Day 80. Monday 26 May.

Although probably obvious, some of the photos are now credited to J (at least for a few days).

Got out before midday, and a few kms down the road  D remembered that he’d forgotten his ‘waist bag’, containing passport, international driver’s permit, credit card and cash! Back to Azanza, which meant that our departure was after midday. Good to be consistent.

Our destination was San Sebastián, about 80 km/90 mins. The road was scenic, curved, mostly fast but easy enough. Needless to say, on arriving we were immersed in traffic, so opted for an underground car park near the old part of the city.

Coffee was first priority, and we quickly found a very adequate spot, for both coffee and sweet treats.San Sebastian or Donostia struck as a very classy European city with gorgeous apartments, fine buildings and sumptuous (clothes) shops

At the Tourist Office, we got maps, a small Basque dictionary (good luck with that) and walking route advice, then set off beside the river mouth, by the old town, around the bluff, and there was the sea, surging onto massive grey blocks of granite (?)

The first walking section was longer than expected, and J suggested that it was now time for a beer. We were in the ‘tourist’ lunch scene by then and tavern prices reflected that, usually a 3 course menu of the day, but we eventually found something more suitable: beers, of course, and a shared selection of tapas.

Wavered a bit over the next walk: an esplanade around a beautiful curved beach of  three kms to the funicular. The surf looked fabulous and heaps of swimmers were in and absorbing big doses of UV. Weather was perfect, and the walk pleasant.

A ride on the vintage Funicular (and found a very vintage theme park thing at the top) for astounding views back over the city, and possibly France somewhere over the mountains behind.

Caught the local bus back to the car park, and some quick Lidl shopping before the run home. Quite easy – traffic was light, well behaved and it was still light as we arrived back at about 9 PM, greeted with nonchalance and bell-ringing by the local cows.

As it was late (10pm) and we had had a late lunch, dinner was  a mishmash of leftovers, some new gazpacho for T and J, chicken soup for D, and tapas.