Doing Basque the French way

Today I went to France! Seriously though... I visited a border French town called Hendaye. Hendaye is part of the French Basque country, so there was this odd mix of Spanish and French feel to it. Also- fun fact- Euskera, the Basque language, is the only language spoken in Spain that cannot be traced back to its linguistic origin!

I explored around the port,

found a monument for victims of war,

and ate an eclair because I felt it was an appropriate part of the cultural experience ;)

I went back to San Sebastian a couple hours later and explored some other parts of the city that I hadn't seen yet. I briefly considered visiting the Museum of San Telmo but then convinced myself I needed to save those 3 euros for more pintxos. I have a list of about 5 or 6 best pintxos places here in San Sebastian, with 2 that have been said the be THE best around. I started my trip with some of the "less good" places (which were still pretty good!) on Sunday, and then decided to try one of the places that my friends have drooled over during their visits last night. The plan was to visit La Cuchara de San Telmo or A Fuego Negro (realistically, I could only go to one per night because they are quite pricey).

I went to A Fuego Negro first only to sadly realize they were closed on Mondays. Luckily for me, La Cuchara was just down the street - or so I thought. I literally spent 20 minutes walking back and forth a stretch of street that is no longer than 200 meters or so. I couldn't remember the number of the restaurant, but I figured it couldn't be too hard to find; I kept looking for the iconic spoon sign but after 20 minutes I gave up. (I found it today and I am convinced it was not open because the spoon sign is quite visible and I do not remember seeing it on my walk yesterday).

Today, I was determined to be successful. I walked up and down the street earlier in the day until I found the restaurant. It was closed, of course, since it was so early in the day, but I could almost taste the delicious food as I walked away, grinning to myself about my spotted treasure.

I came around to La Cuchara 8pm and saw the doors were open and lights were on inside- but the shades over the door were down. Hmph. I thought that maybe I came to early, but I was pretty sure I had checked the dining schedule correctly. Another much less patient man came by shortly after me and poked his head in through the kitchen door to ask if they were open. Turns out they were closed for maintenance repairs and would be open tomorrow.

Grrr. All I needed now was for A Fuego Negro to be closed... thankfully, it wasn't! The kitchen opened right at 8pm and filled up fast. My eyes were wide as I watched different dishes being served to all the people in the restaurant, eagerly crowded around the bar. The food was much more expensive than at the other places, but also was much more varied. Truly a gourmet kitchen in miniature.

Tomorrow I leave San Sebastian to go to Bilbao, where unfortunately I will spend much less time and will eat much less. My taste buds thank the Basque country for its generosity and my heart leaves much stronger than before (that's how wine works, right?), though my feet will probably continue screaming at me for a day or so.

On to the next stop!