Day 3 (9/1) ::: No rest for the weary. A day after arriving in BCN, I took off for San Sebastian, a beautiful beach town on the northern coast. A bunch of friends from school were up there leading a trip (similar to the one I took to Peru last year) and so I decided to meet them there for some quality catch-up time on the beach. We stayed at Hotel Monte Ulia in the Gros section of town and made our way to the surfer's beach, Playa de la Zurriola, shortly after my arrival. After a few hours at the beach, we wandered around town, took showers and went to el Parque de Miramar, an open lawn with a lovely view of the beach, for wine and cheese. Dinner was at Izkina and the night went long.... with stops at multiple bars and a late night club right on the beach. Sleep didn't come until 7am.
Day 4 (9/2) ::: Up at 10:30am for the local cider festival after only a few hours of sleep. We grabbed fried eggs, toast and bacon at a great little spot called Iratxo and sang Phil Collins while we ate. After that we passed out on the main beach, Playa de la Concha all afternoon and then had a late lunch at La Perla overlooking the water. The group thinned after lunch as naps called, but me and two others made our way up Monte Igueldo for spectacular views of the city and a trip around the amusement park... we were the tallest people on each of the rides by far... the house of terror, the mysterious river and the roller coaster. That night we did a tapas crawl, had a friend get engaged and I acquired a rainbow light saber. Good night!Day 5 (9/3) ::: The crew from school left for the States at 6:45am so Kristin and I said a quick goodbye and crawled back into bed. That afternoon we moved into the Parte Vieja (old part of town) and checked into Ibai hostel for our last few days in San Sebastian. Once again we made our way to to the beach - do you see a pattern here? That night we had a good dinner at a cute little Mexican restaurant and cracked a bottle of wine in the main square, Plaza de Cervantes, drinking and talking for quite a few hours. In Spain you can drink in the street - in fact, the bars give you plastic "to go" cups... definitely makes for a fun and cheap night out!
Day 6 (9/4) ::: We had a late breakfast at our favorite little spot, Iraxto, and then hopped a bus to the Museo Chillada Leku about 20 minutes outside the city center. Eduardo Chillada is San Sebastian's favorite son and contemporary art guru. We spent 3 hours wandering the outdoor garden where his stone and steel sculptures are housed. It was a great day and a nice break from the time on the beach. After the museum, we did some more exploring in San Sebastian and then read, got online and took a nap before getting a final pile of tapas before leaving town. After eating, we went out in search of some trouble but the town was really quiet or so it seemed. Somehow, we made our way to the one bar with some traffic and realized we found a goldmine of Aussie revelers. We made A LOT of new friends from all over the world as we cruised from one spot to the next. I comendered a fishing pole, we took photos of mullets and danced the night away at Be Bop Bar before heading home around 4am.
Day 7 (9/5) ::: We took the bus an hour west to Bilbao and checked into the Hostel Mendez before taking the local train to the Guggenheim, which definitley lived up to its billing. Gehry's design is incredible inside and out. I couldn't believe it but they had an exhibit entitled "Rusia" which meant I got to see a bunch of the Russian art which had eluded me on my trip to Moscow and St. 
Petersberg this winter. After touring around Bilbao, we searched out Aji Colorado, a Peruvian restuarant known for it's yummy ceviche. We looked for trouble that night, but some how it eluded us. We were in bed by midnight and on a return flight to Barcelona the next morning. Need to settle into the new apartment and get ready for Ibiza. Let the games begin!
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