Tasting and Tanning

Almost done in San Sebastian (it’s Thurs nit) and I’m pleased to report that the weather improved as the week sped by. We still daren’t go anywhere without our raincoats as those thick clouds rolling overhead occasionally tinkle on us - I think God has a prostate problem. It’s actually worked out quite well as we spent the first, cooler, wetter days exploring the town by bike and foot.

But the last two days have been mostly at the beach and the sun’s been around enough to get us a little crispy. When not tanning we’re dining and imbibing and this has turned into the tastiest vacation I have ever been on. The food here is unequivocally the best of any city I’ve ever visited (Paris is close). With all the standing as you try wine and appies it feels like one big cocktail party.

Still trying to understand the rhythm of the Spanish day, I feel like a dancer with two left feet. At first I thought they just did everything a few hours later than I was used to; dinner starts at eight, lunch at 2:30. But the stores all close at various times throughout the day. Some I’ve never seen open, some are only open in the morning. The concession stand closed at the beach today at noon. He didn’t go anywhere or even put up a sign, he just stopped responding to requests. Weird.

But I love it here and here’s my top five reasons:

1. The beach is topless.
2. The food is fantastic.
3. The beach is topless.
4. There’s bicycle lanes all over the city and they’re inaccessible to cars.
5. The scenery, the architecture, the wine is the cheapest and tastiest ever and the beach is topless.


But there are a few things I struggle with:

1. Dog shit. It’s everywhere. OK not everywhere but they don’t clean up after their dogs.
2. Most of the topless women on the beach are over 60.
3. That’s it.

There’s very little English spoken here and little accommodation for it. The signs are bilingual in Spanish and Basque but Deb’s fluent in French which is pretty darn close and Spanish was the one class I didn’t sleep thru in hi school. The few English speakers don’t hit the beaches til later in the day, perhaps nursing hangovers in the morning, but the Spanish - especially the gaggles of chunky old ladies - are out in force much earlier. By mid afternoon the locals have gone off for the two hour graze leaving the beaches for the noncognito.

Tomorrow we’ll breathe as deeply as possible and hopefully the beauty of San Sebastian will settle into some of our adipose tissue along with the pollo carmelizado and go with us to Biarritz. But that’s tomorrow, right now I have to go to bed.