Day 1 - Monday
Morning: Arrival
Evening Activity: Dinner in a Cider House!
Basque food is renowned as the best in Spain. But the region's cider houses are a well-guarded secret.
Txotx! That's Basque for 'here comes the cider! The cider shoots out from the opened tap of one of the huge oak kegs, called kupelas, hits a tilted glass and erupts into a straw-coloured fizz.
Sargadoa, or cider in Basque, is best drunk at once on the spot beside the kupelas to enjoy a full dry, fruity but sharp taste with a whiff of pure apples and the fizz of cider bubbles. Basque cider is 100 percent natural which means it is not carbonised and no sugar is added during fermentation.
Cider drinking is combined with a traditional sumptuous spread of oval-shaped cod-filled omelettes followed by huge, bloody, steaks. You will sit on long wooden tables and share the food placed on one single dish. Diners regularly get up from their tables in between to fetch limitless amounts of cider.
Traditional cider house Menu: cod- filled omelette, grilled steaks, cheese with quince paste and nuts but also the following bacalao dishes- baked cod with peppers and onions, baked cod in green sauce, baked cod in tomatoe sauce, Pil- Pil baked cod with chilli peppers. A dessert speciality is home made cuajada, a delicious sheep's milk based yogurt type served with cider based caramel sauce. This is just indicative of the delights that you may receive!
Day 2 - Tuesday
Morning: 2 hours Spanish lessons
Afternoon: 1.5 hours Surf instruction (the rest of the afternoon is free to continue surfing, shopping, lazing on the beach or practicing your Spanish)
Evening Activity: The famous San Sebastian Pintxos crawl!
Never ever call them tapas! In the Basque area of Northern Spain Tapas are known as Pintxos and according the the locals are far superior to the southerners bite-sized evening delights. We will take you on a crawl of some of San Sebastians finest Pintxo bars in the Parte Vieja, a densely packed grid of narrow, pedestrianised streets full of dozens of the best Pintxo bars in the world.
Some of the best Pintxos bars in San Sebastian (to whet your appetite!):
- A good place to start for traditional pintxos is Juanaenea (formerly Gaztelu), near the Plaza de la Constitución (31 de Agosto, 22). Try deep-fried gambas (shrimps), bonito tuna and anchovies on baguettes, and seared foie gras. Pintxos start at about £1.
- Chefs Alex Montiel and Iñaki Gulin offer salt cod fried in beer batter, shot glasses of tepid garlic soup with Idizabal cheese, and foie gras swimming in a parsley sauce at La Cuchara de San Telmo (31 de Agosto, 28). The average price of a pintxo is £2.
- Bar Bergara (General Artetxe, 8) is a ten-minute walk from the centre of town in the barrio of Gros. Sample the bikote, a mix of vinegar and oil-marinated anchovies and chillies on a toasted baguette. Pintxos start at £1.
- Known for its mushroom pintxos, Bar Ganbara (San Jerónimo, 21) also offers tarts stuffed with onions, carrots and txangurro (spider crab), and two-bite mini-croissants stuffed with jabugo ham and smoked salmon. Pintxos cost between £1 and £2.
- Txepetxa (Pescadería, 5) is the place for anchovies marinated and served with sea urchin roe, black olive paste or even papaya strips, all on slices of baguette. It’s also one of the best places to sample la Gilda, San Sebastián’s signature pintxo of anchovies, chillies, and olives on a toothpick. Anchovy pintxos from around £1.50.
Day 3 - Wednesday
Morning: 2 hours Spanish lessons
Afternoon: 1.5 hours Surf instruction (the rest of the afternoon is free to continue surfing, shopping, lazing on the beach or practicing your Spanish)
Evening Activity: Dinner at a Gastronomic Society
Gastronomic societies are an institution unique to the Basque country, and particularly to San Sebastián. In existence for the last century or so, they are a place where men (until very recently, they were exclusively the domain of men) go to gather to cook, eat, drink and discuss cooking, eating, drinking and inevitably politics and football. Basques spend about half of a conversation discussing foodie matters, such as where to get the best pintxos or a good recipe for marmitako (a traditional fisherman's stew). The typical gastronomic society has a long waiting list with spaces only becoming available when a member passes away - don't worry we'll get lead you into a world of Basque gastronomic delights, all included in the price of our trip!
Day 4 - Thursday
Morning: 2 hours Spanish lessons
Afternoon: 1.5 hours Surf instruction (the rest of the afternoon is free to continue surfing, shopping, lazing on the beach or practicing your Spanish)
Evening Activity: Paella dinner at Lolo's
Paella is currently an internationally-known rice dish from Spain. It originated in the fields of a region called Valencia in eastern Spain. Today paella is made in every region of Spain, using just about any kind of ingredient that goes well with rice. There are as many versions of paella as there are cooks. It may contain chicken, pork, shellfish, fish, eel, squid, beans, peas, artichokes or peppers. Saffron, the spice that also turns the rice a wonderful golden color is an essential part of the dish.
There is an old story of how the Moorish kings’ servants created rice dishes by mixing the left-overs from royal banquets in large pots to take home. It is said by some that that word paella originates from the Arab word “baqiyah” meaning left-overs. In any case Lolo's Paella is legendary and will no doubt be washed down with many glasses of vino tinto (red wine). Enjoy!
Day 5 - Friday
Morning: 2 hours Spanish lessons
Afternoon: 1.5 hours Surf instruction (the rest of the afternoon is free to continue surfing, shopping, lazing on the beach or practicing your Spanish)
Evening: Farewell Party
In the evening we will have a farewell party and hit some of San Sebastian's nightspots. La Parte Vieja, The Old Part, is a maze of bars, clubs, and some of the best restaurants in Spain you might pop into one of the clubs that decorate the area for a ‘copa’, a strong mixed drink. Here you can party the night away, dancing to the latest music, or some Spanish classics until around 3:30 in the morning , when The Old Part shuts down so the residents can actually get some sleep! For the die-hard partygoers, this is no cause for worry, as the party picks up in other parts of the city where it left off in The Old Part. Illumbe is the biggest after hours zone in San Sebastian, with a dozen clubs staying open until 6 or 7 in the morning. Here there is typically no cover fee, as there is at most clubs in Spain, meaning that you can go from club to club to see which one best suits you. Illumbe is about a 15 or 20 minute walk from The Old Part, or a 5€ cab ride. Buses also deliver partygoers from The Old Part to Illumbe. For those who don’t want to make the trip to Illumbe, San Sebastian’s most famous club, Bataplan, is a mere 5 minute walk from The Old Part. This beautiful club can fit almost 1000 people at capacity, and has a stunning terrace that stretches onto La Concha Beach, allowing for an incredible clubbing experience.
For those interested in a more alternative scene, the dozen or so bars around the Buen Pastor Cathedral, located next to The Old Part, provide a more relaxed ambience, with quality lounge music and nicely decorated interiors. El Barrio Gros, located on the other side of the Urumea River, a 5 minute walk from the Old Part, features a diverse nightlife, with everything from Irish Pubs, to Retro bars.
Day 6
A tearful goodbye after breakfast and a short transfer to Biarritz airport to connect with the Ryanair flight (if you need it!) You could also hop on the Western Loop and travel up to Paris - click here for more details.