EuroTrip ‘23 Part II: San Sebastian
***Skip to the bottom to see the compiled video snippets of this vacation.
In life, there are aspirations or desires that when met, enable you to carelessly say that you can die peacefully now, the Lord can take your soul. These moments are so overwhelming that they send a signal that travels and transcends through the vast universe reaching an unexplored destination that is far beyond our comprehension. Whether this signal has any significance when it reaches its destination, is a mystery. Somebody or something out there knows that we are happy.
Upon writing this, I just got back from a food coma here in Donostia, a food lover’s paradise. This happened today, October 15,’23. As I roamed the tiny streets of this small city, which seemed so familiar yet foreign, I came to the realization that I was meant to be here, I was destined to have set foot, in order for me to take my career and my passion for food to the next chapter. I have finally wandered the streets of The Land of Pintxos and there’s a surreal and unbelievable feeling; being here had a strong sense of belonging and impact to my life that made me so excited, inspired and grateful.
Donostia
What a beautiful city that’s full of culture and should I say, a sense of community. The latter might not probably be the right exact word for it. Help me out here. Let me put it this way: The Basque people surely know how to share their culture to the tourists, and we as visitors, learn, experience and take on something truly unique. It feels so enticing to engage with the local food scene and just immerse yourself in something that’s so authentic, something that only happens in this particular part of the world.
We got off the freeway and was led to this long narrow road that leads to the town center. To our left, were the apartments of the locals, and to the right, was the Urumea Itsasadarra river. There were at least four bridges that connect the two main areas of the city. Tourism happens mostly on the left side, where we were residing, while the right side is mostly for locals, a residential area.
The town is fairly easy to navigate. Everything mostly happens close to where the water is. The old town, where the pintxos bars are situated, is close to the coast. It’s an affluent retiree’s destination, you can see and feel that it is not a cheap town to live in and the population is dominated by the elderly. Most of the visiting tourists who are part of a group comprised mostly people of a certain age.
Our Route
Map of Donostia
A Closer Look To Where The Magic Happens
You won’t see it coming, until you realize that you’re already there. There, doesn’t look the same during the daytime. You have to wait until the sun retreats to fully witness the charm of the old town.
Walking along the beach, a spectacular scenery awaits of the different landscapes surrounding you. There are two hills that protect the beach from the main Atlantic Ocean. On one side, there’s an old church that has a statue of Christ at the very top, just like in Brazil. On the other hill, there’s a theme park and restaurants overlooking the whole bay area. The water has a pleasing blue hue, it turns even brighter when it slams against the rock barriers. I swam, thinking the water would be manageable, but it wasn’t. After thirty minutes, I was out and felt revitalized.
Averaging 15,000 steps a day walking around the city and along the beaches and coast helped me a lot. It’s one of those places where walking or biking is so much better than driving a car. And of course, that’s the least that I can do for my body after consuming food more than my body weight. hahaha. But seriously, the walking really helped to keep me from feeling bloated and hating myself for not having discipline. But who wouldn’t appreciate the gorgeous scenery? If I live here, I will walk every day and do my steps, as long as it doesn’t get below 60 degrees.
The Pintxos Bar Hopping Experience
I mean, really, all tourists who come to Donostia have only one task on hand and only one thing they look forward to: Pintxos.Bar.Hopping. If you plan to come here, I do advice to restrain and control yourself by getting only 1-2 types of pintxos per bar as you can easily get filled if you over order. It defeats the purpose of only being able to try one bar.
Casa Urola
Lunch set the mood to what I thought was a good start. It was honestly good, although two of my friends got an upset stomach after, that’s the bad part. We went to Casa Urola and immediately had three or four types of pintxos. Scallops with seaweed, mushroom tart, beef with piquillo peppers and pan seared foie gras in a white bean broth were eye openers. Pair these with the local txakoli, then you are literally transported to the world of Catalan gastronomy. The foie gras was something that I would never expect to work, but it did. It was homey, comforting and addicting. Bite after bite, we looked at each other and just nodded in acceptance that there’s literally magic happening in our mouths.
For dinner, two of our friends had to stay in. My good friend and I set course to the old town to start the night.
La Cuchara De San Telmo
My favorite place! I don’t have photos, I do have video clips that will be compiled soon.
When we first got to the first pintxos bar stop for dinner, there was a line outside, we obviously assumed that inside was going to be packed like sardines in a glass jar. Well, yes it was. We looked at each other and decided that we had time to spare, so we waited. I didn’t expect a very determined answer from my friend. It also helped that there was an English couple who mentioned that they've been there yesterday. “It is worth the wait", they said. Well, we did ride the storm and eventually got our turn to order. In front of me were three guys who were eating something that resembled lechon. I asked what he was eating, and he told me that it was roasted pork. After detecting his Spanish accent, I followed by conversing in Spanish (wow, look at me flexing) asking him about what the other specialties of the house are. He mentioned a dish with braised beef and one with razor clams. THEY WERE ALL PHENOMENAL. The razor clams were the winner because of how fresh it was. Grilled clams with garlic parsley oil, that’s all. It immediately reminded us of the fried squid sandwich that we had in Barcelona, and it just works like a miracle.
Unlike other pintxos bar, La Cuchara didn’t have any food display that are ready made. I guess this is the reason why they are so successful; they make everything to order, which keeps everything hot and fresh.
We came back here another day when the rest of the group were fully recovered. When we got there, there was a long line outside and I mentioned that since it was a weekday, it was less busy, we can come back later after the rush had died down. Fair enough, the place wasn’t as packed as the first time we went, it was around 9:30pm and my plan worked. We told our friends who were catching up to try the roasted pork so they can understand what we were talking about. We then had a lamb dish that seemed to me to be innards. It had a crispy outside surface, tons of sauce and gelatinous on the inside, get it when you’re there. We also had pan seared octopus on that same trip and it was divine. After three Pintxos, we were done!
Gandarias
You won’t be able to miss this spot. It’s right on the corner next to La Cuchara. The third and final bar was packed as well, so we know that it was a good place to go to. We ordered a Galician Style Octopus and two toasts of pan seared foie gras on top of baguette. I didn’t expect that the bite of foie gras had a surprise in it that caught me off guard. I thought it was going to be dry, overpowering and just plain rich. But… they added something sour and salty that lifted the Pintxos to greater heights. I cannot decipher what they added to it at first, until I realized that it was apple chutney, since other restaurants had the same item on their menus—divine.
Aralar Taberna
Aralar Taberna was our first stop when we had our first complete Pintxos bar hop. The lamb dish was amazing.
La Viña
This place is most famous for their Basque Burnt Cheesecake. It is for a reason, since it was so creamy but not too sweet. Since it’s packed, people tend to order the cake and come outside of the restaurant to eat it.
Basque Burnt Cheesecake from La Viña
The Main Plaza / Town square
A nice place to hang out, sit down, relax and drink. They pour generous drinks that would make restaurant owners here in Miami cry. A good idea is to take breaks while pintxos hopping.
Three Michelin Star Experience at Akelarre
Every year, I make sure to visit a restaurant of high regard to get inspiration from. Akelarre had the easiest reservation to get. I was looking forward to this dinner so much. For the review, please head over here.
Bilbao
We did a side trip to Bilbao, west of Donostia, an hour and a half driving. Our main destination was the Guggenheim Museum. It was interesting, although, we got pretty disappointed since we failed to appreciate modern art. Nonetheless, we went to a very nice taberna that was Michelin recommended. It didn’t disappoint and we left Bilbao with happy stomachs.
Las Lias
Amongst the things we ordered, the tuna tartare and beef sirloin stood out. The burrata salad was creamy and good. Iberico Ham is Iberico Ham, you cannot dislike it. Most of the time, we always leave a restaurant satisfied. Thanks Las Lias.
I left Donostia in full spirit, with a refreshed soul and a satisfied stomach. I didn’t let anything get in my way to enjoy the scenery and took some wonderful photos prior to departing.
We headed to Zaragosa and had a very unassumingly good lunch there and spent the night in Vilafranca before heading back to Barcelona for our flights.
Final Thoughts
After at least 1000 miles traveled,
countless hours in the car, driving,
headaches when it comes to parking in and getting out,
uncalled for sexual innuendos,
16,000-20,000 steps,
vending machine-related jokes,
hangover headaches,
huge charcuterie platters,
endless bottles of wines,
we have finally come to the end of our trip. It was a rewarding and tiring voyage. But when you are with good company, there wouldn’t be a dull moment. It was wonderful to experience this adventure while I’m still mobile and capable. In the end, we got to at least 32 bottles of wine, not including + - 3 bottles that got lost in translation along the way and during our tastings.
I want to go back to Donostia some day, I really appreciated my time there. I would like to visit the left bank of Bordeaux as well.
If asked, will I do this trip again? I say yes, and double down on the wine.
Thanks San Sebastian.
