When Maite was in Lancaster this summer, she informed me that San Sebastian was THE most beautiful city in Spain. Period, end of discussion. So today she had it planned to take Sarah and I there to prove it to us in person. I'm so glad she did.Her son Mikel came with us and the four of us set out in the morning in our tiny little rented car towards the east, almost to the French border. When we got to San Sebastian, the first 
thing we did was go to the top of a mountain to get a fabulous view of the sea and the town. It was an absolutely perfect day, clear and crisp and sunny and warm all at the same time (we have been informed that we are extremely lucky because this is HIGHLY unusual weather for this time of year), so it made for a fantastic view.
thing we did was go to the top of a mountain to get a fabulous view of the sea and the town. It was an absolutely perfect day, clear and crisp and sunny and warm all at the same time (we have been informed that we are extremely lucky because this is HIGHLY unusual weather for this time of year), so it made for a fantastic view. Once down in the town we walked all around checking out the lov
ely old buildings and soaking in the old charm of the city. Turns out that the San Sebastian Film Festival was going on and we saw them setting up for the imminent arrival of Julia Roberts on the black carpet. Not red carpet, black carpet. We considered meeting up with her for lunch but, in the end, decided we would rather spend our time elsewhere so we sent our regrets from our people to her people to let her know we would try to catch her another time.
ely old buildings and soaking in the old charm of the city. Turns out that the San Sebastian Film Festival was going on and we saw them setting up for the imminent arrival of Julia Roberts on the black carpet. Not red carpet, black carpet. We considered meeting up with her for lunch but, in the end, decided we would rather spend our time elsewhere so we sent our regrets from our people to her people to let her know we would try to catch her another time.It didn't take us long to end up on the beach. When we left the house this morning, it was quite cool so none of us brought our bathing suits except for Sarah. So while she was swimming and the other three of us were sitting on the shore watching her swim, we spent our time kicking ourselves and Maite spent hers reminding us of how "estupidos" we were
.
. After that, more meandering through the old part of the town, to a pub for a vino, lunch from a pasterleria eaten in the sun on a park bench, wandering around looking for our car, coffee at an outdoor cafeteria, more looking for the car (Maite insisted it wasn't lost!) and finally we were on our way....
.... to the top of a mountain in a nearby town where you could see the Pyrenees Mountains and, thus, the border between Spain a
nd France. It was crazy windy and cold but such a beautiful, panoramic view. And then we were on our way again....
nd France. It was crazy windy and cold but such a beautiful, panoramic view. And then we were on our way again........ to Hondarribia, yet another picturesque old town where it turns out Maite used to live. It is bordered by a river, one that is another dividing line between Spain and France. We could almost have thrown a rock across it and into France. More meandering. More vino (appropriately, in a pub named Bar Maite). Aaaaaaah.
It was a long, full day, but a gre
at one. It was so kind of both Maite and Mikel to spend their whole day showing us around such beautiful places. It was also quite fun, with lots of talking and laughing. We started off the day speaking only Spanish. By the time we were driving home, Mikel suddenly whipped out his amazing English completely out of nowhere (I hadn't really heard him speak English before). By the end of the day it was a funny mix of both, some things in Spanish, some in English. Occasionally someone would even ask something in one language, and the other person would answer in the other, but always seamlessly and without either person even seeming to notice they were having one conversation but in two languages. As a language nerd, I totally dug it!
at one. It was so kind of both Maite and Mikel to spend their whole day showing us around such beautiful places. It was also quite fun, with lots of talking and laughing. We started off the day speaking only Spanish. By the time we were driving home, Mikel suddenly whipped out his amazing English completely out of nowhere (I hadn't really heard him speak English before). By the end of the day it was a funny mix of both, some things in Spanish, some in English. Occasionally someone would even ask something in one language, and the other person would answer in the other, but always seamlessly and without either person even seeming to notice they were having one conversation but in two languages. As a language nerd, I totally dug it!
1 comment:
The picture of the bakery suddenly reminded me of those delicious croissants we would get with the chocolate filling in the middle. I miss them. Yummm!! Have a few for me please.
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