The drive from the mountaintops of Aránzazu to the coastlines of San Sebastian was quiet. This sonorous word - Aránzazu - would follow us all the way downhill, as the name of our hotel was also Aránzazu.
Never have I heard my name pronounced so many times in one day. It was like an echo or the sounding of church bells all around me: Aránzazu… Aránzazu… Aránzazu.
Many consider San Sebastian to be one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. After this trip, it’s hard to say, because so many cities in Spain are so magnificent. No wonder so many civilizations over hundreds of centuries wanted this land to be all theirs including the Greeks, Romans, French, Berbers, and so forth.
San Sebastian is famous for its cuisine and coastline. After our brief stay, I would add that it’s also worth returning for its superior hospitality. It’s a shame, but service in many of Spain’s other major cities has declined drastically over the years. In the Basque Country, however, there is still a sense of joy and pride when it comes to welcoming tourists, especially in San Sebastian.
The highlight of our brief stay was that my uncle, Javier, and his wife, Pili, drove five hours from Salamanca to have dinner with us. My uncle travels here often, just to eat.
Luckily, he guided us through the maze of the city’s old quarter where going for tapas, or pintxos in Basque, is still practiced with great passion. It was clear that Basques take their food and eating very seriously. Instead of spending a few hours bar-hopping for cocktails, as many do in the States, you hop for pintxos.
The idea of pintxo-hopping is to eat a specialty food at one particular restaurant. For instance, you eat a tempura-like battered shrimp at one place, then fried fish at another. Since you spend at least thirty minutes at each place, if you visit four bars as we did, your outing can take up to two hours easily.
Since you are walking from place to place, then standing at the bars, you end up not eating as much as you normally would if you were sitting at a restaurant, followed by getting in your car to drive home to sit on the couch and watch television. Eating this way not only requires people to keep moving, but it also forces you to talk to one another.
People weren’t texting with one hand while eating pintxos with the other. There were no televisions in the restaurants. Instead, there were groups of four or more engaged in lively conversations. It was so loud in most of the places that even if there were a television you could never hear what was being said. Even those who were lucky enough to sit at one of the very few tables available in tapa bars were also practicing the art of conversation. In Spain, hands are used for eating, drinking, talking and touching.
The fact that the city’s soccer team had won an important game that evening added to the good cheer on the pedestrian packed streets. The team’s flag was everywhere, including peoples' wardrobes, and spirits were high, which translates into: more food and more beer!
San Sebastian, for me, was a celebration in every way and I hope to return again soon, to learn more about its people and culture, which definitely includes exploring their food and their own kind of aloha spirit.
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