June 10, 2014
Day #4 in Spain
San Sebastian ~
Donastia
The Romance of the Spanish Basque
Country
San Sebastian is a city in one of the seven Basque
territories, thought to be feistier than the more assimilated French Basque
territories. Apparently Franco depended on Basque industry to keep the
floundering Spanish economy afloat. He blunted the Basque culture so the
language became Spanish by default but now Basque language has returned and all
the signs are in both Spanish and Basque. The Old Town area, where we had
dinner the night before is bordered by the La Concha stretch of lovely beach
lined with a promenade. The view is of sparkling blue water, an island and
green mountains.
John biked this beach the day before and I can see what a magnificent ride it must have been. San Sebastian is bike friendly with designated bike trails which clearly separate the bikers from the cars. It is very impressive. The city of 186,000 seems prosperous, elegant and romantic. This is the place that Queen Elizabeth II came to bathe as well as the Spanish aristocracy ~ a leading seaside resort. John is particularly exited about it because it is the culinary capital with more Michelin starred restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world.
John biked this beach the day before and I can see what a magnificent ride it must have been. San Sebastian is bike friendly with designated bike trails which clearly separate the bikers from the cars. It is very impressive. The city of 186,000 seems prosperous, elegant and romantic. This is the place that Queen Elizabeth II came to bathe as well as the Spanish aristocracy ~ a leading seaside resort. John is particularly exited about it because it is the culinary capital with more Michelin starred restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world.
Banking Issues
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| John used 2nd from top slot ~ wrong choice! |
We drive into town to meet Joaquin at the bank to see if we
can retrieve John’s cash card. We have
some familiar difficulties with our navigation system and all the one way
streets and finally park not exactly knowing where we are. At the bank despite Joaquin’s excellent
translation, coaching and great interpersonal skills we learn it is not possible to get
the card out of the bottom of the machine because it went down some secret
passage. Since our visa card has also
been denied we are somewhat concerned about our financial situation but we do
have American dollars. Joaquin kindly
offers to loan us 600 euros and we accept saying we will wire the money as soon
as possible.
What a generous and kind
person who not only saves us financially but coaches us on the use of maps and the best places to
visit and restaurants to eat at on this special 42nd anniversary day.
What makes a marriage last 42 years?
We buy another very detailed map, John has a double expresso
while I have a cappuccino topped with whip cream. We start out fully energized to explore with
both a map and a Nav system and John comments, “So I have my pants on and my suspenders”. I look at him perplexed because he is wearing
shorts when I realize he has the I-pad map sitting on the dashboard as well as
the navigational machine rented from Budget.
We are fully technological and I hold the newly purchased map which has
the places and direction marked according to Joaquin. Our target is to find a small fishing village
called Getaria and to search for a restaurant for lunch called Kaipe. Both Ignacia and Joaquin have
highly recommended this place as the best place to eat on one’s
anniversary. It is a gorgeous drive
along the picturesque coastline.
I think about our marriage and marvel that two people with
such different temperaments could have persisted this long and still enjoy
travel together. John is motivated each day by target goals of the next
museum, cathedral, bathroom or restaurant to find as well as how to schedule
the day in order to minimize the amount of line up wait time. He is regularly
checking out the I-pad directions and arguing with the British man on the car
navigation system that he has got it wrong and is out of date. On the other
hand, I am lost in thought engaged in people watching, taking in the
architecture, life styles, comparing differences from US culture and reading to
John some facts from the tour guide. I feel like I am in Disney Land distracted
by the surroundings and forget about time or need to eat. Perhaps I am in a
state of mindfulness! However, without
John’s attention to direction and schedule I am sure I would be lost in the
labryrinth of streets and never get myself back to the hotel. Perhaps I would
just stay here forever.
Kaipe Restaurant
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| View from our restaurant table - France |
We find this lovely restaurant in the center of the village overlooking the
fishing harbor and looking at France. The menu is amazing and includes such
things as ~ lobster salad, foie in bowl, white asparagus, fried squid,
barnacles (the most expensive), crawfish, grilled prawns and clams, hake fried
and grilled, red mullet, sea-bream and rockfish. Bottles of wine are also
available at $3005 for the Chateau Petrus.
What does John order~ why hake jaw of course. I do believe this is the 3rd or perhaps 4th time with this fish.
He says he wants to see if an
expensive restaurant produces a higher quality dish.
I order a small dish of
peas with mushrooms and the tomato and tuna mixed “typical” salad dish that I
had loved the night before with Ignacia and Joaquin.
 |
| Hake barbecued at restaurant |
I notice during our lunch many groupings of
men in their 50’s and above chatting it up, laughing, enjoying their wine and
food and I wonder where the women are? Afterwards we enter the Getaria Church of San Salvador of
the Gothic area, built in the 14th century and now a National
Monument.
Zuberoa ~ After
returning to our hotel for a nap we get ready for our next meal! What is it about holidays that you always seem to be thinking about the next meal? We have a reservation for 8 pm at a place John has chosen from
his extensive research and data review. We set out to find this evidence-evidence based place (one Michelon star) which is about 15 miles away in a
tiny village and of course, we are relying on our navigational system guide with whom we have a
conflicted relationship. He (male navigator with friendly and calming British voice) takes us into a rock quarry where a man in a crane
gestures to us to go no further, turn around and points us in the opposite
direction. Eventually we find the tiny village
Zuberoa that has a restaurant with the same name. We enter only to discover we
are 30 minutes early, as the restaurant doesn’t open until 8:30. We sit in the
bar with a glass of wine and when it opens enter a spectacular room simply
designed. It has
stonewalls and
floors, white tablecloths and white lilies everywhere. We take a romantic table
in the corner and study the menu. We order ~ John branches out from hake fish
and orders baby lamb as I do also. John also orders baby peas with chanterelles
and asparagus, as he liked the looks of my baby peas at lunchtime.
The restaurant starts us off with duck foie gras with
truffles. This is just about the most
delicious and sumptuous thing I have ever eaten. I eat is slowly savoring each
morsel. The baby lamb is wonderful as is the salad. We can’t eat the mash
potatoes although they are delicious because we want room for dessert.
We can choose from things such as cheese ice cream, puff and
cream, pudding and custard, Basque cheese, homemade curd and mille-feuille of
cream and raspberry. Are these on the
Mediterranean diet I ask John? Well it is our anniversary after all so I order
the mille-feuille to share and we both love every bite.
It has been a wonderful anniversary day and I
wonder if we are becoming snobby foodies! Although don’t be too worried because
John was wearing khaki shorts while the rest of the clientele were in very
smart and elegant clothes. Moreover, it was great tasting food, not food as art and there was plenty
of it ~ one of John’s restaurant selection
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