Day 15 - Beach Day & A Night Out in San Sebastian

Today was by far the laziest day of the trip.  I woke up around 10am, grabbed a lite breakfast and went to the beach.  No site seeing, no tours, no ballgames; just laying on the beach and occasionally going for a swim. 

Breakfast.

 

I set up shop at Playa Ondaretta, about three minutes from my hotel.

 

The water is perfect temperature, around 60-65 so it's refreshing, but not too cold.

 

I wasn't completely lazy.  I did walk around and see people exercising such as these gentlemen who were playing a game of beach tennis on the hard sand.

I also went for a swim. About 150 yards offshore were these platforms with diving boards and slides so I swam out to one of these and practiced my "Back 1 1/2 somersault, 1 1/2 twists in the free position" dive - nailed it!

I grabbed a quick bite at the beach bar. There are two or three of these small full-menu food and drink shacks along the sand so grabbing a drink was very convenient.

After I had enough sun I did manage to be somewhat productive - I did laundry...well, I stuffed it into a bag and gave it to the maid service to do. 

Hotel San Sebastian did a great job. They folded everything nice and neat and put them into plastic bags. No need to do laundry for the rest of the trip.

Thus far on this trip my days have been packed with various activities, which means I've been pretty fatigued come night time.  Don't get me wrong, I've definitely managed a few solid nights out, but with today being so mellow I was recharged for a fun evening.  I made reservations at a great Basque restaurant called Bodegon Alejandro in the Parte Vieja.  It had been recommended by a few locals as well as a few friends who have been to San Sebastian.  It was the perfect way to start the night.
 

This photo sums up my time in San Sebastian...beer and endless plates of pintxos (tapas). I grabbed a beer before heading to dinner at Bodegon Alejandro.

Bodegon Alejandro is said to be one of the best restaurants serving authentic Basque cuisine.

 

The meal started off with a watermelon gazpacho with bread chips. Many of the dishes are influenced by what is available at the nearby markets and watermelon, or sandia, is in season at the moment.

My appetizer was a dish of delicious fried and salted green peppers. This is a very traditional Basque dish and is eaten in pintxos bars all over the region.

My main course was a roast and boned lamb shoulder with a vegetable medley.

For dessert I went with Bodegon's warm green apple pie with rosemary trifle and ice cream. The crust of the pie was so crisp and delicious.

Since one dessert isn't enough they also brought me cinnamon rum and milk accompanied by two balls of crunchy chocolate (tasted like a Crunch bar) and a delicious madeleine.

 

 

After dinner it was time to check out some of the local watering holes.  In Parte Vieja there are 114 bars/pintxos joints so there was a lot of ground to cover.  I bounced in and out of a couple spots and eventually ended up at a well-known bar/club near Playa La Concha called Bataplan.  The upstairs area is an outdoor terrace overlooking the bay and the downstairs is a club.  I started on the terrace and made a few friends and then headed downstairs to dance. 

The streets of Parte Vieja are just as active at night as they are during the day, if not more so.

Drinks are large and in charge in San Sebastian. They don't skimp out on the pours so you have to be mindful of how many drinks you're having.

 

The view of downtown San Sebastian from the Bataplan terrace.  The city lights up at night, both literally and figuratively. Even the Christ statue is lit up in the evening.

 

Yes, this is a photo of urinals. The reason is because they were ridiculously high. The tip of the urinal was at my belly button. I basically had to get a running start.  It easily rivaled the urinals at the Excellence Resort in Mexico, which are legendarily elevated.

 

I managed to jump on the wheels of steel for a couple sets...not really, but the DJs in the terrace area let me pose like I actually knew what I was doing.

 

Then they pointed and laughed at me.

New friends Chantel, Amanda and Stephanie from Adelaide, Australia.

We eventually made it downstairs to the club...

Bailamos!

The club was still going when I walked out around 5am.  I needed to get home because on Saturday at 11am I was scheduled to take a "Flavors of San Sebastian" market and pintxos tour, so I needed to get a few hours of sleep before heading off to that.  Hasta manana.