After breakfast, we met our local tour leader, whose name was pronounced “Jo-nay.” As were our previous local guides, she was extremely knowledgeable. She told us that people from her town love food, and they also love exercising, such as by participating in marathons, hiking, and swimming. In fact, she said she had swum across Concha Bay  and has hiked the entire Camino, but she did sections of it on different days rather than all at once.

I noticed that the locals are very patient. Drivers wait calmly while groups of pedestrians cross the streets slowly. As we walked in the rain, Jonay pointed out the neoclassical architecture as well as the Baroque and Gothic churches, a beautifully landscaped public park, and the Mercado de la Brexta (the public market). There, we were fascinated  by the many varieties of  fresh fish available, the assortment of raw sheep’s milk cheeses, the desserts and the fresh produce. Fresh pasta was being made there, too. Workers were doing their jobs proudly, including  keeping the public toilets clean and being polite to shoppers. As a former New Yorker, Grand Central Station’s workers should take notice!

The main square in the center of the old part of  town, called Plaza de la Constitución,  held bullfights in previous times.

Our group split up, with everyone looking for just the right place to get just the right pintxos. Nick wanted a salad, and Todd recommended a place to get a good one.  We found the right cafe, and we joined others from our group at a table. By now we knew the system: work your way through the locals to the counter, get the attention of the wait staff, point to something cold, or ask for something hot to be prepared. Our pintxos were ham and cheese, crab salad topped with caviar, and egg salad topped with shrimp, each presented artistically on a slice of a baguette. Nick ordered a salad, which was assembled on the spot, with lettuce, very thin slices of onion, slices of hard boiled egg, and fresh tuna. Wedecided that it was big enough for us to share. Someone in our group ordered fries with her salad. The fries were small cubes of potato.The cheesecake was light and delicious. I bought a palmier cookie topped with white chocolate at the market  that was big enough for me to share with Nick on our way back to our hotel.

After a rest, we decided to walk to the city’s aquarium. We saw displays of San Sebastián’s past there, especially ship building, whaling, fishing, privateering and pirating. Then we walked through a forty-five foot long tunnel that was a tank, with fish in the water on all sides of us. It contains more than thirty species of local sea life. There are  smaller tanks holding octopus, jellyfish, and clownfish. When children saw the clownfish, they began to shout excitedly, “Nemo! Dory!”

While walking along the bay, we came to a restaurant that had table service. We took advantage of it. We ordered fried, lightly breaded calamari, and grilled scallops that were served in their shells with olive oil. We walked back to our hotel, stopping for helado (ice cream).  Then we packed up to be ready for our trip to Bilbao the following day.

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