We spent six lovely days in the Basque beach town of San Sebastián, Spain. We laid on the beach, rented surf boards, ate tapas and visited ciderias. In six days we could have perhaps done more than that, and maybe even less. This is a great place to hit the beach, the beaches are close to perfect with soft sand. There is a big surfer scene and we rented surf boards two different days and caught some sweet waves. Every bar or restaurant in San Sebastián serves tapas or pintxos which are little bit size snacks that lay out on top of the bars usually served on a little piece of bread. You grab what tapas you would like to try and order a cider, beer or glass of wine then stand and enjoy with locals and tourist alike. It’s fun to try all the different tapas, some are delicious and some are pretty gross. These tapas bars are open all day. There are people eating tapas when you wake up and eating tapas late into the night.
We also visited two ciderias in San Sebastián. At the ciderias you pay for all you can drink cider. The cider is stored in huge wood barrels and shoots out with serious pressure. You hold your glass a couple feet away to catch the cider then turn off the spout. This technique allows the cider to breathe. You only fill up your glass about an inch or so, never to the top. This was really fun, the cider is not as sweet as some we’ve had in Europe because it is simply made with fermented apples, nothing is added, but we have come to love it.
San Sebastián was a wonderful place to experience spain and its Basque culture. Off to Barcelona.
