Europa Hotel San Sebastián - Donostia

... Pinxos restaurant she, Ev, and Jullie had loved 3 weeks earlier. It was truly amazing and we enjoyed talking with a lovely british couple who now run a B&B in Provence. Judy and the kids had a wet but fun time, as the weather had finally turned south.

                       

I don't really need to tell you what we did do I? Take one part playground, one part beach, and one part sunset and you have a Kramer day in Biarritz.

           

... Dispite the language barriers they had a lovely time exploring the basque country side. What did we do? Why go to the beach, of course!!

                     

We spent the morning touring our recently discovered Bayonne with the kids and Judy continued exploring during the afternoon ...

... cathedral and adorable cobble stone streets. Since it was sunday, the only place open was a small creperie, but we had a nice time nonetheless which Judy watched the kids.

             

... the beach – I was supposed to head out there with a couple of Italian guys. Leaving Plaza Guipuzkoa after eating a pastry there, I ran into Domingo, one of Frank’s friends who attended the wake last night. We quickly exchanged pleasantries in passing as I was in a bit of a hurry to get back to the hostel, and he was in a rush to go have lunch.

The Italian guys weren’t back yet, but Elena was there visiting with ...

... avenues. We ate a wondeful meal on the first evening at a restaurant high on a mountain overlooking the sea - called Akelare - and watched the sun sink into the seas while we ate.

More to come ... Monday, 22 June

Spent all morning walking ...

... beach, is Mount Urgull. Once the site where the French and Spanish fought, this castle was built to protect the harbor from attack. Mt. Urgull is now just a historical complex to hike around, so it seemed the perfect spot for a late afternoon lunch and some good exercise. Making our way up the paved path to the top, we stopped occasionally to look at the view and see the remains of the castle. At the top we found a shady spot and enjoyed another fabulous picnic ...

... be interesting. We go back to the area that we want to start at. At 7:45 the police open part of the closed off street so that the runners can spread out a bit (there are a lot of runners). I can't really describe in words (I'm an engineer, not a poet) what the last 15-30mins feels like. I'm excited, scared, happy, sometimes lots of thoughts, sometimes absolutely none and best of all hung over. We give each other hugs and hand ...

... while that I'm really here. I'm really in Europe. I'm really in Spain. I'm really five minutes away from the beach and fifteen minutes from the French border...hahhaa...I'm really here for almost two months. I'm really living on my own. I really have my own room..hahaha...and I have to cook for myself!....hahaha...what a spoiled brat..hahahhah....I'm learning though. I'm absolutely improving on my observation skills, which you all know I lack..hahah...continued on next entry...