San Sebastián

Our program officially ended Friday, the 26th, which left us with some free time before we had to head to Madrid for orientation. I heard from a Chilean man on the plane (who had married a Spaniard) that if I was going to be in the north, I absolutely had to go to San Sebastían. Many of us had heard other amazing things about the town, so we went down to the Estación de Autobuses and booked a 6am bus for Saturday.

The empty beach early in the morning.

Cathedral. The Pope was in Madrid a few weeks ago, which is why there are banners.

Boots to the beach.

Thanks to Bailey's camera

Now for the food. Once again, we were in País Vasco (Basque Country), a region known for their tapas. These were by far the best tapas I have had thus far. Here's what I ate:

We stopped for coffee and breakfast at the first place we saw and I ordered a "Pastel Vasco," which consisted of a pastry crust filled with some sort of baked cream/custard thing and topped with almonds. It wasn't bad but I don't think I would order it again.

These were my favorite tapas of the trip. The one on the left was a little toast with caramelized onions, a giant sun-dried tomato, brie, and tons of oregano. The one on the right was sort of like a baked clam chowder topped with parmesan cheese. And it came in a shell which definitely made it taste even better!

These little tarts were delicious! The one on the left was filled with sauteed mushrooms and Iberian ham and the other one was filled with octopus (I promise it was good) and a fresh salsa-like topping.