Spain Again: San Sebastian

Today we moved to San Sebastian via Pamplona. We missed the "Running of the Bulls" by a few weeks but we got a feel for things from this sculpture and paintings by a popular local artist.

Our walking tour also took in the Cathedral (a wedding complete with organ music, the cloisters, a king & queen at rest with their pets, and a dozen views of the Madonna and Child over the ages).

A pinxto lunch at a Hemingway haunt complee with mariarchis (what?!). Capped off with ice cream.

A new day. A new spin on basque country. This time French, including:

•  Bayonne (nice cathedral, reflections, red & white timbered homes)

• Biarritz (cliffs, lighthouse, a local palace, and colorful berets)

• Saint Jean de Luz (lunch of octupus and hake, visit to a jamon (ham) shop, and another cathedral. Saint Jean de Luz is where the "wedding of the century" took place on June 9,1660 when the French king Louis XIV married the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain.

Our San Sebastian explorations started with a walk through the "old town" noting the many options for wine & snacks, fruit & vegetable, bakery goods, and pinxtos (the basque version of tapas).  The local market has been moved undeground. and now combines the traditional market with a modern shopping center. Along the way we saw a statue of a traditional Basque woman and "Lumière" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Then onto Rekondo for lunch. We first ate at Rekondo in 2002 with Peter & Peggi. We all, especially Peter, fell in love with the extensive, fairly priced wine list. That wine collection has become renowned and the 347 page wine list spans collection dates from 1880 to 2025. And the really cool this is, their pricing reflects the purchase price rather than today's pricing for its wines. Okay, okay. We didn't have time to peruse the whole wine list and left it to the sommelier to guide us.

Dinner included:

• Amuse bouche of croquettes, 1 with red pepper filling, 1 with the traditional jamon & cheese)
• Foie Micuit, brioche and pears in Grand Marnier sauce. This came served with a dried pear slice, 2 wedges of foie, grand marnier relish (execllent), corn muffin, crunchy corn kernel crumbs with a dried tiny fruit that looked like pear, had the texture of pear but how could a pear be so small?
• Artichokes stuffed with hollandaise, grilled foie. A bunch of small artichokes with grilled foie, truffle and covered with a cheese net

And not pictured: 

• Grilled venison with potato mille fueille--the waiter advised Bill that medium rare might be somewhat bloody. Not really. 
• Roast suckling pig. pineapple and date confiture - a dried slice of pineapple, crispy skin, gravy, juicy meat, pineapple relish.
• Hot apple cake with vanilla ice cream--no flour, just sliced apples sauteed in butter with a bit of nutmeg. with a crispy base. light and delightful
• Along with a fruity dessert wine for Bill and a tawny port style wine from Argentina for Pat.

After dinner we strolled along the beach where there were artists making hige sand "paintings".

We spent a day wandering and shopping around town and had lunch at Gandarias. The waitress flamboyantly poured the local sparkling wine (Txakoli) with a flourish. The grilled artichokes were amazing. We shared a fine grilled besugo / sea bream. 

After lunch we went to San Telmo Museum of Basque life. 

Another day, more food and wine to taste. We tasted Txakoli at another small winery. They also make both traditional white and sparkling brut. The wine was complemented with pinxtos of olives, pickled peppers and anchovies. A fine combination.

We later explored nearby Hondarribia/ We checked out the walls, the outdoor escalators, the oldest house, a nice fishing boat and a sidewalk display of vegetables. It is a delightful town.

For lunch we enjoyed meat ravioli, foie, and calamari. Bill enjoyed the after dinner drink Eskartxa...a traditional Navarrese liqueur handcrafted with sloe gin, water, anise, and sugar.

Now for a lesson in cheese making in the Basque region. First the cheese making staff - guard dog & cat, two tourists, and feeding the sheep.

As for the cheese making process, start with an eye dropper of bacteria derived from 4th stomach of lamb, add hot milk, stir to cool mixture, pour into mold, and wait a few minutes. We also saw some old tools of the trade, and an alternative warming method using hot stones added to the mixture and the strained out.

That's a wrap on San Sebastian and area. Tomorrow we head to Getxo near Bilbao.