Paris and Beyond

Vamos a la Playa… Again!

With the major sight-seeing events behind us, it was time to begin Vacation, Part 2, also known as “The Vacation from the Vacation”. In order to do that, we had to go to our favorite place in Spain and my first small introduction to the country in 2012, San Sebastián… or, as the Basques call it Donostia. What more fitting beginning to a true vacation than a week at the beach, one of the most beautiful I’ve ever experienced. We returned to San Sebastián for three days in 2015 and really found out what La Concha Bay had to offer so we knew we needed to spend more time here.

With no agenda whatsoever, we settled in to our sprawling (by Spanish standards) three bedroom, two bath art-filled luxury apartment just a few blocks from Ondarreta Beach. After shopping at our favorite grocery store, Super Amara (somewhat akin to Whole Foods), we were all set to relax… and relax we did. First, however, we had to download some user manuals so we could figure out how to work the TV, the stove, the oven, and a couple of other appliances – more challenges than we had in previous locations for some reason. It took two of us to decipher the magic to manipulating the remote control to login to Netflix, but once we succeeded, we were happy campers… watching the full three hour plus version of Spartacus we realized neither of us had ever seen. Believe it or not, these are our favorite vacation moments.

We took advantage of the first full day with 85 degree weather to make our way to the beach, rent a cabana, and chill out for the afternoon. Soaking up the sun, wiggling our toes in the sand, and wading in the cool Atlantic waters of the bay were the only physical activities we attempted. Norman started rereading The Basque History of the World then took a long nap while I finally finished Winter in Madrid. 

Returning from the beach quite rejuvenated from our journey to the Basque Country the previous day, we were able to kick back and enjoy the fruits of our Super Amara shopping spree by preparing a Langostino Salad dinner accompanied by an incredibly inexpensive but super delicious bottle of Spanish wine. It was a perfect first day of the rest of our vacation.