The Adventures of Doug and Bec: Spain

The train ride from Barcelona to San Sebastian was the best we have had to date. We managed to get 60% off the fares by being 26 and under and booking online at least 24 hours before hand. What would have been a 60 euro fare cost us only 36 euro with an upgrade to first class seats! We had plenty of room and a big table. The food carriage was excellent as well and we had Ham and Camembert subs for lunch before arriving in San Sebastian after 5 and a half hours.

The San Sebastian train station is quite small and we were helped out by a nice worker there who looked up where we had to go for our hostel on his mobile phone as it did not show it well on the map on the wall. The walk to our hostel took us from one side of San Sebastian to the other over the river and through the cobbles walking streets of the Old Town. Our hostel called the Surf Hostel was located smack bang in the middle of the Old Town and was one of the cheapest in the area.

When we got to the hostel some other visitors let us in and we headed up to the reception which was empty. One of the girls who came in with us was waiting to collect her bags but no one was there. While we were there another couple turned up looking for accommodation. After a hour I found the mobile number on the hostel website and called the guy running it named Leo, who was down at the beach having a surf. The website reviews indicated that there is hardly ever anyone at the office and it was living up to it!

Once we were checked in half an hour later we had a bit of a rest before heading out for a walk around town and to find a tapas bar we had been recommended called the Atari which is right in front of the Saint Maria cathedral. After a short time we found it and it lived up to its amazing reputation. We ordered a large dish of Beef Cheek, which was big enough to share. The meat was incredible and just fell apart. Definitely a must in San Sebastian.

Our second day in San Sebastian was unfortunately horrible weather. We awoke to wind and rain. We headed out for a short look at some shops and went to a tapas bar for lunch that turned out to be a bit expensive. Then had beef cheek again for dinner, before heading back to the hostel where we had a second dinner of chicken paella that Leo had cooked for everyone staying at his hostel free of charge. Unfortunately we were very full already, as it was an amazing dish. Staying at the Surf Hostel was more like being in someones house than a hostel. Leo also gave people beer and there were only about 5 rooms, it was the size of a small apartment.

Day three in San Sebastian and we headed up the hill between the two beaches to the massive Jesus statue on the top. It was perhaps a 10-15 minute walk through windy paths and had amazing views of the beaches, city and out to sea. There is a bit of a museum building at the top regarding the history of the fort on the hill which was quite interesting and free. From here we headed back to the hostel to get our swimming gear and we headed to the bigger of the two beach in San Sebastian and joined the hundreds of people who had already flocked there in the heat. Unfortunately the hot weather did not mean hot water temperatures, as we soon found the water to be quite freezing, so after a quick swim we lazed around on the beach for an hour or two trying to get a bit of our tan back after a few weeks in Ireland and Scotland. In the afternoon we headed to the local LIDL store (which is like Aldi back home but better stocked for fruit, veg and meat) and got some food to cook pizzas for dinner and to have leftovers for the following morning as we had been sending a bit to much of our money on the beautiful but expensive tapas.

The next day was our last day and we were booked on a 10:39pm train to Lisbon in Portugal which would take about 13 hours in a sleeper compartment. We had planned to leave our bags at the hostel and head to the beach for the day, but we woke once again to extreme wind, so we ended up spending most of the day reading and catching up on a few things in the public library.

The train trip to Lisbon was fairly decent but due to the rules in Spain for rail travel Bec and I were in separate carriages, as they have separate ones for males and females!