San Sebastian Donostia

[Cruiser Elite]

Firstly a clarification for the geographically challenged members of the AFF community - San Sebastian (Donostia) is not in fact part of any French Wine Regions - it is indeed a city in Spain - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Sebastián

It is ~3hrs south / south west of Bordeaux - SNCF train Bordeaux to Hendaye then €2.35 on Euskotren last 30 mins into Donastia / San Sebastian.

Stumped up at Hotel de Londres - Hotel de Londres San Sebastián – Official Website in a Junior Suite with ocean view - fabulous location / fabulous view. Of course San Sebastian is centre of Basque region of Spain and home to famous Spanish delicacies the Pintxos - Basque Country Tapas: Pintxos and Pinchos

Unique culture / unique food - first night we headed out on a Pintxos tour - guess which bar we ended up first?



JohnM's reco - Gandarias - first Pintxos we tried is their famous Solo Millo = eye fillet steak on bread - 'coughic'!

Even the wine pouring is a performance on it's own:



Pintxos menu printed on wall - not that that is much help:



Most Pintxos on display on bar top - just choose away - hot items like Solo Millo prepared to order:



And even more dramatic drinks pouring:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

And the mostest famous Pintxos of all is the 'Rita Hayworth' - peppers and anchovies - OMG I still cannot believe it - I ate anchovies - clearly strong wine:



More Pintxos on bar top:



And a few more bar shots:



And:



And:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Now here is reco list of best Pintxos in best bars in San Sebastian as prepared by Concierge at Hotel de Londres:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

So after sampling the Solo Millo at Gandaria first night and on JohnM;s reco we called in today whilst strolling old city and made reservation for 8pm - again exterior of Gandarias:



Clearly 8pm is early to eat in Basque country as Gandarias virtually empty when we arrived:



But totally different story 1hr later when all tables full and a queue at door waiting for tables:



This rack of ham hinds grabbed my interest:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Now I don't know about you guys but no matter which steak restaurant I go to - no matter how much the chef might know about cooking steak:



Well I just feel an overwhelming urge to get behind the jump and just pass on a few pointers that will help him / her with their cooking endeavours:



Tomahawks don't scare me! And of course what better to accompany a 1.25kg T-Bone than a Bordeaux red:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

And here is an external pic of Hotel de Londres as we returned after dinner:



And I just snapped these next 3 pics from our room window:



And:



And:

 

[LadyC]

Looks fabulously delicious! More pics please.

 

[burmans]

Great set of pictures, one of my favourite towns in Europe. We stayed in the old town but wherever you stay small enough to walk around and as you demonstrate great wine and food. My daughter wasnt so keen on the smoking though!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Mods can you please fix my spelling of Dnnostia in thread title? Should be Donostia

 

[TheRealTMA]

Firstly a clarification for the geographically challenged members of the AFF community - San Sebastian (Donostia) is not in fact part of any French Wine Regions - it is indeed a city in Spain - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Sebastián


Unique culture / unique food - first night we headed out on a Pintxos tour - guess which bar we ended up first?

Excellent timing, Cruiser! Just planing a trip there for three days in October. Had already identified the hotel and the specific room as the go.

FYI: Restaurant Akelarre http://www.akelarre.net/public_home/ctrl_home.php?lang=en has been recommended to me by several people.

 

[RB]

Missed you by a couple of weeks Cruiser. Had a great time there. A few photos from one of the days

 

[JohnM]

Brings back memories, Cruiser! Those pintxos are sooo goooood .

 

[Dr Bob]

Great info. We will be there last week July before a week in Paris.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Breakfast at Hotel de Londres additional €18pp not included in room rates - not expensive at this rate as breakfast buffet quite good - not as good as most top tier 5* hotels but quite good - I would reco any potential guests take it up first morn then decide after that.

Thay also have a very enjoyable terrace bar/cafe to front of hotel adjoining boardwalk - plenty shade area and lovely place to sit and sip a drink and people watch - and food and drink at very reasonable prices:



And the food menu in boardwalk café:



And drinks list:



And more drinks list:



And a close up of the important stuff:



Spain never ceases to amaze how you can consistently find Champagne at 1/2 price you can find in France - go figure. So far in boardwalk bar/café we have enjoyed 1 x bott Mumm at 11pm first night overlooking the bay and several times a glass ea of Mumm at €7.50ea - now that is pretty good value - and it is the genuine stuff as they bring glasses and bott to table and pour direct in front of you.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Today we stepped back in time and visited the 18th century Torreón de Igeldo, the former lighthouse turned viewpoint, presides over Monte Igeldo with its dodgy amusement park which was all closed down whilst we were there - Hills - San Sebastian Tourism

To access this former lighthouse you must step back to a bygone era and use the Funicular de Igueldo - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funicular_de_Igueldo - WOW - what simple fun - a ride on a 100yo cable car up the mountain / down the mountain - just fun!

Here is the entrance to Funicular:



And the little cable car itself:



At the same time one cable car leaves bottom another cable car leaves top - 1 big cable controls both up and down cars - you cannot see working mechanism but I would have loved to - see how tracks split to allow passing? See only 1 cable visible on RH side of track:



And the down car passing us:



After passing see how tracks merge back to 1 again and now 2 cables visible:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Now once you arrive up on Funicular here is the lighthouse you need to aim for:



And I guess these are the turrets or chimleys where fires/lights were lit:



And the views from this vantage point just stunning:



And another:



And another:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

What goes up has just gotta come down huh? So here is our little cable car coming to fetch us at the top- again the dual cable for up and down visible:



And loading process to travel down:



Now here is something I have long wondered - Melbourne desperately need a train service from city centre to MEL - and before the interstate smart coughs get wound up NO I am not advocating a cable car to MEL!

BUT

When City Link was built - and now that Tulla Fwy is going to be upgraded / widened again - was there ever thought to putting a fast light rail right up the guts of it out to MEL with these types of split line passing points? Like you may only need 3 or 4 or 5 passing points with a 10 / 15 / 20 min dep / arr intervals. Given the land for the freeway already acquired no extra land reqd for rail line - Perth seems to be able to have train lines up the middle of freeways - is this a ridiculous idea?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

After gorging on in excess of 1kg in steak last night we decided sea food better option tonight - so acting on advice from Concierge at Hotel de Londres we dined at Bernardo Etxea - Restaurante San Sebastián Jatetxea Donostia Bar Pintxos Bernardo Etxea - gee what a surprise. Ambience so ordinary - atmosphere non-existent - mixed reviews on TA - but we went down this path - restaurant exterior:



First the wine list - or more accurately Champagne list - now getr a load of the prices - gotta love Spain huh?



We went with the Veuve:



Concierge reco was grilled hake - others on TA gave big thumbs up Hake Basque style - I went went with the grilled - Cruiserette with with Basqe style - I got it right - superb white fish and huge serving - sorry no pics. I asked what came with the Hake - wairess said boiled potoatoes - OK - waitress back in 5 mins sorry no boiled potatoes with hake - OK I'll have French fries pls - waitress back in 5 mins - sorry Sir Hake does come with boiled potatoes - OK cancel French fries pls - OK Sir.

But the Hake - OMG - it was just SUPERB - beautiful white fish cooked to PERFECTION - SENSATIONAL!

Hake arrives with 3 tiny slithers of potato about 2mm thick - we just looked - stared at each other and laughed - all that to'ing and fro'ing for these 3 tiny slithers! You really had to see it to appreciate the humour.

And then desert - if you do happen to eat here definitely go with the Degustation de la casa - SUPERB.



Would I reco this restaurant? Well champs cheap and Hake sensational but not a great experience - prolly find better experiences elsewhere.

 

[RB]

After gorging on in excess of 1kg in steak last night we decided sea food better option tonight - so acting on advice from Concierge at Hotel de Londres we dined at Bernardo Etxea -

Would I reco this restaurant? Well champs cheap and Hake sensational but not a great experience - prolly find better experiences elsewhere.

Interesting re the atmosphere-as per my photo earlier in the thread we were there a couple of weeks ago & it was by far the busiest joint going and was really buzzing with good times. It was lunch rather than dinner when we were there though & the variety of pintxos hadn't been depleted at that stage

 

[burrco]

Good info. I've got a stay booked at the Hotel Maria Cristina in December.