Some pics from Parte Vieja, Gros and Centro, the cozy business districts in San Sebastian. This coastal city is a vacation destination for tourists from France, Portugal and Spain but I never saw a US corporate influence on any street I walked. It was refreshing. I would love to return there some day for some R&R.
I finally got to sleep at 4am and slept until noon. I’d gotten a text message from Melissa Laveaux to meet for coffee or breakfast. She is a young singer/songwriter from Canada who had moved to Paris in order to advance her career. We had initially met at the Montreal Jazz Festival where we were all performing, and shared a production van from the airport to our hotels. During the ride, we got to know each other in short order.
We met in the hotel lobby in San Sebastian after I took a quick reset shower and walked into Parte Vieja under a brilliant blue sky for some food. I was STARVING. It was fun to hang out with her. She’s a savvy one with an interesting story, and her career is taking off. Check out her music. Due to conflicting schedules, neither of us were able to hear the others’ band in Montreal or San Sebastian, which I regret.
We slammed some cheap tapas after which Melissa had to get back to the hotel to get ready for her sound check. I said goodbye to her, deciding to do some more exploring before I had to get back. The Bad Plus were arriving late afternoon at which time we would proceed to sound check and our performance at Teatro Victoria Eugenia.
I walked the entire promenade profiling two separate beaches (La Concha and Ondaretta), and at the end of the bay, slipped into the quaint, tight streets of Parte Veija (Old Town) to eat some pintxos, the Basque equivalent of tapas. Apparently, pintxos are purported to have originated in Andalucia but were perfected in San Sebastian. The Basque region as a whole is considered to offer the finest food in Spain.
I was amazed how many different pintxos bars lined the narrow, cobblestone streets of Parte Veija and the plethora of culinary delights piled on the bar. It was breathtaking and utterly overwhelming. You take what appeals to you and it is considered a long-held tradition to tell the bartender what you ate and pay for it—on the honor system. Every bar was lively and crowded with patrons. The whole point is to sample a couple pintxos with a small glass of wine or beer and then move along to the next bar for more. There is nothing remotely resembling this kind of set-up in America. I had no idea what I ate but all of it was delectable, affordable, and for a natural-born grazer/taster, a gastronomic adventure array beyond anything I’d ever experienced. I couldn’t take fotos. I was too lost in the moment.
Sated and bleary-eyed, I wandered into the square where magicians, jugglers and musicians were performing. Families with kids, lovers young and old, clutches of friends lolled around the festivities eating helado (ice cream) or sipping wine past midnight. I sat at a table sipping a glass wine myself, taking it all in. I suddenly realized that this was my unplanned, solo summer vacation. Having not slept in 30+ hours only served to heighten my experience.
I then remembered had to walk all the way back to the hotel. Oops!
So, Larik dropped me off at this Gaudi-esque hotel. I checked in, got my luggage upstairs to a sweet room, opened the windows wide and stared at the bed. All I wanted to do was fall down face first into the plushy pillows and down comforter after a 24+ hours of travel. But it was an incredibly beautiful day, I was back in Spain and I decided to let sleep wait.
