Kontxa / La Concha

I liked it from the moment we stepped in the taxi.

We are staying in Miraconcha, at an AirBnB overlooking La Concha beach. This huge, old flat has a gigantic terrace, so we can have dinner outside, overlooking the bay. The boys are thrilled because they each have their own bedroom.

The first day was spent exploring streets of the old town, swimming at La Concha, and climbing Mount Urgull to the Castillo de la Mota, a 12th century fortress with amazing outlooks over San Sebastian and its beaches. Today we tried out Zurriola beach, famous for its surf. The boys rented boogie boards and spent a very happy hour catching (and getting pummelled by) big waves. They came out exhausted, with bellies red from sand-scrape and purple/white skin from the cold (only 16C today). I was happy to laze on the beach and watch a bunch of French high school kids at surf-school. Also simultaneously tried to avoid seeing (but it was so hard not to look, too!) the big, naked man walking up and down the beach, Borat style.

Buz and I started a few morning runs, which brings back memories of the old backpacking days. Glory days. The only downside to Basque country is how much they like their ham. There’s even a ham museum in Spain. Everything has bread and ham... not my thing. Luckily, Jesse and Zach have been cooking for us at nights, getting to be the talented little chefs. We are contributing to the local economy in our excessive consumption of baguettes and gelatos. It’s a very relaxed, easy place to stay.

MONDAY NIGHT
San Sebastián (now aka ‘Ham Sebastián’ to us) has given us just the right amount of playtime. Loads of boogie-boarding at Zurriola, the ‘epic’ surf beach, until our fingers were white & numb with cold. We were bruised, battered, and ‘smashed’ by some rather fierce & large waves that often took us by surprise, breaking before we had a chance to escape. Good fun comparing surfing wounds. Some calmer plays in La Concha beach. Lots of hiking up to El Castillo, ‘rock wall climbing’ on the cliff face, frisbee whenever and wherever (thank goodness it broke). Zach had the clever idea of trying to get the frisbee looped around the finger on the Jesus statue. Good thing his aim isn’t that advanced. Pottered around the old town and generally enjoyed this laid-back city that is surprisingly non-tourist focused, despite the great number of tourists they get. In some ways, that is super refreshing. In other ways, you wish that the stores would open on Sundays and you could buy something from the restaurant that does not have ham. On the bright side, I feel like I’ve become good friends with the check-out lady at Spar who I buy groceries from twice a day. I bet she will miss me as I will her.

Tomorrow is the train to Madrid, and en route to Reykjavik. Adios, Espana!Read more