An Eating Trip to Spain: Arzak, Etxebarri, Lufthansa 747-8 J, Swiss A220 Y / 777 J

[yflyer]

After an extended lunch like that, having a normal dinner that evening was out of the question...

We returned to our hotel for a short rest, before heading out for an evening walk.



We passed the Maria Cristina, a Marriott Luxury Collection property...



This was one of the hotel candidates for our stay in San Sebastian, but the rates were on the high side, so I picked the Sercotel Europa instead. While the Maria Cristina was undoubtedly more luxurious (by quite a fair margin), I thought the location of the Europa was better, being much closer to the beach. That said, both were in great locations, within walking distance of the old town and the main beach.

We spent some time wandering around the old town...



Miss yflyer no.2 felt like tasting some pintxos (She said she had space in tummy for one...), so we popped into one of the many pintxos bars there for some cider.



It was poured the traditional way...



The pintxos on display looked really appetizing...



We strolled along the beach on the way back to our hotel, admiring the night time view as we strolled along the wide promenade...

[yflyer]

We had only one item on the agenda on our first day in San Sebastian: lunch at Arzak. We had kept our agenda for day 2 in San Sebastian fairly open-ended, and decided to spend the day exploring the city and the old town.

Our first stop was Bar Nestor, in the old town, to sample their famous tortilla, or Spanish egg omelette.

For this, one did not simply show up at the restaurant and order the tortilla. There was a limited supply: The gregarious owner/proprietor, Seņor Nestor, only made 2 tortillas a day, one at lunch and one at dinner. To secure a slice, you had to queue and reserve your slice before hand.

I joined the queue in the late morning, and was first in line (typical kiasu Singaporean...). When the window blind opened at 12pm, I placed my order for 3 slices of tortilla.



The friendly staff member taking pre-orders at the counter also asked if I would like to reserve the Txuleton steak, and also a table inside...why of course! I had no idea it was possible to also reserve a steak.

The table reservation was a bonus -- it turned out there was only one table available for reservation in the whole place. Almost everyone else ate standing up (!).

After you placed your order, you were free to wander around, but were requested to return at 12.45pm when the bar opened...



This was a small and intimate place, with great atmosphere. The place filled up quickly and was soon packed...



Cider to start...


Seņor Nestor appeared from the kitchen with the day's tortilla...



It was sliced on the spot, one by one, each slice was given to the person whose name was called out on the pre-order list.



While you could get tortilla all over Spain, the ones here were quite exceptional...still runny on the inside, with amazing texture and flavour...



Absolutely delicious, and worth the effort to queue and reserve!

[yflyer]

But there were more delights to come...

We were invited to select our Txuleta steak...



While the chosen steak was sent back to the kitchen for cooking, we dined on amazing sliced cold tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil...



So delicious! There were the darkest tomatoes we had ever seen, with much more flavour and crunch than the insipid specimens found in Singapore supermarkets...



And then the Txuleta...a mindblowingly tasty steak...



A glass of Rioja to go with the steak...



Just an inexpensive house pour, but just perfect to accompany the steak...



"Would you like coffee?" our waiter asked, "I can do a special coffee with condensed milk for you..."

"Sure!", we replied...



We drank our coffee...

Miss yflyer no.2 took a sip... "hey this has alcohol in it!"...

She was right...the coffee was absolutely delicious, and had a hint of liquor in it...

"Is there liquor in this?" I asked the waiter...

"Yes! It's a secret!"

What a pleasant surprise!



Bar Nestor was a lovely place for lunch...



I would highly recommend coming here when in San Sebastian...and do show up early to reserve your tortilla slice!

[yflyer]

We continued wandering through the old town...



This was the low season, so the old town was not particularly busy...



...but shops and bars were open, and everywhere folks were out enjoying drinks with friends, or sampling the pintxos...



Constitution Square, in the centre of the old town, was also lively but not overly crowded in the evenings...

[yflyer]

On fellow SQTalker Caravelle's recommendation, we headed to the Dry Bar at tha Maria Cristina.



This was a small but opulently decorated cocktail bar, with a long history...



Their signature cocktails...



We asked our affable bartender, Alejandro, to do a signature cocktail for us, and he chose "Lost in Translation"...



This was made with Suntory Hibiki whisky, tea and St Germain, served in a porcelain teacup...



A gorgeous cocktail that tasted as good as it looked!

[yflyer]

When we left the Dry Bar in the early evening, it was windy, and the water level in the Urumea River was very high, with the rising tide causing waves of water to crash along the banks of the rivers...



We took a walk towards the Kursaal Congress Centre and Zurriola beach to get a better view of the swirling waves...



With the crashing waves and wind, it was quite an evening to be out...



Like the previous evening, we wandered through the old town some more...



...and indulged in more of those delicious pintxos...



...of which the variety seemed endless...

[yflyer]

During our stay in San Sebastian, I headed out for a run every morning. San Sebastian is a great place for runs. You had great running routes along the beaches, and along the river.

On the first day, I headed from the hotel to the Urumea river, and ran along the river...



...past the Maria Cristina...



I continued along the coastline around Mount Urgull, the hill just north of the old town...



...hoping to do a loop around Mount Urgull, to La Concha beach...



...but part of the coastal stretch was closed for construction work...



...so I retraced my steps...



...and cut through the old town instead...



...to the port area...



...and continued my run along La Concha beach...



...back to the hotel...



Total distance that day was 5km...



At the 3.2km mark, I could have made a detour up and down Mount Urgull, for an additional 1-2 km, and some great views too, but I didn't have time that first morning to do that...

[yflyer]

On the second day, I just did a round trip run along La Concha Beach...



...and the adjoining Ondarreta Beach...



...ending at the base of Monte Igueldo...



...which was the location of the Haizearen orrazia sculpture...



...and dramatic water blow holes...



From there I retraced my steps...



...back to Alderdi Eder Gardens, at the other end of La Concha Beach.



Total distance: 5.5km without a single traffic light or pedestrian crossing.

[yflyer]

On the morning of the day we were scheduled to leave San Sebastian, we headed up the funicular to the top of Monte Igueldo...



...to savour the stunning views of San Sebastian from that vantage point...



...and also spend a little time in the vintage / retro amusement park at its peak...



This was a tiny amusement park, meant more for kids and youngsters than anyone else, but the kids' roller coaster was a vintage ride that we just had to try...



This rollercoaster actually had an operator who sat in the middle of the cars...



Views from up there were just great.





It was so much fun we went twice!

[yflyer]

We caught the funicular down from Monte Igueldo, and took a slow walk back to our hotel to check out.

The tide was low, so rather than walk along the pedestrian promenade along the beach, we decided to walk on the beach itself...



This was such a pristine beach...



...with clear water, and smooth, tightly packed sand...easy to walk on...



The beach was so wide that it was possible to setup multiple football pitches on the beach, and have a proper football game on it...



...and that was exactly what was happening that Saturday morning...the beach was literally filled wth multiple football pitches, each with an intense football game in progress, mainly with young schoolchildren, both boys and girls...



And they all played very well too...the skill level of the players was quite impressive, despite their young age!



Maybe this was the secret to Spain's success in the World Cup in 2010!

[yflyer]

During our stay in San Sebastian, we had seen Angulas, baby eels.



These were on sale in the market and at the fishmonger, but we had not seen them on any restaurant menus. It didn't make sense to buy it from the markets...how would we cook it?

The staff at our hotel gave us a couple of restaurant suggestions, but we didn't see the dish on the restaurant menus. There was an excellent seafood restaurant right next to the Europa, biut alas they were full for lunch on our final day in San Sebastian.

At that point, I wondered if we would we get a chance to sample this delicacy at all...perhaps we would have better luck later on during our trip...

[yflyer]

At lunchtime, we checked out of the Europa and headed to the central bus station...



...where we caught the PESA bus to Bilbao.



When I was planning this trip, I was exploring different options to get around Northern Spain. The rail network was great for travelling between Barcelona, Madrid or San Sebastian, but didn't seem ideal for travelling around Northern Spain. Flights didn't make sense either. Rental cars were an option, but then after further research, and checking with the hotel, I realized that the long distance bus network in northen Spain was very well developed.

For a decent price, you could travel around Northern Spain by long distance bus quite conveniently, and also quite comfortably. We purchased tickets from the bus operator PESA online. The bus had a large luggage hold, so carrying all our luggage was no issue either.

The bus ride from San Sebastian to Bilbao took just 1 hour 15 mnutes.

[yflyer]

Our hotel in Bilbao was the Ercilla (Pronounced "Er-THI-ya"), a Marriott Autograph Collection property....



This was an excellent hotel: very new, with superb room design, great staff, and a near ideal location in the heart of Bilbao.

Intimate, but very stylishly decorated public areas...



Lobby cafe and bar...



Complimentary iced water in the lobby...



As Marriott Platinum members, we were offered a complimentary full breakfast for the duration of our stay.

Our room was categorised as a "Vintage Family Room" but in any other hotel, this would have been considered a Suite...



You entered the room through a central corrider...



...with a full length desk on one side.



On the left, the bedroom...



...with wall mounted flat screen TV...



Retro vinyl LP art on the wall...



Beautiful feature lighting and footstool...



European power sockets and USB...

[yflyer]

On the right side of the corridor, was a lounge/living area, with a sofabed that had been unfolded to become a bed...



Beautiful vases on the shelf above the sofabed...



Gorgeous side table...



Complimentary macaroons...



Nespresso machine and minibar...

[yflyer]

The wardrobe, with in-room safe. Also note the dressing table with mirror...



The bathroom...



Bidet and bathtub with shower...

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In addition to that, there was a separate, and very large shower room...



Toilietries came both in small bottles...



...and in large reusable containers mounted on the wall...



Wifi was complimentary and fast, although there were a couple of wifi blind spots in the bedroom where getting a signal was difficult.

Overall this was a wonderful room: spacious, with beautiful decor and styling.