I arrived in San Sebastian to a mild, damp evening as Matt and Maria walked me from the bus station to their flat near Playa de la Concha. Being that it was late was no deterrent to enjoying bread, cheese, wine, and unas gildas, a pinxto of olives, anchovies, and Guindilla peppera over the dining room table as we exchanged stories in a mixture of English and Spanish. A nightcap of patzaran finished us off in the wee hours of the morning.

I managed to arrive just in time for the change in weather and we awoke Thursday morning to pissing down rain. This made the city no less charming as Matt gave me a walking tour of the Parte Vieja and we climbed to winding path to the Castillo de Santa Cruz de la Mota on Monte Urgull for a stunning, wind-whipped view of the Atlantic to the west and La Concha to the east.

After fortifying ourselves with pinxtos and a glass of wine in the local bars, we decided to head out on the bikes in spite of the wet weather. Once out of town, the rain subsided as we headed to the national park at Aia. We enjoyed a steep climb on traffic-less roads amid the lushest, steep terrain I have ever seen. Each casa sported a superb garden and the hills were so green it almost hurt my eyes. Checking in with Maria, we learned it was now raining in San Sebastian. Hmmmm, perhaps our dry spell would not last to the end of the ride. We descended down to the fishing village at Oria and then climbed up Monte Igueldo as dusk fell and the wind drove a storm off the Atlantic. Our descent into San Sebastian was entirely in the dark in a torrential down pour where the rain seemed to come from every direction all at once. I began to worry that it might simply wash the contacts right out of my eyes, as if I wasn’t having enough trouble seeing. Just when I thought I couldn’t be any wetter and was relieved to finally get into town, a bus passing the bike path we were on splashed (splash is actually an understatement) a wall of water in my face, at which point, I just started laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Maria opened the door to the flat to two large puddles of people, as I stated, “estamos loco!” to which she could only agree. In actuality, we weren’t the only people out in such weather. I was surprised and impressed to see more than a few locals running along La Concha as if they didn’t even notice the wind-driven rain.

Friday we did more touring around the city, including a fascinating exhibit at the Museo Naval called on Basque maritime history. After a beer at Constitution Square, we hopped a bus to San Pedro and took at boat across to San Juan for a fabulous dinner of langostinas, foie, other local fish and meat.

Saturday the sun shined and we rode to France for lunch. Really, how decadent is that? We took the valley route north via to the French border town of Hendaye where we enjoyed baguette sandwiches before heading back via Hondarribia and over the infamous Jaizkibel climb of the Clasico San Sebastian. The climb was fantastic with more lush, steep hillsides, roaming horses and cattle, and breathtaking views. I enjoyed stretching my legs, working off the night prior's escapades and stopping often to snap pictures of the views.

--- Playa de la Concha ---

--- remnants of Castillo de Santa Cruz de la Mota, an 800 year-old fortress ---

--- pinxtos in la Parte Vieja ---

--- Paisaje - looking across from San Pedro to San Juan, where we would eat dinner ---

--- the view from near the top of the Jaizkibel climb, looking back towards France ---

--- the top! ---

--- the descent back to San Sebastian ---