this is definitely beach weather!

planes, trains and automobiles all over the Basque country

My long weekend in the Basque country was full of spectacular sites, beautiful cities, basically all forms of public transportation and a whole lot of adventure. Going in, I had read about where I wanted to go and spoken with some reliable sources on how to distribute our time, but unlike any other trip it wasn't that planned. I had a hotel in Bilbao the first night and a hotel for us the last night in San Sebastian but that was about it. A friend of mine who I met freshman year at UA flew in Thursday morning, March 18th. I joined him in the city center after my hard day at work. This is a joke because on Thursday, I went on the school field trip to the factory of the largest producer of beer in Spain. That's right, a SCHOOL trip to drink BEER. Only in Spain. It was actually a rather educational experience. The students had to be 18 to go and they are in the economics/business track of the school. This place was such a GIGANTIC operation, I can see the educational value in going. However, the open bar at the end of the two hour tour, was lacking in educational value and resulted in an hour bus ride back with drunk ANIMALS. Again, things like this remind me of how insane this entire experience is. I can't imagine going on a trip to drink beer with teachers and 60 of my classmates at 18. Crazy.

Anyways, Jonathan and I headed to Bilbao that night. Friday morning, I introduced him to cafe con leche and tortilla. He was asking for ketchup. In fact, all weekend I was enjoying his remarks calling attention to something's strangeness that has become my normal. The two beds pushed together in a hotel. A "large buffet breakfast" that is some slices of lunch meat and toast with coffee or tea. The lights on the outside of doors. Paying to use the restroom. Grocery cart in a department store. For someone who has never been to Europe, these are jolting strange things, but they have become so normal to me, I forgot to explain or prepare him on many of the fronts. We traveled together with ease all weekend and I was super happy to have him along and that we wee so successful in what we were able to see in such a short period of time, and on a reasonable budget. I am already excited about our NEXT adventure!

So Friday morning, we set out to spend the day in Santander. We walked for about an hour through the city to really feel the pulse of Bilbao then boarded the bus. After a lovely scenic bus ride for about two hours, we were just a quick walk to the tourism office. With a map in hand, we walked to the beach and in not ideal weather, sat on a bench overlooking the beach and dug into the picnic we had packed. The entire trip the weather wasn't exactly ideal but this actually worked in our favor in the sense that instead of laying around on the beach, we saw a lot more of the city. Santander has its own characters and charm. There was a nice palace so we walked up to that and explored this mountain-like area. Though it wasn't "beach weather" (a phrase we kept joking about all weekend), and no one wants to be in five layers,a  scarf and boots on the beach... let me tell you, you DO if you want to be ON the beach. So we made the most of it all weekend.

We left Santander after walking for hours and crashed at the same hotel in Bilbao.

Saturday morning, we walked a different part of the city and saw the infamous Guggenheim's bizarre art collection. Certainly, the architecture of the building itself was more impressive to us than anything it held inside, but it was worth the visit. After walking and exploring some more, it was off to St. Jean-de-luz. This jewel of a beach resort town is just inside of France and was a spectacular delight. Within just a few minutes of being there, we decided to spend the night. With no reservations and just my trusty Rick Steve's book, we had a room reserved in a quaint little place with this lovely woman. her english was great, our French was terrible and she gave us suggestions on how to spend our day and even made us dinner reservations where we later feasted n some of the best sea food I've ever had. "Langostines" are my new favorite thing. St. Jean-de-Luz was a great stop. It's port and winding pedestrian streets charming and alive with character.

Since we knew it was most likely going to rain and was cold enough for several layers, we decided to venture deeper into France. Sunday, I took a long morning stroll through the city and really enjoyed myself. This is the most relaxed I have felt in a long time and it was really a fabulous trip from beginning to end. Jonathan got out of bed and joined me at the train station for our two hour ride to Bourdeaux. We had the misfortune of sharing a cart with a large family with several screaming small children but the views out of the window were exceptional.

When we got to Bourdeaux, it was Sunday and we had no map, no Rick Steve's, no idea what was in the city or anything. After having an extremely disappointing meal for lunch, we walked in the rain until we found a cafe where we could pay for wifi. 30 minutes later, we were in full tourist mode and we walked all over that city again.

I brought Jonathan to his first crepe with sugar and nutella. He was in love, of course. Bourdeaux surprised me and I can't really explain why. Originally a man at the information desk in the train station told us that we couldn't even get back to Spain that night but when we consulted a different desk, miraculously there were four trains. We chose to leave at 8, so we got a nice taste for the city at night, which was really great.

When we got into the border town, it was 11:20 and deserted. Realizing we may not be able to get into Spain after all, panic began to sink in. We had already had quite an ordeal trying to find a hotel where we could stay in San Sebastian so there was no way I was going to stay in France in this tiny town. As luck would have it, there were two American girls who are currently studying abroad in San Sebastian so we split a taxi and drove off into the night. The four of us chatted away and even with a gps, the Frenchman got lost around seven times. After our night tour of the city, Jonathan and I walked into our place for the night. The owner is THE nicest person that I have ever. She loves her job, her city, her hotel and she had a huge smile on her face telling us about the city the next morning and helping us plan our time. She had us eating at wonderful places and deserved every cent of the money we paid her for the room.
San Sebastian is breathtaking. For the only day of the trip, it was sunny and though still not beach weather, it was definitely the best weather. It was hard to leave the city and i was really wishing I could call in sick to work tomorrow so we could stay just one more day. San Sebastian is a place I must go back and lay in the sun and enjoy the sand in my bikini. It is truly a small slice of paradise.

5 cities in 4 days was definitely an adventure but I wouldn't have done it any other way because we saw so much. The only way it would be better is if I also had a tan!