Mountains, beaches, & wine

This morning I woke up to rain on my window (booo). Disappointed in the dreary weather, I stumbled over to the hostel kitchen to enjoy some (lots) free coffee as a way to arm myself for the day. I soon met another American girl who is studying in a small town north of Madrid who also decided to spend some vacation time in San Sebastian. (I love making friends).

As soon as we stepped outside, lo and behold, the clouds had parted and the sun reappeared! We had a small adventure getting to the bus station where we both bought our bus tickets to Bilbao, but then made it back in time to meet a fellow hostel-stayer for breakfast.

I had high hopes for the day: climb Urgull mountain, break for lunch and siesta, walk the beachside route along San Sebastian's 3 beaches, and then get a drink and prepare myself to attack the pintxos scene again.

I started off strong. The 35ish minute walk from Zurriola beach around to La Concha beach was cool and pleasant (1 beach down). Urgull mountain (aka Jesus hill) certainly was a trek but the sights filled my heart with joy.

These pictures just don't do it justice!

I took a break and headed to town for lunch, but first headed to a bar for a drink, kalimotxo, which is wine & coca-cola. Sounds strange, tastes delicious.

Lunch was a little more work. It seemed like most places had expensive menus-del-dia that didn't include dessert or a drink (ridiculous!), but just when I was going to give up, I found a gem restaurant that had a 10 euro menu with all the goods. To add to my happiness, they served me an entire bottle of wine with my meal (#winning). Needless to say, I had a satisfying lunch that was the perfect prelude to a siesta.

In the afternoon, I finished off the beachside walk along La Concha and Ondarreta.

The walk all the way across and back was long and peaceful, with lots of people walking their dogs, jogging, riding their bikes, or strolling with their children. As I neared my hostel, I realized my feet hurt quite a bit and I stopped to think through all the walking I did throughout the day - roughly 5.5 miles, some of which was on incline climbing up the mountain. I guess my boots actually weren't made for walking.

For now, I'll attend to a sorry little blister on my foot and see what else San Sebastian has to offer!