Oui oui Pari!

And here we are on our last travel venture to our last stop before the voyage back to the homeland! We are currently sitting on the Eurostar train from Paris to London, watching the French countryside pass by our window, and eventually will experience the "chunnel," the tunnel that passes under the English channel in-between these two cities.

Paris was absolutely incredible, everything I ever could have hoped it would be and more. It is undeniably one of the most beautiful places in the whole world, and the hype that all of my friends have created after their incredible visits didn't even do the place justice. Walking through the streets and seeing places that have only previously existed for me in movies or on posters was unreal, and the entire city was so rich with history and still preserved so much of it's ancient charm and allure that even among tour buses and vespas and iPods and kindles, you really felt like you stepped back in time. Beautiful people, beautiful places, beautiful art and beautiful views any way you look, beautiful language and everything just felt so FRENCH, we felt the whole time like we must be in a movie. Living here seems like it would be nothing short of a fairy tale, and I know I will be back again someday.

We arrived by EasyJet from Barcelona on Thursday afternoon, and had to take a cab in to the actual city. The ride from Charles de Gaulle airport was long, but we got to pass by the football stadium, experience the insanity of Parisian driving, practice a few broken French phrases, and catch a glimpse of some of the biggest monuments from the streets, even before checking into our hotel! Little hotel Turrene was so quaint, situated right on the corner with 3 beautiful window views out on turrets and domes and big fancy buildings, of course all with the French flag flying high and proud on top of almost every single one.

View from one of the windows of our hotel

I had heard that the French were both very proud and very rude, to the extent that no one would speak English to you even though they were fully capable of doing so, or that they would go out of their way to inconvenience people who were clearly tourists. However, we didn't really find this to be the case at all. Everyone was very nice to us, and appreciated the French we did try to use, even if we butchered it (which we often did). And, almost everyone spoke decent English. We also heard a different perspective - that the French often don't speak English very well, and its because they are afraid of offending an English speaker or are self conscious that they don't often offer to exchange conversation in English. Thats another thing too: France has a very, very polite culture, particularly when it comes to language. If ordering or asking for something, you always start with "si vous plait", and often say it a few more times throughout the order. You could also tell this when they spoke English back to you and would say "sir please what would you like please?" Also, when greeting someone you accompany "bon jour" with madamme or monsieur, or mademoiselle if they look under about 30. 

And it was fun to encounter other French words that we use in English too, like voila and rendezvous and deja vu! French is a beautiful but not very phonetically recognizable language, so we spent a significant amount of time sounding like idiots trying to sound out strange syllables from our pocketbook guides.

Anyways, after checking into the hotel, we walked a short distance to a street where we would end up spending quite a bit of time and calories and that would quickly become one of my favorites. Rue Cler is an adorable pedestrian street lined with cafes (the French are obsessed with cafes!) restaurants, markets, chocolate shops, bakeries, and so much more! We ate at this really cute, small restaurant called "le petit cler" with a covered outdoor patio, boxed flowers in front and a red awning. Like I said, just like out of a movie. Many of the cafes and restaurants were set up similarly, with an outdoor area in front covered by an awning or something similar, and they were heated! They had couches or wicker chairs that were positioned on the same side of the table so people dining or enjoying their wine or coffee were snuggled up close next to each other (I forgot to mention, the "romantic" stereotype of Paris is also very true, we saw at least 3 different bride/groom couples a day) and looking out on the street at people passing by. Inside, tables were often in one long rectangle, so couples or groups were sitting right next to each other. Dinner consisted of the soup d'jour (soup of the day) and a meat, salad, and baked potato. French food right away was easily becoming a favorite!

After dinner, we strolled down a few more streets and found ourselves face to face with the famous, iconic, amazing Eiffel Tower! It was even more impressive in person than we could ever have imagined it from the movies, posters, paintings we have seen. After picking our jaws up off the floor (but not the grass, no one is allowed on the grass) we walked underneath the massive monument and through to the other side, catching our first view of the beautiful Seine River. We ended up taking a boat tour down the river, accompanied by some hot chocolate and absolutely breathtaking views of some of the rivers most famous bridges and the city all lit up at night. The tour guide pointed out various historic spots, famous events and people and entire eras and reigns that were centered around these places. Once again, you really felt like you had stepped back in time, whether we were looking at the apartment building where most of the famous ex-pats from the 20's actually lived, or the universities where some of the worlds most renowned artists and musicians studied, or the house of the assembly where the first democratic leaders were elected, or the Louvre where Napoleon started building the first art collections. We also passed the building where people are elected to dedicate their careers to preserving and maintaining the French language, they are given the title of "the immortal ones" (cue the prideful thing). We walked back to our hotel, but not before passing back down Rue Cler and having a nutella and banana crepe from the woman who was making them from scratch right on the street - no joke top five best, most delicious things I have ever eaten in my life!

First full day in Paris had to begin with a French breakfast, so we found a little brasserie (bakery) and collected coffees, quiche, and croissants, and ate them on the go as we made our way towards the Hotel des Infantiles and Musee de Armee - the veterans hospital and army museum. Our first stop was incredible - Napoleon's tomb. He is entombed under an enormous golden dome you can see from almost any point in the city, underneath beautiful paintings and enclosed in something like 10 different caskets, including mahogany, ebony, and finally 2 made of pure lead. He is apparently so well kept in these caskets that when his body was moved from St. Helena island (where he died in exile) to Paris 19 years later, he was still almost perfectly preserved. His massive Russian-doll-style burial is surrounded by inscriptions of his 8 most famous victories and 12 victory statues representing his many, infamous military campaigns. Also enshrined in this massive building are Napoleon's son (Napoleon II, the "eaglet"), his 2 brothers, and 2 of the most famous heroes from WWI and WWII. We found the "Napoleonic complex" of a short man with a huge ego to be quite accurate, as even in his death he is immortalized with images of his self proclamations as "equal to the Caesars" and the "king of the new Rome," he even went so far ad to name himself Emperor. Also in this museum we saw the church of the veterans, where flags of enemies were hung as trophies of victories (mom: "it looks like one big giant game of capture the flag") or at least the ones that remained, many were burned during subsequent wars to prevent them from falling back into enemy hands. And then there was the huge exhibition of the two world wars, where you really came to appreciate the central and devastating role that France played. It was extremely interesting to see these wars that I felt like I have spent so much time studying from the point of view of a different country.

Napoleon's tomb

The Golden Dome above Napoleon's tomb

After the museum, we made our way down almost the entire length of the Seine, finally arriving at the famous Notre Dame cathedral, also more impressive and incredible than I ever could have imagined it to be, and now I am very inspired to read Victor Hugo's novel. On an island in the middle of the Seine, it was once the literal and figurative center of Paris, and has a history as rich as that of the city itself. Notre Dame means "Our Lady," and is dedicated to Mary. The outside is famous for its two towers and the spire that was added several centuries later, as well as the gargoyles and the other famous sculptures that decorate the front. The inside is just as impressive, with it's Gothic style architecture, stained glass, various chapels sponsored by different guilds, and massive, cavernous interior. Afterwards, we even endeavored to make the climb all the way to the top of the bell tower, over 400 steps (and no, there is not an elevator). But it was well worth the climb and the claustrophobia in extremely minuscule and extremely windy medieval staircases, seeing the city laid out before you from a "gargoyles-eye" view, decorated with quotes from the hunchback novel, and with the opportunity to climb still higher to the Emmanuel bell tower, (all the bells are named) the only remaining original. We learned that the bell towers, wooden in the middle, are to absorb and decker the sound towards the lower parts in a way that won't crack the other materials that the entire building is made of.

In front of one of the many beautiful bridges crossing the Seine

View from the top of Notre Dame

Using our ipods for a podcast guided tour in front of Notre Dame

Surviving the climb and safely back on ground level, we headed around the perimeter of the cathedral to a monument and memorial for the over 2,000 "deportees" that were taken by the Nazis in WWII during the occupation France and who never returned. A very inspiring and moving site, and another reminder of just how much history this country has endured.

We started walking back down the Seine, passing the lively and free-spirited Latin Quarter that surrounds the university and stopping for an espresso and an eclaire! It was full of tiny, bustling, winding streets, quirky shops, and millions of fun and unique foods from every part of the world. We continued on past St. Chapelle cathedral and headed finally to the world-famous and apparently biggest building in the world, the Louvre. It was originally built as a fortress for the city in ancient times, and then used as the royal palace, until King Louis the XVI turned it into a museum, and Napoleon was the one who endowed it with its first major collections. It was massive and overwhelming in the best possible way, and after admiring the enormous glass pyramids (The DaVinci Code!) embarked on a tour of the Denon wing (one of 3). We saw tons of old sculptures from ancient Greece and Rome, including the famous Venus de Milo, remains from the ancient Greek Parthenon, tapestries and pottery, and of course, the Italian paintings wing - hello Mona Lisa! Legend has it that Napoleon liked the Mona Lisa so much he hung it ihis bedroom until his jealous wife made him take it down, and an enamored museum attendant stole it centuries later and hid it under his bed until he was eventually discovered. This was another one of those life-bucket-list things that was hard to believe you were actually seeing with your own eyes. We saw hundreds of other paintings as well spanning centuries of different forms and movements, another of my favorites being the J.L. David enormous masterpiece of Napoleon crowning his wife as Empress.

Our culturally expanded and enlightened selves made our way back to end the long day with dinner in the Latin quarter, enjoying a 3 fromage (3 cheeses) fondue, boeuf bourginon (channeling the Julie and Julia movie) and the most unbelievable French onion soup I have ever experienced.

Saturday was just as jam packed, and started out with equally delicious quiche. We began with a walk across the Seine to the Grand Palais and its across-the-street neighbor, Le Petit Palais. We entered Le Petit Palais (...this is "petit"?) to tour the museum inside, complete with more statues and beautiful glassware, ceramics, and other matching sets of porcelain trinkets, as well as more incredible paintings, we even got to see a Monet!

Sometimes one map just wasn't enough...

Gran Palais

Inside Le Petit Palais

We continued on to the Place de la Concorde, where the guillotine used to stand during the times of the French Revolution, claiming such victims as Marie Antoinette and King Louis the XVI. Not such a pleasant thought necessarily, but the surrounding area was absolutely stunning, with beautiful monuments, fountains and scenery, and buildings on the adjacent streets that looked exactly as they must have in that time.

Gardens behind the Plaza

Place de la Concorde 

Buildings lining the Plaza

We strolled through the gardens and exited down a street that took us to one of the most exclusive shopping districts in Paris, exactly what you would think of if you think "high fashion France." Ferraris, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis everywhere you looked, and all of the stores were designated at least 2 guards. We stopped at a bakery for sandwiches (I had a Brie sandwich on baguette, so French and so beyond heavenly) and ate in the drizzle facing an enormous pillared church where a wedding procession was beginning.

We went back down to one of Paris's most famous streets, the Champs-élysées. It was a beautiful walk, lined with trees just turning colors for fall and the turning later into a huge, outdoor, linear shopping mall. But, more than that, the street is well known for the place it has repeatedly played in history, as the procession of Napoleon's funeral, the infamous walk of Hitler and the Nazis as they entered and occupied France, and the victorious march of Charles de Gaulle as he led returning troops back after the WWII victory.

Lining the Champs-Élyseé

These took place here primarily because the street culminates in the Arc de Triumf, commissioned by Napoleon and a memorial to 19th and 20th century military tours and victories, including a tomb dedicated to the unknown soldier.

Arc de Triumf

After that, we wandered down a street that is known as being one of the nicest neighborhoods of Paris, and yes I picked out a few apartments for myself. This was also pretty close to the Paris you see in the movies, with the cream colored buildings and dark roofs with rooftop terraces, black wrought-iron fences on the balconies with red flowers spilling over. It was charming and luxurious all at the same time. We stopped for a snack at a bakery, the most incredible and colorful cookies (ice cream filled meringues) in the world, and continued to another plaza with one of the most stunning and perfect views of the Eiffel Towers in the whole city.

After seeing this view, we made our way down to the tower itself for our tour to the top! Talk about checking things off your bucket list, right? It was just as breathtaking and scary and impressive as we imagined it would be, although perhaps colder than I anticipated. You stop after the first elevator about halfway up, and then wait in line for a second elevator all the way to the top. It was also really cool to do at the end of our visit, because we were able to map out the places we had been and the ground we had covered in the city below.

We went to dinner at a place recommended to us (and being as mature as I am i thought it was hilarious that it was called "Le Coq") for their specialty of meat cooked in a red wine stew sauce - of course, delicious! We ate on fancy red chairs on the covered, heated outdoor terrace in front the beautiful restaurant inside. Walking back to our hotel along the Seine at night was a beautiful way to end our evening, and we even came across the Liberty Flame, a monument to the alliance between France and the U.S., and also, as we came to discover from the letters, flowers, and pictures left there in memorial, right above the bridge where Princess Diana died.

Walking back down Rue Cler, with a final crepe for dessert, I thought it was a perfect end to our time in Paris. But i was wrong! The PERFECT end was the next morning, when, even though we had a morning train to catch, we woke up early and headed out in the rain to buy 2 baguettes and fulfill my Parisian dream of sword-fighting in front of the eiffel tower. I feel like I have officially completed every stereotypical what-you-see-of-Europe-in-the-movies endeavor I hoped to accomplish!

BURRcelona

I am currently writing now from the 4 square walls of mattress in our quaint, cozy hotel room in Paris!! We took an easyJet flight from Barcelona to Charles de Gaulle airport, so I didn’t have the long train ride that has proven so conducive to blog-update-writing inbetween stops on our journey.

Barcelona was just as amazing as I remembered it from our weekend trip there earlier in August, but as could be expected considering the dynamic and exciting nature of every city here in Europe, each new visit presents a completely different view and experience. This time was no exception! We saw parts of the city that I had no idea existed, even after having visited once before, and I learned so much more about different aspects of Barcelona’s rich history, culture, and sights. At the same time, it was really fun to be able to show my parents the parts of the city that I did have the opportunity to see the first time around, and to show them my favorite elements or point out significant places from our weekend spent there. It was so interesting to see how pictures that I took and shared with them via email came to life and took on an entirely new context when they were able to see the same things, views, or sights with their own eyes!

We arrived via train on Tuesday afternoon, and the hotel we stayed at was an eclectic mix of charm, character, and chaotic design. The walls were essentially carpeted in this interesting floral design, which they tried (and failed) to match with the ceiling, the floors, and the odd bins in all the hallways. Not to mention the fact that our room was almost entirely decked out in pink, ruffles, and flowers and complete with a “control panel” of remotes and switches for the lights, the shades, the TV, the fan, and the air conditioning. Our tour book that recommended the hotel described it pretty accurately as a place where “too many good ideas” collided with astonishing force. But, it was located right on La Rambla, a very central and important part of the city, with a little balcony overlooking the busy street, a big common room both in the front and in the back for enjoying their 24-hour buffet (not to mention free wine and beer, also 24 hours) and a large outdoor patio.

The "Control Panel" - complete with lights, fan, window shades, air conditioning, and even a holder for your cell phone

We instantly took advantage of the free food for lunch, and then headed out on a guided walking tour, also courtesy of the Rick Steves guide book, of the Gothic Quarters, or Barrio Gótic, in Barcelona. Exhibit A of my new perspective on a repeat visit: the first time around, we only knew Barrio Gótic as the singular plaza and streets lined with really fun dance clubs and bars to go out in. Not a terrible perspective at all, and indisputably a great time, but who knew there were huge, historic, and incredibly important cathedrals, museums, and government buildings tucked away in the small winding streets? We used the map and guided tour as kindof a treasure hunt, and walked through the neighborhood discovering beautiful buildings, houses, cathedrals and churches in the beautiful and impressive gothic style (mom: “isn’t it all just kindof…depressing? Wasn’t there any joy or happiness in this era?” Apparently not.), and even ancient Roman pillars and ruins. It was a beautiful tour on a perfect day, and a great introduction into the city!

This first taste was the perfect example of how, at the end, I came to the conclusion that the entire city of Barcelona was a little bit like the design of our hotel. So many different, unique, and distinct facets to the city that even though individually they are all amazing, if you try to see all of them in such a short period of time it’s a bit on the overwhelming side, and you start to wonder how one place can house so many different characters. The Gothic Quarters are nestled in right between La Rambla and Plaza Catalunya, and if you didn’t know which streets to turn down, you would only be greeted with the extremely blaring commercial and modern facades that greet you on the main drags, not even knowing that this incredible historic gem was only a few streets away.

For the thousandth time since my parents have been here visiting and touring Spain, they remarked how walking through the streets of Barcelona felt like being in Disneyland, and I definitely agree. Each building has so much character, so much detail put into every little element of its design, that it’s difficult to believe it’s all actually real! We started in Plaza de Catalunya, and saw everything from small old church plazas that the rest of the city was eventually built around, tower remains from old Roman walls that protected the city in ancient times (when it was originally named "Barcino"), the Deacon's House, the Cathedral de Barcelona, the Plaza Sant Felip Neri which houses an old church (Gaudí himself was a member) that still is marked with shrapnel damage from the Spanish Civil War, the Plaza de Sant Jaume and the two incredibly impressive government buildings that face each other across the square, the Palau de la Generalitat (headquarters of the Catalan government) and the Ajuntament, or Barcelona City Hall (the place of city government for over 2,000 years!) We left the Gothic Quarter and walked down towards Barceloneta (the fishing and beach districts) and the marina, a place where we spent a good deal of time on my first visit here, and still one of my favorite places in Barcelona. We walked down the promenade bordering the marina and the ocean, all the way back to the Christopher Columbus monument and up La Rambla back to the hostel. Not to shabby for day one!

Mom and Dad in front of the Christopher Columbus monument ( or rather Cristobol Colón, really, who changes a name like that?)

With Mom on Barceloneta, the marina promenade

The City Hall Building

The Barcelona Gothic Cathedral

The 2 Towers guarding the Gothic Quarter

In Plaza de Catalunya

Because we only were able to spend a day and a half in Barcelona, we decided to give one of those big, double-decker, “I AM A TOURIST” hop-on-hop-off tour buses a shot – and I’m really glad we did! Although I still am a firm proponent of walking around and discovering parts of cities yourself, when you’re faced with a tight schedule and so much to see, it’s really a pretty good alternative. I thought this was especially true for Barcelona, because it seems to me that the sights are a lot more spread out than, for example, in Madrid.

We took the bus to various tourist sights throughout the entire day, some of the highlights (among many others!) being La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi’s most famous masterpiece) Parc Guell (another one of my favorites from earlier this summer), for a picnic lunch and playing around the statues, the football stadium (the largest in Europe, seating over 100,000 people), the fancier neighborhoods of the city, the Museum of Catalan Art and surrounding churches, gardens, and fountains, the Barceloneta area, and a new favorite – the Olympic grounds and stadiums from when Barcelona hosted the 1992 summer Olympics! We got to see the stadium where they held the track and field events and the opening ceremonies, the Olympic plaza, the enormous monument where the flame was burning, the swimming and diving facilities, and much more!

On the tour bus!

La Sagrada Familia (still under construction - quite the ongoing project!)

Thrones at Park Guell

View from the Art Museum on the top of a mountain 

The Olympic Stadium!

The Olympic Flame

Although we felt a little fumigated towards the end from sitting on the top deck in traffic for so many hours, it was an amazing way to be able to see so many different parts of such an eclectic and exciting place with so much to offer, and to really appreciate the diversity, variety, history, and transformations that have come to characterize the city today. And, especially after this, I am fully convinced that I could visit or live in a city like so many of the incredible ones that I have already visited, or plan to visit, for a million days and still never see everything there is to see.

We ended the evening at our favorite place to eat from our August weekend in Barcelona, Fishop, where you get to pick out your own seafood from the display of fresh fish they caught earlier that day, and ask for recommendations on how to prepare it! A few grilled sea bass and a delicious lobster pasta dish later, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed sitting out on the back patio before tackling the daunting task of rearranging all of our belongings to fit in accordance with the regulations of the budget airlines we were to take the next morning. Not an easy thing to do.

The fresh fish selection at Fishop

Thursday morning, we got up early and managed to squeeze in one last tourist attraction in Barcelona – the St. Josep Market that I loved so much from my last trip! It is the most impressive market you will ever see, with everything in it from bakers to butchers (some of the most disturbing displays of meats and animal parts ever) to fishermen with the day’s catch to restaurant-style bars to dessert stands to fruit and vegetables the likes of which you have never seen before and everything inbetween, and it was also one of my favorite experiences from the first trip so another thing that I am glad I got to share with them this time around.

Beautiful fresh fruit and vegetable display at the Mercado

We rounded up our bags and braved the bus to the airport, hopping on our easyJet flight (another great, very European-travel-experience for them to witness) and headed finally out of Spain and on to France! I can’t believe I am officially out of that country, for now, that is, and we have already had a week’s worth of travels and adventures!

We’ve been brushing up (and by that I mean desperately trying to learn a few measly words to survive) on our French and have been singing songs from Beauty and the Beast in preparation for Paris. After all of the wonderful things I have heard about this city, I have no doubts that it is going to be yet another incredible and unbelievable experience!! 

Paraiso in San Sebastian!

Tuesday morning and on the road...train...again! We caught the early morning train, setting out for another 5 and 1/2 hour renfe ride from San Sebastian to Barcelona for leg 3 of our spectacular Eurotrip adventure.

If I had to sum up San Sebastian in one word, it would probably be paradise. But that would make for an extremely and uncharacteristically short blog. But overall, San Sebastian, a smaller and very tourist-oriented beach city on the northern coast of Spain, was absolutely incredible, and we all agreed that we could not have picked a more perfect Spanish city to include in our itinerary. San sebastian is most well known for its food, its views, and it friendly and relaxing beachtown vibe, so here is the redundancy disclaimer: I'm going to try to find as many different synonyms for "delicious" and "beautiful" as i possibly can, but no promises. After busy big-city Madrid, it felt like we really were on vacation and could relax a little bit, so much so that I even almost felt like we were in a different country!

We arrived early Sunday afternoon, and right away were greeted with the first major difference from bustling Madrid city life. You can only catch taxis from designated points throughout the city, and they are about 1,000 times less frequent than in madrid. Allison lipp was able to travel out by bus from her city of santander, about 2 or 3 hours west on the same coast! After waiting for almost an hour for the taxi, we decided to walk to our hostel, easier said than done when your luggage weighs as much as several small children.

Blaring difference #2 from Madrid: the language. I realized that every region in Spain is very different, in everything from traditional food to culture to dialect, but usually the languages, although clearly distinct and sometimes difficult to understand when spoken, at least bear some resemblance to the original castillian Spanish. San Sebastian lies in the basque region, and their language is a completely different haphazard schmorgesboard of letters that I have never seen before and that looks nothing like any Spanish i have ever seen. And what was interesting was that regional pride, although
very strong in every one of the 50 autonomous communities, was even more prominent here, and many native San sebastians preferred to engage with tourists in English than castillian spanish, although most seemed to speak and understand it perfectly. And because of its close proximity to france, most of the public notices and street signs were in basque, Spanish, French, and English.

After dropping our luggage off at Pension Garate, a quaintroom, the four of us headed towards the beach! San Sebastian is situated in a semi-circle shape around a huge bay, Playa de la Concha, with a small island, Isla Santa Clara, in the middle and mountain peaks at either end. There is a big, beautiful boardwalk with a parallel bike path that runs the entire length of the bay, connecting old town on one end with the funicular at the other (if funicular is a strange and concerning word at first, you're not alone, I'll get to that). The weather throughout the entire weekend was absolutely perfect, we lucked out! It was so refreshing and picturesque walking down the boardwalk, people strolling with dogs and families and couples, riding bikes down the path, a club/disco underneath the path right on the sand, a merry-go-round on one end, all of the little cafes and restaurants, the beautiful architecture of the old mixed with the new. I loved how almost all of the buildings had lovely wrought iron and flower-adorned balconies and rooftop terraces, and how little structural details like turrets at the top of apartment buildings gave the city an almost disneyland type feel. It was so perfect it felt unreal and like out of a movie. In the early-mid 1800s, there was a huge fire in the city as the spanish, portuguese, and english fought to get napoleon and his army out of spanish rule, and consequently you dont see buildings or monuments as old as those in madrid, for example, but the eclectic mix of older architectural styles and more modern buildings made for an exciting landscape.

We walked along, taking in the 360 degree postcard images that were all around us (excluding, perhaps, the customary and very Spanish topless tradition participants), and stopped for sangria, calamari and tortilla at Cafe de la Concha situated right on the boardwalk in the middle of the bay overlooking the beach, and walked on the sand along the water, heading toward the west point of the city, Monte Igueldo.

Sangria at Café la Concha

View from the boardwalk

Here we found the royal tennis club, along with the famous funicular. The funicular is a cable-car-looking vehicle that is situated on a track on a very steep hill going up the mountain. As you walk towards it, as soon as sight of the beach disappears you feel like you've entered a completely different landscape or city, there were trees and forest views everywhere, and we even thought it looked a little bit like northern California! The funicular treks slowly up the steep mountain slope, unveiling more. And more impressive views as it climbs, until finally you reach the top with an absolutely stunning view of the whole city and beyond - you could even see parts of France! At the top of the mountain was also a mini amusement park and a hotel, and we got our fill of postcard-worthy photos, breathtaking scenery and oohs and aahs before heading back down.

We walked back the almost 2 miles along the boardwalk to the other side of the bay where old town, or "parte vieja" was situated - an area filled with restaurants, bars, shops, a huge gazebo in the middle, and beautifully laid out streets and plazas.

Government building in Old Town, or Parte Vieja

In front of a Gothic Cathedral

Fortunately for us, the San Sebastian soccer team had played Bilbao earlier that day, so where usually streets would be quieter on a Sunday night they were packed with people - loud, excited, fun people, most of whom sported the blue and white striped San Sebastian soccer jersey. For dinner, we opted to test out the traditional style of San sebastian dining - tapas style on the most well-known tapas hot spot street, Calle Fermin Calbeton. But tapas here are called pinxos (pronounced pinchos), and all of the bars are covered with different plates of tapas, with everything from stuffed peppers to tortilla to skewers of shrimp, olives and artichoke hearts, to sardines and anchovies (specialties of the north coast), to tostadas of Brie cheese and sun dried tomatoes...literally anything and everything you could possibly imagine, and then some! We loved this style because they give you a plate and you get to pick off the bar exactly what you wanted, meaning y could see exactly what you were getting before you ate it! We tried out 2 different pinxos bars, and it was so much fun making our way through the crowds of people out with their friends having a grand old time ("don't worry Susan, it's just like a frat party! See your feet even stick to the street!" Allison's encouragements worked for a little while, until mom saw people pushing strollers of kids through said frat party scene) and was great to experience this very customary kind of night out! Not to mention, of course, absolutely delicious.

Bar FULL of delicious tapas! 

We ended the night walking allison back to the bus station, along the canal that runs the length of the city, which was absolutely beautiful lit up at night, and was lined by broad walking and biking paths. We slept in a little the next morning (a first for me on a European weekend vacation) and headed back out for old town first thing, and were shocked to see that the entire city had been cleaned to sparkling perfection overnight! Hardly a piece of trash on the street, unbelievable considering the city-wide party that had taken place the night before.

We started out at the Brexta farmers market that took place in the morning, loving the beautiful arrangements of fresh fruits and vegetables in booths lining the streets, and venturing down underneath the street to a lower level of butchers, bakeries, fish and seafood stands, and more independent local sellers.



We then found the famous cheese shop of San Sebastian, sampling their prize winning products, the "basque street" known as the place where many political activists collaborate called Calle Juan Bilbao with basque flags flying in the doorways and marijuana shops (its legal to grow it in quantities for "your own personal consumption") and a little bit of a sketchier vibe, as well as plaza constitucion, where the bull fights used to be held. We learned that the city used to technically own the balconies of the apartments facing the square, so for a bullfight they could sell them as seats while the people who actually lived in the apartments could watch over the shoulders of the paying customers, and for this reason all the balconies are numbered.

The famous cheese!

The Basque Flag

The seal of San Sebastian in Plaza de la Constitución 

The numbered balconies, seats to watch the bullfights

We then proceeded toward the marina, taking in the view of all the sailboats, fishing boats coming in from their morning catches, tour boats, and kayaks from the pier. Next came the big undertaking of the day, the trek all the way up the second mountain of the city called Monte Urgull. Remember the steep mountain we climbed via cable car the day before? Right well this time, we hiked. In flip flops. (we were extremely proud of ourselves, and i was specifically instructed not to leave "hiking mount Kilimanjaro" out of this blog). It was a steep and exhausting climb, but beyond worth it for the views of the city from the top, exploring the old naval forts at the top that used to protect the bay from invading ships, an up close and personal encounter with the enormous statue of Jesus Christ that looks down over the city, and our private secret garden picnic spot with a stunning view of the ocean and horizon.

Isla Santa Clara

After hiking back down the other side, we crossed the bridge over the canal to the next town of Gros. Immature I know, but we had to say "eww Gross!" every time we referenced it. Ok maybe that was just me. But they say Gros has a very "California" vibe to it, and we agreed. That was where the surfing beach was, and it was fun to people watch on the boardwalks and beaches. We ended up renting bikes, and cruised down the Gros beach, then heading back into old town San sebastian, back around the Jesus mountain and around the boardwalk circling the bay, ending up at the Miramar Castle, where Queen Maria Cristina used to vacation (according to our handy dandy Rick steves tour book, it was recommended she took her holidays in San sebastian and bathe in the ocean there to help with bad skin problems). Today, the castle is used as a music school, so as we laid out on the grass watching the setting sun over the water, we were serenaded with something resembling a student learning how to play an instrument. (At first, dad was amused with the fact they were playing "haunting music" to contribute to the old castle allure. Nope, just a very beginner level cello player.)

Miramar Castle

We returned the bikes to Gros and headed back into old town for a last dinner, enjoying again the delicious calamari, a pitcher of sangria, some paella and bacalao, and of course some ice cream to top off the night, and headed back to the hotel, fully exhausted but extremely satisfied with an incredible San Sebastian experience. It's amazing how much you are able to enjoy in just a day and a half, but its not difficult when the cities are as wonderful and beautiful as this one was, and i have no doubt that the rest of our Eurotrip will be just as full of new things to see, try, and marvel at, incredible experiences and memories in the making.

Barca, it'll be good to see you again, and I'm bringing some new friends!