My Spanish Inquisition of 2019 commenced with a flight from Atlanta to Madrid and then on to Bilbao, which is on the northern coast of the Atlantic Ocean. This post will be a quick story about what I did while I was there en route to Hondarribia.

From there, a quick and easy 90-minute bus ride deposited me in the city of San Sebastián. If you ever need to take the same bus ride, BasqueMTB’s travel instructions from Bilbao to San Sebastián are fantastic, and you’d have to be pretty inept to not find your way quickly.

San Sebastián apparently has the highest density of world-class restaurants and bars of any city in the world. I didn’t go to any Michelin Star restaurants but the food I had was quite good.

I think I might be part Spanish. My first day I arrived and immediately took a nap (siesta, check). Off to a great start. Later that evening I went out for pinchos around 9pm (late start, check) and I was out until ~midnight (late finish, check). And I didn’t speak any english at all my first day. Only Spanish.

I started the evening at Bar Borda Berri, which was recommended by my hotel. It met the requirement of looking legitimate, and being packed with people (locals included).

In San Sebastián (and the rest of Spain to my knowledge) you start the evening with Pinchos, which are effectively tapas. You start with a piece of bread and then end up with something else placed atop. In other cases, you may have small plates of other dishes like ravioli and risotto. The idea is to have several small plates while having drinks with family or friends, and then move along to dinner a bit later.

I believe “vino tinto” (red wine) was only ~€1.20/glass at Bar Borda Berri, and it was pretty good. I tried several things including the Ravioli de Bacon y Boqavonte and the Kebab de Castilla. I ordered a few other things I saw others get and I can’t recall the names now. It was all really good.

Post pinchos, I went for a stroll around the city.

Strolling around the town was nice too as the weather was pretty cool, and it was a clear and beautiful evening. There was no shortage of people out and about at any time of night I was awake. This was true of towns and cities big and small alike.

After pinchos… gelato!

 This was snickers which was pretty good. I didn’t see my favorite which is limón. I did find it later when I returned to San Sebastián at the end of the trip.

I wrapped up the evening by grabbing a beer, sitting on the wall that bordered the river inlet, and watching the sunset over the Atlantic, a luxury we can’t enjoy in the States.

San Sabastian was a really cool city. I liked the water being so close, the cool weather, and the pinchos. Prices for food and hotels were reasonable as well.