Pintxos!

Well if there's one thing that San Sebastian is really well known for it's its Pintxos Bars. Alcohol + nibbly things lining the bars. It's a match made in heaven. And it's so so good. So good in fact that we had an early lunch. Then a late lunch. Then went out again in the evening (being terribly Spanish and not really starting eating till about 9ish). Earlier in the day we'd gone for a walk round one of the headlands, then up Mount Urgull which actually forms the headland. There are sweeping views of the giant curved main beach, and back to the straighter 'surfers' beach on the other side. With the sun beating down, ah that holiday feeling truly came.

Fi the day before had said that San Sebastian is a city to fall in love with, and fall in love in, and I could see where he was coming from. There's a vibe about the place that gives it a life and vitality that was often missing in French cities (Lyon, for example, just wasn't the same in comparison).

My only frustration is the language. I've gone from perfect confidence in France, to being Bambi on ice, as I try to work out the phrases in Spanish to deliver in a broken manner at the bar. As Mel told me, they'd probably understand better if I just spoke English (or probably more so if I spoke French) but that's not really the point. Not in my mind anyway.

Oh, and a word for the spirits measures, or rather lack of them. We'd been told that the G&Ts were poured into a humongous glass from a height, and with no regard for the stinginess of a 25ml measure. Had to be seen to be believed. At least a triple measure, and weighing in at a reasonable ?8-10 for that size. And better still that's just how they measure out the whisky, ergo triple Lagavulin for ?8. I like San Sebastian.

Strangely wine is much more conservatively poured, and beer appears to e less than a pint standard (and indeed bottles are a mere 200ml).