III. San Sebastian
Arrived in San Sebastian later afternoon - just enought time for a quick snooze before the evening paseo.

The city is situated beautifully on a bay. I walked along the walkway following the Playa de la Concha towards the old town. Just before the old town on the bay was a lovely old-fashioned merry go round and I was even tempted to take a ride! Since the old town was largely rebuilt after a fire in the early 1800's it wasn't really old, but it was very charming. Especially the Plaza de la Constitucion with it's blue and orange shutters with numbers on them, dating from when the square was used as a bullring.

I have to admit that my favorite thing about San Sebastian was the tapas. :p These weren't your ordinary (but very good) tapas, they were works of art (almost too beautiful to eat)! Often they were displayed on pedastaled plates and instead of being under the glass bar they are left out directly on the bar. You ask for a plate and just take what you want, then settle up later (you're on the honor system). Half the time I didn't even know what I was having but I never met a basque tapa I didn't like! Of course I also had to have the traditional txakoli, which was similar to champagne. After sampling the tapas at a few places I was way too full dinner and headed back to the hotel.

(Day 4)

The next day mid-morning I took a bus to the lovely village of Hondarribia. It was a 45 minute bus ride and there were numerous stops as we headed north up the coast towards the border of France. It was a pretty drive though as we passed many houses with green and red shutters and very pretty countryside.

IV. Hondarribia

This was an absolutely enchanting place. The tourist office provided a great map of the old town, which is located at the top of the hill (about a five minute walk from the bus stop). As I approached the old town I could see the medieval walls still intact and if memory serves me I believe I read that the walls surrounding Hondarribia are the best preserved in the Basque area. I then came upon the parador and then just spent the next couple of hours just wandering around the old town. It was very quiet and there were hardly any tourists around, although I've read that it can get quite crowded during the summer months. There were many half-timbered homes and the streets were very narrow with the homes also very narrow, but tall. This town was also one of the highlights of my trip. When I return I'll spend a couple of nights in Hondarribia and do the day trip TO San Sebastian.

Down the hill towards the bus stop was a lovely tree lined street with several shops, restaurants and cafes (there weren't alot of restaurants in the older section). I had a wonderful menu del dia (after some more of the beautiful tapas ) at one of the restaurants (I'll post my restaurant findings on another thread once I've had a chance to organize). Then I strolled along the harbor. I noticed there were boats that went to another small village in France and I kicked myself for leaving my passport back in the room so I didn't go (next trip ). I spent a total of about 4 hours in Hondarribia and then headed back to San Sebastian.