Another Spanish Gem

The drive from Bilbao to Donastia-San Sebastian was around 90 minutes this morning through some hilly terrain though the motorway made it rather easy.

We found our hotel relatively easily, travel would be nigh on impossible without the GPS, and though we had arrived some 2 hours or so before checkin time the room was ready so after a quick unpack we started the 25 minute walk into the town.

The hotel is in the "suburb" of Aiete which is relatively high above the town so the walk down was a breeze - the standard of houses in the area suggests that we are in an affluent part of the city.

The central city was awash with people and vehicles and it was a bit of a jostle as we went searching for lunch - we found a pintxos bar full of locals which we took to be a good sign so elbowed our way to the "bar", asked the server for a plate and chose an array of pintxos from the numerous plates lining the bar and once again enjoyed a satisfying lunch - I think this may well be what we have for the next month or so for lunch

!

We ambled through the streets and came out of the retail jungle to La Concha beach and what a magnificent sight it is as it stretches around La Concha Bay - sandy not rocky and teeming with people (it was even more teeming when we walked, well staggered, along it later in the day to Ondarreta, a smaller version but equally as populated). La Concha means seashell and it has that nice curved shape of a shell.

High above the Old Town on Mont Urgull is a 12m high sculpture of Jesus Christ (al la Brazil) which dominates the skyline. We walked around the base of Urgull passed the "town basin" and looking out into the Bay of Biscay there were numerous yachts which we assumed were racing and heading for a finish in La Concha Bay.

A stop at Starbucks as we came back into Centro and then the walk along La Concha followed by a climb up a rather steep hill saw us back in the hotel later in the day before we turned around and when down to Antiguo for a meal in a bar/taberna well populated by the locals. The meal was so good and favourably priced that we booked a table for tomorrow night.

Again the streets were humming as we walked home (by now it was 9.15) with families, couples and groups congregating on the streets around bars and eating places - it is a very social atmosphere.