Eurotrip2011: Day 27

San Sebastian

My beloved and I set off for a day together wandering the streets of San Sebastian after a little sleep in. The "Old Town" is just delightful and, being our first time in Spain, we simply *had* to visit some Spanish shops. San Sebastian is home to some great little independent boutiques (some of which were frighteningly pricey!), as well as all the ubiquitous Spanish chains - Zara, Camper, Desigual, Massimo Dutti etc. Basically, for a small coastal town, San Sebastian gave much pleasure to this Aussie shop-a-holic! After picking up some great basics for my beloved and I and a pair of whacky harem pants from Desigual (*love*) for me, I could sense that my beloved's energy levels were flagging and reluctantly agreed to return to our accommodation for a bite to eat and a siesta. He claims shopping exhausts him. I refuse to believe such nonsense - it's got to be a universal male excuse conspiracy? ;)

Our afternoon consisted of further exploration of the city, but unfortunately the weather had changed from this:

...to this:

Time to change out of my summer dress!

Pintxos were on the menu for dinner. Our first stop was Ramuntxo Berri (where we had eaten lunch the day prior - Peña y Goñi 10, Donostia-San Sebastian). I adored the authenticity of this place, where miming was mandatory. My favourite plate was a simple crusty roll with perfect ham and marinated green capsicum (bottom right).

We then ventured into a more touristy area to sample the pintxos at Michelin-recommended A Fuego Negro (Calle 31 de Agosto 31, Donostia San Sebastian). The place certainly boasted a funky look and we were expecting some equally high quality eats.

Sadly, the food was disappointing and lacked real flavour. Our "dirty salad" (top left) was without any real dressing and all dishes could have really done with some additional seasoning. I would probably only recommend this place for a drink...and, oddly, to use their bathrooms - I was rather taken by the fact that cubicle walls were painted with a blackboard surface and chalk was provided to encourage patrons to "decorate". Yes, we already know I'm weird!


We finished the evening with an ice-cream (are we sensing a theme here?!) and a final stroll to our pension. San Sebastian is one seriously sensational city (alliteration FTW!) - we will certainly be back!