Portugal/Spain Road Trip: San Sebastián

After Salinas, we headed west for about four hours to the coastal city of San Sebastián. This was our most stressful unpacking of the car adventure yet, since our accommodation was right in the city with lots of traffic and no stopping zones all around. We managed to quickly unload the bags (giant board bag included) and navigate the check-in instructions in the pitch dark hallway of an old apartment building. We were in!

San Sebastián is a foodie town, and you know when we’re not surfing, we’re eating! These few days, the waves were small and messy, so we decided not to do the work of unpacking the boards and carrying them down from the apartment, but it would’ve been fun just to play around.

Instead, we embraced the local culture of “pinchos” (what they call tapas) and stopped at different bars and restaurants getting yummy little snacks with our drinks.

On Thursday nights, some of the bars in our neighborhood do Pintxo Pote, which gives you a combination of drink + poncho for extra cheap. That took us on a fun food tour around town.

Unfortunately, this week I had a few very late night calls, because I’m planning a work event in Australia. So I had to head back to work after pinchos (though not after Pintxo Pote luckily!) The basque cheesecake made it a bit easier to be on Teams at midnight:

And in case you’re worried about our health (I am, to be honest!), in the mornings we walked it off. One day, we went to the nearby town of Zarautz for a coastal walk.

Even without surfing, this was one of my favorite stops on the trip! I loved the little beach city, and I hope to return someday to enjoy it more.