Our last day in the city and we made the most of it. We found a little market and bought cheese (for Eric) and bread (for myself) which I used for toast the next several days – yummy.
The beach along the bay had different activity this morning – sports.
Our goal today was the San Sebastian Cathedral as it is commonly referred to or the full name is Cathedral of the Good Shepherd of San Sebastian.
Its construction took place in the last years of the 19th century in a Neo-Gothic style. One of the most astonishing features of this cathedral is the bell tower, standing at 75 meters and is one of the tallest points in San Sebastian.
Once inside, it is imposing.
One of the first chapels on the right held this clock. I haven’t seen one of those spaces dedicated in this way.
naturally there a multitude of stained glass windows.
I discovered another set of windows with this anchor, undoubtedly closely linked to the people of San Sebastian.
One of the highly ornamented chapels:
Lately I’ve started noticing the columns of these churches and all of the extra ornamentation. Always someone watchng the congregation – be it person or beast.
As we were leaving the building and area, the bells started ringing.
One thing I discovered on the internet about the Cathedral I found interesting. They have a subterranean pumping machine in their basement to prevent flooding in San Sebastian. The presence of this underground infrastructure demonstrates the historical significance of the cathedral in the city and its ability to adapt to the community’s needs. They are intertwined amongst crucial moments of Spanish history. During the Spanish Civil War, the cathedral as a field hospital.
A number of hours had passed since our food tour the previous night and it was time for mourishment. Eric wanted a repeat from an earlier foray – pig ear.
He was happy with his selection, and I ate another braised beef cheek – such a hardship, not!
We revisted the place with the ‘potato salad’ and saw another pintxos being prepared – we wanted one. Tomatoes with tuna – delicious!
Another stop at the Oyster place, which I discovered I never got a photo of the outside. We were there so much, the guy recognized us – by us, I mean Eric and Adrienne.
Believe it or not, we were trying to hold back. We had dinner reservations at a seafood restaurant tonight and wanted to go with a (semi) empty stomach.
It was a good restaurant. I wouldn’t call it fantastic, but with so much food and michelin stars around, what is ‘good’ is relative. There were a few reasons Eric wanted to eat here. First were the barnacles. It would be a first for Eric and truthfully, there’s not many new things he hasn’t tasted.
Okay, interesting. We asked the best way to get to the meat and a manager came over to show us. Don’t think I mentioned, we were the only ones in the restaurant. Our reservation was when it opened – which is way too early for locals to eat. Actually, they did seat us and let us order wine before they opened and we could order.
Back to the barnacles. Did I eat them? Yes, and here’s proof.
The had a special item on their menu that we got for sharing. Crab was the main component. It was okay. Truth be told, I would have rather eaten more of the barnacles.
Here is the second reason Eric wanted to eat here……………………Turbot. First, they brought out the uncooked fish, sharing its weight and cost. Yes, they wanted it. I say ‘they’ as this is a dish for two. Adrienne was all in and wanted to be part of the ‘two’.
It was served table-side.
What did I eat? Shrimp and frites. Both were good.
This was to be our last night in San Sebastian.
We packed and cleaned up the apartment, basically pulling together our recyclables and items to throw away. In the morning, drinking our coffee, we heard clapping. Looked outside our window and saw this.
A few minutes later, groups of runners arrived.
The photos were taken from our apartment – a great locaiton by the way for eating and walking. We hope to be back to San Sebastian for more food adventures.
Darden Travels 