After a late sleep (necessary because of being awakened by the girls in the next room talking loudly until Anita asked them to tone it down at 1:40 am), we bought some fruit and pastries for breakfast and ate them on a bench down by the sea. We've decided to go straight to Barcelona on Monday and save the rest of Spain (and Portugal) for a separate trip some other time. So we went to the train station to get reservations for the Monday morning high speed train leaving at 7:48 and arriving in Barcelona at 1:40. It cost 10.35 euros each for the reservation, which is a lot considering that we paid only 3 euros each from Tours to Irun, near San Sebastian. Nevertheless, even though we have a Eurail global pass, a reservation is necessary for the high speed trains. It's not that much really to guarantee a seat on a 6 hour train ride. For those interested in prices, a euro is about $1.25 to $1.30 Canadian, unless things have changed in the last few days.
After that we went to Constitution Square in the old quarter to find our new pension, the Plaza Adore, where we're moving tomorrow for 2 nights. This is right in the heart of the action. The square used to be used for bullfights and people rented the rooms around it so they could stand on their balcony to watch. I doubt if we'll get a balcony though. (picture is Bill in front of tomorrow's pension)
We had some great calamari for 6.50 euros each at lunch in an outdoor bar/restaurant in the square. After that we just wandered for the afternoon across the bridge at the mouth of the river over to the surfing beach that isn't in the protected harbour.
We got some decent red wine for 5 euros to take back to our room along with a can of Heineken for me (.90 euros) and some red pepper & tomatoes for happy hour along with some cherries for tomorrow. There are little grocery stores all over where all this stuff is really cheap.
After a bit of rest and reserving a pension for 3 nights in Barcelona through Hostelworld (50 euros a night for a double room with bathroom down the hall in the Barcelona Residence, a good location not too far from the train station and near Las Ramblas (the action street) and cathedrals and stuff.
For supper we ate tapas again. Here's Anita's description:
I don't really know how to describe the tapas except to say that they have to be the best tasting food we have ever had. People walk into the bars/restraunts and the tapas are all set along the bar. You just get a plate and load whatever you want on it and when you have eaten enough, you pay for it. The waiter/bartenders keep filling your wine glass and beer glass too. Last night was our first experience so we asked for suggestions. Our waitress suggested that we order some hot tapas. Wow! We had pintxo foie (duck liver on a crusty bread with a sweet and sour orange sauce), pintxo piquillo (lightly breaded red pepper stuffed with some kind of amazing cheese that I can't spell), Pintxo chuleta (extremely tender, rare beef in a light sauce that was perfect for dipping crusty bread in), and croqueta racion (lightly breaded little balls with cheese, seafood and squid in them. Again there was a light sauce that was perfect for dipping your bread in).
I can't really do the tapas justice as I describe them and we have only tried a few but we have two more evenings to taste test and we are looking forward to it. It is quite the experience as tons of people walk down the narrow streets in and out of the bars eating and drinking there way along. We got a few pictures of the crowds and one shows how people just drop their dirty napkins on the floor when they are finished and then move on. We chose to sit at a table and eat quietly as we watched the show.
We have included a few pictures of the day. The demonstration is the Basque ETA on their regular Friday night march carrying placards with pictures of Basque separatists imprisoned in the 1990s in the south of Spain (and still there I think). It's interesting that the marchers look like middle-aged middle class people, not young militants. There seems to be solid support for the ETA in this region.
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