The Birthday Surprise

Tim and I had been discussing the possibility of going to San Sebastian, the foodie heaven located in Northern Spain, ever since we saw the photos from Hassan (when we were in Mumbai).

So try to imagine my utter delight when Tim surprised me with a pre-organised holiday there for my birthday in January!!
He had even booked in holiday time with work with one of my managers (whom he had met at a pub 2 months prior), so on the Friday morning he serenades me with the line:
"Trace, you're not going into work today... cos we're going on holiday to San Sebastian for 4 days! Happy Birthday!" Music to my ears. :)
Even better news, was that we would be there for the annual San Sebastian Day festival! We couldn't wait.

Donostia-San Sebastian is in the middle of Basque country and is the Summer capital of Spain. Unfortunately, being January, it was freezing. We actually saw snow as we were leaving but I digress.
It's not the easiest town to reach... but Tim had organised flights to Biarritz, cab to Hendaye where we crossed into Spain to catch a train to San Sebastian. So by the time we arrived at our flash hotel, that comfy bed was very tempting... luckily we ventured out into the night.
The city's festival is the patron saint's day featuring parades and is on the 19th of January every year. The proceedings last for a full 24 hours, starting at midnight in the town square until midnight the following night. Very rarely does the festival fall on a Friday... but in 2007 it did. The whole town took advantage of that - and the Spanish know how to party!

As if the festival wasn't exciting enough, Tim and I had never been to Spain before and so had not had the chance to experience tapas. The Spanish ideal is to have a glass of wine or a small beer along with one tapas morsel in an establishment before heading off to the next place. You pay at the end for what you take, and each tapas costs between 1 to 5 Euro. Indecently cheap for what you get. We were absolutely in heaven!

Blissed out in a tapas bar.

Eating my nemesis... the sea urchin. Mmwa-ha-ha!!
Victory is mine ya little bastard!

Vino tinto & tapas porfavour!

Bread, roast red pepper, quails eggs and local jammon... marvellous!

The near deserted San Sebastian square at about 10pm on Friday night...
apparently it was once used as a bull ring.

Plate upon plate of glorious tapas... yes, those are piles of morrells
with two truffles the size of your fist resting on top.

The rammed square at midnight.

Time to get out of here!

The chefs drum on their whisky kegs...

They parade around the old quarter with
a followed by a full marching band.

This lovely old man was collecting kisses and handing out shots
of his whisky. I obviously don't need any more.

Tim in his element.

The San Sebastian coat of arms: a fork and spoon. Love it.

The Basilica of Santa Maria del Coro is dedicated to San Sebastian's
patron saint, and where the soldiers performed their routine.

These kind old men made a young pissed lady very happy, just by
giving her their festival hat. Bless. I'm so touched in this photo!

The next day we were extremely hung over but we just couldn't stay inside all day... the festival was still on! So we went back to the scene of the crime in the hunt for a cooked breakfast, and discovered that there were more parades with loud drums and trumpets. Perfect remedy for a hang over, I can tell you!

The best hangover photo ever taken. I remember feeling like seven
shades of shite at the exact moment this photo was taken.

Cooked breakie San Sebastian style: eggs, jammon ham & chips.

After breakfast and a bit more of a wander around town, we felt sufficiently better so we thought we should probably get back into the spirit of things and so headed to... an internet shop. Tim printed off some top tapas bar tips from a website he had been researching (www.todopintxos.com), and armed with where to go for the gourmet shit, we headed off into the night.

A typical tapas bar will have the ageing hams hanging from the ceiling.

This dish cost 3 euros. It's foie gras with apple jelly and it was
am-az-ing. Just amazing. Three euros!

This is the most tender and delicious stuffed squid with a tomato chutney
and it only cost 2.50 euros!

Crab pate in a pastry shell.

The hangover long forgotten, we're really having a lot of fun. :)

Anchovies marinated in garlic and oil... yum!

By the time my birthday actually rolled around, we had been living it up for two nights straight but of course, that was no reason to slow us down! So for lunch, we headed to another tapas bar and got to know the locals. :)

This tapas bar wasn't in any guides but it had a really nice vibe...

... and fabulous ham!

Happy Birthday to me!

We chatted with these two guys in broken Spanglish for hours, they
were great fun, and the guy in the grey top made a mean bloody mary.

Another amazing birthday - thank you Tim! :)