Exploring the Basque Region & Barcelona

In early June, Scott and I travelled around Northern Spain in a tiny Fiat Panda rental car.  We spent the first night in Zaragoza, the 5th biggest city in Spain.  Zaragoza is cute but land locked so our visit was brief.  

 Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar near the banks of the Ebro River in Zaragoza- famous baroque style architecture 

A huge market near our hotel was the perfect place to stock up on fresh fruit.

1.80 Euro per kilo equates to a massive bag for 2 bucks (I bet it would be 10$ in DC)

 During an early stroll/search for fresh churros, we came upon ruins of a Roman theater called Caesaraugusta which dates back to between 25 BC and 12 BC.

(must insert pic when I find it).

Blue eyed esposo with churro

Delicious coffee but average churro (In fact, Senorita Olchyck from 9th grade baked better churros)

Next, we drove north towards the town of San Sebastian.  After paying a toll, we got stopped by a bunch of POLIZIE (Spanish cops) at a check point.  It was around noon on a Tuesday and they were carrying large bags of plastic breathalyzers.  We were not concerned until the cerveza bellied Spaniard started aggressively asking Scott for an International Driver's License.  Scott replied in broken Spanish that we did not have them because our German and US licenses were sufficient.  The cop disagreed and claimed we owed 500 Euro.  Scott politely inquired about the laws and the polizie awkwardly mumbled responses and exclaimed "500 euro!"

Eventually, he walked away with Scott's liscence and whispered to his compadres.  When he returned, Scott smiled (dimples shining strong) and said "Esta bien?" but the gruff cop glared, shook his head, and retorted "No bien!"  I looked up to the heavens and proclaimed "Dios Mio! No tengo mucho dinero."  Eventually, the cop told us to basically get lost and we did not pay a cent. 

Thankfully, a few hours later, we arrived in San Sebastian and headed directly to the beach.

Playa de la Concha

I fell in love with San Sebastian years ago when I visited with L.A.Beverley.  Ever since, I have been eager to return and bring Scott.

Notice the talented artist to the right creating this masterpiece in the sand

San Sebastian is world renowned for gastronomy.  There are hundreds of bars serving pintxos (pronounced: pinchos) which are similar to tapas but often more elaborate and decadent.  

Self serve pintxos on bar: smoked Iberian ham, stuffed peppers, anchovies, crab cakes...

Each bar offered a variety and we decided the best pintxos bars served them fresh/made to order off a menu.

Txvleta had a diverse "carta" of fresh seafood and complimentary patatas bravas

Anchovies, Blue Cheese, Sardines, Caviar, Peppers, Bread... GOOD TIMES

Skewer of grilled pulpo (octopus) and shrimp

Like nerdy tourists (sans fanny pack), we wandered around Parte Vieja (Old Town) carrying a map and a list of the top pintxos bars (thanks to suggestions from friends and travel blogs).  

Enjoying Rioja (local wine) in a peaceful church square

Baguette, roasted peppers, zuchinni, endive, tapenade, and crispy onions

While sipping wine, we befriended some Irish gals at a nearby table.  Annmarie Brennan and Kelly Crowley, obviously from Dublin, were enjoying the warm sunshine.  They told us they had been "on the tear" the night before and got "bolloxed."  We invited them to join our food crawl around the Old Town.  

We quickly became best mates and stopped for a photo shoot along the coast

Kelly and Annmarie had the greatest accents of all time, making words like "shite" and "mancky" sound adorable as we discussed my Irish ancestors and the U.S. prison system.

AnnMarie is a huge fan of David Sedaris

Perhaps it was a wee bit foolish to go drink for drink with the Irish las but they seemed so innocent, generously handing us glasses of wine and sharing their pintxos.

Goat cheese toasts with edamame, smoked salmon, shrimp, and mussles in spicy tomato sauce

The night passed quickly as Kelly would "fancy" another drink and "crac on" to the next bar.

This picture taken a few minutes before my "Irish exit" 

The next morning reminded me of how I felt after my 21st birthday when my lovely college roomates took me to Connor O'Neill's Pub and bought me creamy green shots. Both memorable evenings with valuable lessons learned. 

 Scoots and I slowly hobbled back to the beach with lots of water for rehydration.

Scoots forced me to take this pic (I'm pathetically dressed like a chubby kid in a t-shirt in a swimming pool)

Playa de Gros is a fantastic surfer's paradise with massive waves where we took a glorious beach siesta (nap).  We decided San Sebastian would be a wonderful place to live or visit frequently.

View of San Sebastian from the highway

We drove about 4 hours to the town of Figueres to see the Salvador Dali-Theatre Museum, which is considerd the largest surrealist object on the world.

Scoots in front of Dali Museum (Yes, those are eggs on the roof)

The art work is extremely unusual with a variety of paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, holograms, installations and jewels.

One of Scoot's many favorites

The roof of one of the museum rooms had a massive painting that reminded me of a trippy version of Michelangelo's Sisteen Chapel. 

Cieilng in on of the meusum rooms

Dali's painting of Cadaques (where we would go that night)

After hours admiring the unique artwork, we drove to our hotel in the nearby fishing village of Cadaques, where Dali used to live.

Gorgeous white walled buildings along the seashore

The sea and sky were beautiful as the sun began to set

As the sun went down, it became very chilly along the water.

Tripod shot

The next day, we drove to our last stop... BARCELONA!  No visit to Barcelona is complete without seeing Antonio Gaudi's Sagrada Famiglia.

The famous cathedral has been under construction since 1882

According to Wikipedia, the interior is designed with "a three-dimensional intersection of helicoidal columns." 

Gaudi was a lover of nature and designed the ceiling to resemble trees with branches and limbs

The light illuminating the stained glass was truly magical (photos cannot truly capture the beauty)

Scoots enjoying Sagrada Familia

We rode the elevator to the top of the Passion Facade Tower for incredible views of the city.

windy

The next day, we rented a scooter from Vesping.com.

Stylish helmets

                         The Vesping owners (born and raised in Barcelona) gave us maps and local tips like where to get the "best" paella.

Seafood Paella at El Glop 

We followed the "super secret" route option on our Vespa's GPS which took us up a windy road high above the city center.

Sick view from a terrifying drive

We had no idea Barceona was so densely populated

Random Spaniards offered to take our picture and told us to "jump!"

Megano can only jump high in her Air Jordans

We truly enjoyed all the plazas, palm trees, and people in Barcelona.

The tasty grilled peppers, manchego cheese and olives were among our favorite Spanish snacks.

A bit greasy but soo tasty

Barcelona also has beautiful beaches and an atmosphere reminiscent of South Beach Miami (club music blaring, models strolling, cocktails flowing)

Happy lobster statue

Gross Ham flavored chips

Scott flew back to Stuttgart and Megano went to Southern Spain to become a certified yoga instructor.  Tales of serenity, soy-based food products, and shavasana...to be continued