb was fantastic. We reluctantly left, pushing onto our next planned stop. The bar specializes in steak and tomatoes, but alas by the time we got there they had just sold out of steak. It seemed grim at first, but then we realized that's an ultimate in first world problems. Back out on the street, we decided it was time to head home for bed. But, first we got another gelato from across the street. It's all good!
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