La Concha!
The
adventures with Amy continued into the week.
After spending time in Madrid and Valladolid I thought it was time for
her to see the coast! Barcelona is
usually everybodys top choice when visiting Spain and rightfully so as it is gorgeous,
however I love the northern coast of Spain so I wanted to adventure up that
way. Ross and I had never been to San
Sebastian so it seemed like the perfect place for all of us to explore!
Taking
the train from Valladolid to San Sebastian is a little on the pricier
side. You are looking at 35 euros each
for one way. Ross found a train on
Wednesday morning however for only 12.50 euros!
So Amy and I decided to trek it up there without him (he had to work)
and then he could meet us that evening. Now
I have never traveled anywhere in Spain without Ross so I was quite
nervous. I am not super comfortable with
the language so whenever there is a problem I always look to Ross to fix
it. This trip without him meant I would
be the one responsible for figuring everything out. It ended up being a good test of my lack of
Spanish skills.
When
we boarded the train it was very dimly lit and most people were asleep. This is a very early morning hotel train so
people were travelling pretty far, some all the way from Lisbon Portugal. When I found our seats I was not happy to
find someone sitting in one of them. I
showed her our tickets and she proceeded to speak very fast and loudly at me
and refused to move. Obviously I was immediately
angry, frustrated and embarrassed. I
calmly tried to explain to her (In Spanish) that my Spanish was not very good
and could she please speak more slowly.
This of course caused her to speak even louder and faster. So now everyone is staring at us, the guy who
works on the train is angry because we wont all sit down and Amy is just
looking at me telling me I have to make this girl move. I was very overwhelmed. If this issue had of come up somewhere I
could speak English I would have just told her to get the fuck out of my seat
and been done with it but unfortunately I am shy in Spanish. Anyway she just sits back down and will not
move. I didn't know what to do so I just
went and got the guy who works the train and attempted to explain what was
happening. Thankfully he understood me
and made her move. She was pissed off at
us and just sat in her seat with her arms crossed and bitch face for a long
time.
Ughh
it was not the way I wanted to begin our trip.
The
rest of the train ride was very pleasant and the countryside we traveled through was breathtaking. I have said it
before and I will say it again the north of Spain is beautiful! I love the ride through the mountains. It is so green and alive! There are small villages on the sides of the mountains
that make me want to jump off the train and stay there forever! We sat in the dining car for a while and had
coffee (Amy had breakfast - Tea and
Pastries) and it was like I always imagined travelling through Europe with a
girlfriend would be!
Melissa and Amys adventure in San Sebastian
San
Sebastian itself is absolutely stunning.
It is, as I said, on the northern coast of Spain in Basque country, right
near the France/Spain boarder. The city
is surrounded by gorgeous mountains, lush green hillsides, and of course the
Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean). San
Sebastian was founded in 1180 and holds onto its old world charm while staying
modern and well kept. It is clean and
the old buildings are in superb condition which adds to their appeal. As it is so close to France and so completely
gorgeous there are many tourists so we heard many different languages during
our time there.
Wandering through Parte Vieja
We
spent much of our day wandering in the Parte Vieja (Old town) which up until 1863
was surrounded by walls! This area of
town is very popular with tourists and with the younger generations however I
learned that many of the local residents do not like it as much. Apparently many of the current buildings here
are from the 19th century as much of it was destroyed in 1813 by
Anglo-Portuguese troops. There are many
bars/restaurants and shops to wander through.
You could spend a great deal of time and money wandering through here! This is a much more expensive city then I am
used to visiting here in Spain. I was
quite surprised to see the menu prices and the coast of tapas since I am so
used to living in a town where a beer is usually less then 2 euros.
The
sun came out in the afternoon and so Amy and I took off our shoes and walked
down La Concha (the shell) which is the main beach for swimming and
sunbathing. We went in up to our knees
and walked the entire beach up and down.
It was so great to see the ocean again and just smell that saltiness in
the air.
La Concha
When
Ross met up with us later in the day we went to the hotel to get cleaned up and
go back out. Amy wasn't feeling very
well so she opted to stay in while Ross and I ventured out into the sunset
together so he could see the beach before dark.
When we got down to the beach the tide had come in significantly and I
was shocked to see that almost the entire beautiful beach we had spent the
afternoon at was underwater! I am glad I
got to see it during both times.
Ross
was starved and I remembered seeing a sign for burritos earlier in the day so
we went on a mission to find them! Oh
what a glorious restaurant we discovered.
It was a vegetarian/vegan place called Green Break. I practically skipped inside to see the menu. They had the most amazing selection and I
laughed with the woman who worked there about how this was the closest
vegetarian restaurant to Valladolid I could find! They had burritos, burgers, pastas, salads
just everything a vegetarian could want and it was amazingly delicious! We each got a burrito and some sides, raw vegan
zucchini spaghetti, vegan potato salad and fries. Seriously best ever dinner!
The
next morning the three of us wandered downtown to eat breakfast and see all the
churches and statues we had left out the first day so Ross could see them with
us. We went into a few churches and then
climbed a huge hill that had a Jesus statue on top. It also gave a gorgeous view of the city, the
beaches and the wide open ocean. We met
lots of tourists on our hike and the nicest man who talked to us, very slowly
so we could understand, all about the hill and the town. He was very friendly and had the cutest
puppies that I made friends with.
I bet you think he is working on some important church thing...Nope playing sodoku
Mis amigos
Beautiful views
After
that we ate a bunch of tapas and wandered the beach again towards the Funicular. This is a tram that pulls you up another huge
hill (they call these mountains! Ha I'm from BC these are not mountains) and
gives you a spectacular view of the entire city, way cooler then the first
hill! The tram was only around 3 euros
each which I found to be very reasonable.
At the top there is also this really fun looking theme park but it wasn't the season so we couldn't go in the Casa de Horrors (house of horror). We were able to get fresh popped popcorn
though so that was pretty sweet.
Not my finest moment
To
finish off the day we went down to the main pier off the beach and rode the
carousel while taking in the last of our time in this magical city.
San
Sebastian is one of my favourite places that we have had the chance to visit
while living here in Spain. It is top
three for sure. I love its ocean views,
charming old town and amazing vegetarian selection. It is a perfect place to get away from every
day life for a few days. Yes it is a
little more expensive but I think it is worth the extra cost. I hope to make my way back before this next
year here is up.
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