Relaxation before the storm of home!

At the Peines del Viento Sculptures at the end of Ondaretta Beach

Zurriola
¨Clásica de San Sebastián¨
Txampi con foie
Bon Jovi
Helene and I taking a break from bike riding along Zurriola Beach
Bon Jovi Open Air!!!!!!
A great shot of Buen Pastor Cathedral on a clear day :)

The past two days I must admit have not been filled with anything but pleasure! Friday was one of the best days I have had in recent memory for no other reason than I felt very relaxed all day long. Life can´t get much better than Friday. The morning started with a 30 minute jog turning into a 45 minute jog, just to enjoy the sunshine the day had to offer. My next mission was to find a Bon Jovi ticket at FNAC, the local Best Buy type store. After spending some time there, and also purchasing a CD and movie for my classroom, I headed toward Zurriola, ¨the surfer beach¨to read a little, and soak in the rays. Laying on the beach is not something I can do for hours, but I was so relaxed, and enjoyed listening to the conversations of the people around me, and what they talked about amongst themselves, while hearing the waves crash, and feeling the breeze that provided a nice balance of weather, not too hot, not too cold that I spent a couple of hours there. I secretly had a motive for wanting to go to Zurriola beach, because it is in the neighborhood of Gros, which is also where my favorite pintxo is found, in a restaurant called Senra. So, of course, I headed there, and ordered Txampi con foie, or foie (duck liver) with mushrooms on top, smothered in a light ali oli sauce, and drizzled with vinegar, olive oil, and maybe parsley. When a food melts in your mouth, I think you have the right to use the expression. This literally ¨melts in your mouth¨and has a rich flavor that must be soaked up with the basket of bread also given to you at any restaurant (nearly) for every meal. I was also engaged in conversation with a, shall we say, frequent visitor to the restaurant I would assume, who had once lived in San Francisco. Not the most in depth conversation, but it was conversation J. I cannot say how many times over the last year that I have thought about eating Txampi con foie, which Lisa and I always used as a motivator to get through studying, or to treat ourselves to. Absolutely in my mind a delicacy in this town. As for the walk home, I opted for the Spanish style, or window shopping to be exact. However, I didn´t just window shop, I shopped. It started with the purchase of a necklace for myself (red and gold detail…West Valley gear), and spiraled into…well…a couple other necklaces and earrings, a couple of books I need to find time to read, and then a stop at the Buen Pastor Cathedral shop to make a purchase for my goddaughter Kendall, who will be baptized next week. I made it my mission on this trip to not leave the shopping until the end, or I knew I wouldn´t do it. Suffice to say, I think I should be done J.

The day was capped off with the best concert I have been to in my life, which I never thought I´d say after seeing my man George Strait multiple times. I didn´t realize how many Bon Jovi songs were hits that I actually knew, but I guess that is what happens when you have been singing for three decades. My 22 Euro ticket was worth every euro, as my seat was near the stage, but on the side, so although I couldn´t see the whole big screen, it didn´t matter. Bon Jovi, clad in a brown leather jacket and million dollar smile, opened with ¨Raise your hands¨, to which everyone did just that, and to my astonishment, sang every word as well. From infants to youth to adolescents and adults, to ¨mayores¨ (older people), everyone in the Anoeta stadium rocked and danced to nearly every song for two hours, including ¨Living on a prayer¨, or as the Spanish sang when Bon Jovi directed the microphone toward the crowd, ¨Leeeeving on a prayer.¨ Chants of ¨Olé, olé, olé, olé¨prompted Bon Jovi to come back out for the encoure to sing another five songs! Then, as he and the band tried once again to leave, he proclaimed San Sebastián ¨the city that is never satisfied¨, grabbed his guitar, and preceeded to sing three more songs. When chants of ¨otra, otra, otra¨ began to spread among the 35,000 people present, Bon Jovi´s smile hinted that he couldn´t leave the stage yet, and when he said, ¨Aren´t you ready to go home yet San Sebastián?¨and not one person had moved from their seat, he indulged the crowd in another two songs before officially having to leave the stage. All in all, he sang a solid two and a half hours, and seemingly felt guilty for leaving the stage after all that time with such a captivated audience. Strinking for me was the dedication he showed his fans, and his passion for what he does, and he could never quite say ¨no¨to playing another song because he knew he was a crowd pleaser. Also, as a foreigner at a concert given by someone from my own country, easy to be seen was the uniting of people from wherever throughout the world through music. We were all singing the same songs, and enjoying the same experience, although from all different walks of life. Around me was a pregnant woman and her husband, a younger couple Spanish couple, a middle age Spanish couple, and in front, a group of four lower twenties Spanish girls who chain smoked and danced the night away to every song, and then me, a two week visitor to a city, and a region in the world that has captivated me. Walking out of the stadium, I hopped on Bus 5 to Antiguo, like a local, and was reflecting on the night before getting off at my stop 10 minutes later, and how much I have learned about this place in the last year and a half. Two young ladies who showed the bus driver their address and got off the bus presumibly in the wrong spot, reminded me of what once was, before having a pretty good dominiation of the city. I felt like a Donositarra.

Still riding off the high from the night before, and waking up singing Bon Jovi, I joined the family for a day of biking the town. The Clásica de Donosita, or San Sebastián annual bike race, started at 11 on the streets of Donostia, so in the spirit, we too hopped on our bikes. We caught the racers about five minutes into their race, and then continued on our own, along the bike paths that I always had the desire to use, but never had a bike. We rode to the Sagues neighborhood at the end of Zurriola beach. Present were Helene, Ana, Xavier, and Xabier´s brother Iván. From there, we breaked for a coffee, and Ana and Helene rode to Helene´s swim lessons at the pool on the beach, while Iván and I followed Xabier on a guided bike tour around the entire city of Donosita. At several points, I had no idea where we were, save for the occasional view of Monte Urgull in the distance. Last year, they had been reconstructing several of the bridges and paths, so I had never been in several of the neighborhoods before. Everyday here has been a new experience! After returning with an appetite, Xabier prepared bocadillos (sanwiches on baguette rolls) of iberian ham, tuna, lettuce, and tomato, with a garlic mayonaise. Although a sandwich on half of a baguette is more than plenty, we all finished with full bellies, and then headed to the beach! We walked to Playa Ondaretta, claimed our spot, and didn´t move for about four hours, except to get into the water, roll over, or stand up to stretch out. Another completely relaxing day, and I left astonished at how the time had passed; we left the beach at 8:00 pm, just as the sun had started to wane. An enjoyable three hour dinner starting with sidra, iberian ham and bread, garlic olives from Corning, sauteed vegetables, and ribs with sidra sauce. Coupled with great conversation, and ice cream for dessert, who could ask for more?!!!!!