“Wow, here I am swimming on the other side of the Atlantic,” this New Englander thinks to himself as I jump into the waters of San Sebastian, on Spain´s northern coast. I find myself looking out across the water, trying to stretch my eyes in some super-human way, wondering what of this water will crash along America´s Atlantic Coast also.
As the sun rises, head to Playa Zurriola, a surfers beach just over the bridge outside of San Sebastian´s downtown. Surf lessons are offered daily from different schools along this beach.
As the sun peaks, walk only a few streets back to find restaurants offering Menú del Día , special multi-course lunches that usually usher in the day´s siesta. Many restaurants specialize in seafood dishes, this being a coast town. Try the Basque variation of the popular seafood-infused rice dish, paella.
As the sun begins to set, ride the funicular to the top of Monte Iguelo. From here, you can see why people say that the shoreline looks like Rio de Janeiro´s, with jagged cliffs and mountains dotting the coast. It´s best to go at sunset, when warm rays dissolve on the coastline as the sun disappears over the Atlantic.
And when the moon replaces the sun in the sky, walk along the inner town streets to sample the unique delicacy of this region, pintxos — tiny exotic tapas of fish, meats and vegetables served on miniature slices of bread. The idea is to not stay in one restaurant, but rather, to keep walking, sampling one restaurant´s pintxo creations after another. Fermin Calbeton Kalea is a good street to start your culinary adventure.
People of the Basque region like to think of themselves as different from the rest of Spain (some more explosively than others). San Sebastian is a great destination to appreciate why.
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Benjamin Thomas
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