The Rain in Spain falls mainly on San Sebastian (Donostia)

The Basque country of Spain claims these two beautful cities on the northeast coast of Spain:  Bilbao and San Sebastian.  Donostia is its name in Basque - one of the world's oldest languages.  We visited both cities with our good friends the Foreman's in September 2013.  San Sebastian has the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world.  We mostly took advantage of the Pintxo's (Tapas) beautifully laid out on every bar in every restaurant in town. 

Our first stop was Bilbao, famous for the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry. Bilbao is the commercial hub of the Basque country.  Although we visited inside the museum, the building itself is simply amazing.   

Outside the Guggenheim is this flower statue of a sitting dog.

On this day, families gathered with their kids to enjoy the plaza courtyard ringed with buildings.

A narrow street in Bilbao.

Gary admiring the intricate design of this bandshell in a Bilbao park.

From Bilbao, we traveled along the rugged coast to San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay.  This is home to surfers and has an extensive seascape walk along the inner harbor.  Being part of its own microclimate, it tends to rain often which contributes to the lush greenery all around.  But that doesn't keep the surfers from taking advantage of the great waves rushing into the harbor.  They wait right next to a stone wall for the bounce effect of the wave that pushes them away from the wall.  Many onlookers gather to watch these daredevils.

The restaurants all had a mixture of cold and hot Pintxos arranged on plates placed along the bar.  We simply pointed to whichever one looked good and soon filled a plate or two.  Along with a local Rioja region wine, this was our dinner.  What a way to spend an evening... walking from bar to bar in the old city, tasting pintxos and drinking Spanish wine.  For our "foodie" friends and for us, it was an experience.



The gorgeous view from the boardwalk along the beach in the harbor.



Same location but facing the direction of the old city.



An example of a bar jammed full of Pintxos.



Me with Michelle and Gary Foreman playing cards in the plaza.

A great view from high above San Sebastian bay.