A Holiday in Spain- San Sebastian

This past weekend I celebrated my 23rd Birthday with Sara. As a gift, Sara had created a video with several of my friends and family on it wishing me a Happy Birthday. This being my first birthday away from home, it was a great reminder of all the people who care for me but couldn't be with me to celebrate. Thanks to all of you who contributed and those of you who tried but had technical difficulties (And thanks for not killing Sara who probably nagged you repeatedly until you either gave her a film or broke down and cried from harassment.).
 
Sara also had made reservations for us that night at the Guggenheim. It was very special, not only because it was such a nice restaurant, but mainly because that is the building that brought me to Bilbao. Of course, all good restaurants are rated on a "plate to portion" scale. The larger the plates and the smaller the portions, the better the restaurant... this was a really good restaurant.

Although the food was excellent, the staff was a bit suspicious. First off, our waiter wore leather gloves and would watch us from behind a screen. Second, our sommelier would talk just soft enough that you couldn't hear a single word he said. If you bat an eye, the noise would drown him out. Lastly, the room was decorated with red blotches everywhere. My only conclusion, our waiter was an assassin, the sommelier was whispering secret mission assignments for us, and the splotches were the blood stains of those that did not comply. You can bet I made sure to keep my fork on the left side of the plate and my napkin on my lap.


After dinner we ordered chocolate with coffee ice cream and peach slices soaked in red wine and vanilla for dessert. Sara had brought candles to stick in them so I could blow them out like a traditional birthday cake, but this was anything but traditional. Like everything else, the portions were minute; the chocolate I ordered was a small slab about 1"x2"x1". However, that didn't stop Sara's determination to stick 23 candles into it. We got to 17 before the chocolate began to fall apart. The candles were so close together that we only had to light a couple before they started lighting themselves. After a few seconds all that was in front of me was a giant ball of fire engulfing my chocolate. On the other side of the room, the assassin was watching us carefully to make sure we didn't burn the whole building down. Overall, the meal was a success: it tasted great, we didn't set off the smoke alarms, and we didn't become another victim for the decor.

The next day we grabbed a bus and headed to San Sebastian to spend the rest of the weekend. San Sebastian is known for its beauty, its beaches, and its pintxos, and we got plenty of each. We spent the first day waking around San Sebastian and its beaches and taking lots of pictures. San Sebastian is a very small town that encompasses a crescent-shaped beach, with a large island in the middle of its bay. It reminded us a lot of Santa Monica, with its outdoor restaurants, beautiful beaches, and hundreds of tiny little dogs. Apparently dogs are a status symbol and the smaller they are, the more posh they make you. (AKA Paris Hilton syndrome)

As the sun started to go down, we made our way to the top of a mountain on the west side of the beach. There, on the top of the mountain, you can find one of the scariest carnival parks ever. Not only are all the rides circa 1884, but they wind around the edge of the mountain so that it feels like you are going to topple over the side into the ocean below. Of course I valued my life a little too much to risk it on a few thrills. So we just sat and watched the sunset while listening to the screams from the riders nearby. Afterward, we headed back to our hostel to change and then went to Parte Vieja for some world-famous pintxos. Our favorite place was Bar Egosari with their squid, red pepper, and bacon skewered and grilled to perfection. We were planning to go to a discotech afterward, but when we got there we found out they had a few requirements to get in: you couldn't be a guy, an american, and poor. I, unfortunately, fulfilled all of them.

The next day we woke up early, got some breakfast in a restaurant overlooking the beach, and then headed to Peine del Viento (The Wind's Comb), a collection of iron sculptures in the rocks, designed by local artist Eduardo Txillida. Afterward, we followed the beach to the other side of the town and ate lunch in the Puerto de Donostia (harbor), where I had some of the best calamari I have ever eaten. Then we went to the aquarium where we spent at least 30 min in one spot taking pictures of sharks over and over and over again.

We were trying to get certain poses but something would always ruin the shot: someone would move (Sara), the light would reflect badly, kids would be in the way, sharks wouldn't stay put... the basic problems of shooting giant fish in an underwater tank. However, we quickly discovered their swimming patterns and knew when they would swim to/over us so that we could position ourselves to take a picture. Of course they didn't always turn out great and we would have to wait for the sharks to circle the tank again to take another shot, so we hope you like this one, and if not... KEEP YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELF!

After the aquarium, we headed to the bus station to travel back to our respective cities, bringing a FANTASTIC birthday weekend to an end.

O yeah- and as you can probably tell, I now have a camera! So expect more photos in future posts.