After a little to long of being cooped up in Arthur's flat, the second that the car was fixed, we eagerly set off for our next adventure. Arthur had heard a lot of talk about San Sebastian so we decided we would go there. The spontaneous-ness was beautiful but little did we realize what our lack of planning was getting us into.
En Route:
San Sebastian:
We arrived in what resembled a Spanish looking version of Paris located on a the coast of the Atlantic ocean. It was beautiful and a lot cleaner than I had expected (Way cleaner then Barcelona & some other very popular tourist locations).
So in short: We waited an hour in a line of cars to descend a mere 300 meters into one of San Sebastian's many underground parking garages, we found out that all of the hostels and affordable hotels were completely booked, and that we had arrived during a HUGE week long celebration / party (something to do with St.Mary?). SInce we found ourselves without any boarding options we went on couch surfers and found a group of backpackers that were having the same problem as us they were planning on all camping on the beach together later on in the evening. Sounds legit right? We ended up going on a wild goose chase through the narrow streets of the old part of the city trying to find a specific church in order to meet up with this guy named Flemming and the rest of the bed-less, traveling, couch surfing kids. After many failed attempts at Spanish/Basque we found ourselves with the band of traveling kids.
We were exchanging greeting and finding out where each of the kids were from, when all of a sudden a fireworks show starts going off over the San Sebastian beach. We were still in the old part of the town, where the streets were literally a labyrinthine of cramped alleyways. It sounded like WWIII had just started, the sound echoing a hundred times over, while different colors of light flashed around every corner. It was a really interesting experience compared to how I was use to experiencing fireworks, (i.e. while laying in a open field during the fourth of July). Afterwards, we all made our way to the beach only to find a stage set up and live basque music being played. We all joined in on the festivities and danced with a hundred locals to some beautiful music. After that we went to the end of the beach to set up camp and get some sleep. Did we die? No. Was camping on the beach in Spain the best idea i've ever had? Yes Actually. Was it a great experience and story to eventually tell my kids? Yes.
San Sebastian was a beautiful place, I understand why a lot of people from France choose it as a vacation spot! All of the locals were extremely beautiful people, who were very well dressed and had a certain air about them. And don't get me started on the spanish men, Mmmmm.
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En Route to Barcelona:
Flemming, the leader of the band of kids from San Sebastian, was originally from Denmark, but currently lived in Barcelona. We offered him an exchange, we'd drive him to Barcelona if he showed us around and let us use his WiFi to book a hostel as well as crash on his couch for the first night. He gladly accepted our offer and off we went.
The drive from the Atlantic coast through Spain to the Mediterranean coast, was the most stunning road trip i've ever been on. We weaved in and out of mountains, past old deserted spanish towns, and laid eyes on the greenest lakes i've ever fathomed.
Barcelona:
Flemming was an amazing host, he welcomed us into his home and let us take advantage of his wifi to book the hostels for the rest of our trip so we wouldn't have any more mishaps, let us use his hot shower and crash on his couch. Here are some snapshots of his apartment, that I about died over.
Flemming and his brother were kind enough to show us around Barcelona, they took us to market, that was filled with anything and everything someone could possible consume, including animal parts, that I personally wouldn't like to eat. They also took us to a authentic Italian pizzeria (Which I will later find out, was better than all of the pizza I ended up having in Italy, due to getting sucked into tourist traps).
Later that evening Flemming and his brother introduced us to some of their friends and we made our way to a celebration in one of the old neighborhoods of Barcelona. Every alleyway was filled with a different type of music and we made friends with a girl who went to Alabama for college and was teaching english in barcelona.
We ended up staying one more night in a hostel, which consisted on catching up on sleep and stuffing our faces. Before we left for Marseille and Italy I begged ARthur to wait in line to se the Familia Sagrada Cathedral. And I am glad I did!
Ciao Espana!
Here's my trip through IG: @madelineire
