Our last stop on our big adventure was the beautiful Basque city of San Sebastian. We’d tried to stop in the city in 2021 for an al fresco lunch en route to Monaco. Reader, we failed. The narrow streets, pedestrianised areas and one way roads left me squealing and Mr G tearing out his last hair with frustration. 

This time we were prepared. We parked the teal-mobile in a little campervan-only parking lot/campsite on the outskirts of San Sebastian, which was way cheaper than any of the car parks. After doing battle with the pay and display we headed to hotel heaven in the old town. 

After all those weeks a deux, we met up with some great friends for our final weekend of pintxos and fun. The Patmores were looking all holiday chic and fabulous, we were looking like… well, a couple in the midst of a mid-life crisis who needed to pay more attention to personal grooming! However, a complimentary glass of champagne, enormous bed, fluffy robes, Bic razor and many, many scented toiletries later we were fully deforested and ready to venture out on the town. 

Pintxos please

San Sebastian is known as one of the world’s top foodie capitals and the restaurants lived up to their billing. The city is famous for its pintxos- small finger foods that are typically served in bars throughout the Basque Country. They’re similar to tapas, but tend to be smaller and have classically been served on a small slice of bread, although modern pintxos are more varied and not quite as relentlessly carby. Julie found an incredible pintxos tour around the old town, with a guide ensuring we visited the best taverns, bypassed the hovering hordes to get tables, and selected the signature dishes from each chef. It was an extraordinary exploration of the local food culture, so many delicious and diverse morsels. Previously I’ve never known what to order, so sampling pintxos seemed like a bit of a bushtucker trial. This really took the guesswork out of it, and with local wine, beer and fizz with friends it was the perfect way to end ‘Ice cold in Istanbul.’

Quick hotel comment: We stayed in the Lasala Plaza in the heart of the old town.

The good bits: It was a beautiful building in a perfect location with stunning sea views. There was a fabulous rooftop pool and bar- the perfect spot for a spritz in the sun.

The bad bits: There was quite a bit of a sunbed hogging, with many occupied for hours by lone towels and the odd bottle of sun-cream. It was also over budget, well over budget. In fact it was the most significant below-the-line-exceptional-expense of the trip, and as you may have noticed, there have been a few of those. Suffice to say as well as being slow with blogging, I may have overlooked my spreadsheet duties when in San Seb. I can’t even share the costs here, because I may have glossed over some of the finer financial details with Mr G. Mr G, if you’re still reading- don’t panic! I took on a work project to finish on the ferry home which helped me cook balance the books.