This will be short, sweet and possibly or probably controversial.
Stay in Gros. This is not one of those situations where you are staying far from the action and need to travel to the center via a long boring walk or public transportation. Its an attractive, happening, residential area with plenty of interesting food options like Artean and a plethora of Pintxo bars. And the walk to the center via any of the bridges is pretty cool.
See the Sunset and surfers from Sagues. Another reason to stay in Gros or at least visit. This is where the young, the restless, and good looking people hang out, so we naturally blended in ;). Its a long promenade with a low wall for sitting and people watching, if not the glorious sunset.
Follow the path of local artist Eduardo Chillida, starting with the dramatic Haizearen Orrazia (Comb of the Wind), and the open-air museum, Chillida-Leku located outside the city. His masterpiece in Gijon (Elogio del horizonte) in Asturias worth checking out as well if you are travelling that way. You may even bump into Chillida’s grandson in Chillida-Leku.
As for food, too many to mention and I will continue writing about the highlights. Spoiler alert: Martin Berasategui worth the splurge, and Ganbara worth the wait. But its really hard these days to have a proper Pintxo crawl when you need to stand on ling lines, and due to the vastness and deliciousness of some of the menus.
Worth mentioning, if you are the “Eat to live” kind as some of my friends, as opposed to “Live to eat”, San Sebastian isnt really for you IMO. There’s really not a whole lot to do and see there.
Other day trips: Turbot village Getaria and the Flysch cliffs of Zumaia can be a very nice day. You can have an amazing lunch in Getaria at Elkano, any of its sisters, or Mayflower. Or do what we did this time, a Sea Bream feast at the legendary Xixario.
I wasnt sure whether to post the following, but I think its important to mention. Read it as an observation since this is really the intended purpose. It might be good news, or not, depending on where you stand on the issue.
In Basque country cities and villages these days, you cant really walk far without seeing a Palestinian flag, and in San Sebastian’s old town you cant walk two feet without seeing one. They are hanging from just about every poll, window, and even churches and municipality buildings. After some time, it just becomes part of the scene, but its quite prevalent at first. Even in small villages in Rioja you may see one waved in the main square. I have some ideas on the reasons, but I wont get into it here.
Did you know that the act of moving one’s finger and thumb apart to zoom on a map on a screen is called Pinching? Figured I should probably explain the title right of the bat. But after so many years dreaming, sometimes inappropriately, about the food mecca of San Sebastian, I’ve finally, finally made it to…… Getaria. After all that, that’s where we ended up staying for a week, and San Sebastian became a day trip. Regrets? None whatsoever. But did I wish to spend more time in San Sebastian. Well, kinda. I wanted more, but turns out so do a lot of other people.
Eating With Ziggy 