Across the Border - San Sebastián

Our first border crossing, slightly disappointing with no formalities what so ever, in fact you could blink and miss the 'Welcome To Spain' sign. However, we made it across the first border in our slightly unpredictable and at times temperamental camper van so we have that to be grateful for.

Crossing the border 

We drove 53 miles from Biaritz on the west coast of France to San Sebastián on the north coast of Spain. It looked a lot like Portsmouth at first, big university buildings and high rise office blocks, we weren't really taken by it. We drove around in circles whilst the sat nav continually told us to make a u-turn and directed us to the same piece of grass over and over again before we spotted a cluster of shiny white roofs with large satelite dishes and top boxes, an Aires. Only the second we've stayed on but we decided when we left France we would ease ourselves into wild camping gently. We found a spot a paid our €3.20 for the night and attempted to get settled (as settled as you can in a car park). Staying on an Aires is without a doubt a much more sociable experience than staying on any campsite, within 5 minutes of arriving we were approached by a long haired, wirey bearded slightly bedraggled looking man, he introduced himself as Mike and told us in detail about his long standing love affair with San Sebastián, although we'd only just arrived we couldn't see the fascination and were already planning where to go next. Mike asked where we were from and when he said he knew Fareham we were a little taken aback, he then went on to tell us that he was from Southsea, small world!! 

Next we got chatting to an elderly Irish couple who were making their way back to Calais to sail home after 4 months travelling the coast of Spain.  Obviously much more experienced than us they explained how they had only paid to stay on two or three campsites in the entire time they had been away, this came as a bit of a shock to us seeing as we had been spending 15-20€ per night since we arrived in France. It was then that we made the decision to wild camp as much as we possibly can all the time the weather is good and we are able to find safe spots to stay at. 

Finally we met another couple, around the same age as us, Claire and Scott. From Ireland but living in Australia. Much like us they are traveling Europe in an old camper, they planned thier route based on festivals they are going to in Portugal, Serbia, Croatia and Germany. We swapped numbers and hope to meet up again in a few weeks in Portugal. 

Still not enthrawled by San Sebastián we went for a walk to kill some time, as soon as we passed the university buildings and office blocks we found ourselves in a street lined with busy shops, cafés, bars and beautiful appartments. There were children absolutely everywhere, it's no wonder the Spanish are so good at football, no sooner than they can walk they're kicking a ball about using shop signs and cafe chairs for goalposts. We walked along the a gorgeous beach, prestine gold sand and aqua blue sea, under a bridge where an old man was playing the saxophone and through well kept gardens to the top if the cliff where you could see right around the bay. Thinking that we wanted to see more we decided to stay an extra night, the next day we walked through the busy streets down towards the beach again, there was a huge crowd of people gathered in the street and traffic police had closed the road, following the loud music towards the fuss we found a jive group dancing in pairs and encouraging passers by to join in. We were beginning to see Mike's fascination with the place.

The beach at San Sebastián

Pretty apartment blocks, San Sebastián 

We stopped at a couple of bars on the way back for a few beers and were delighted to learn than the Spanish are big on dishing out free appetisers. We were given some chicken wings and bread and a strange although delicious little concoction. A cross between coleslaw and potato salad which had olives, egg and prawns in it. This explanation really doesn't do it much justice but it was very tasty. We went back down to the beach with an ice cream and watched some surfers for a while before heading back to another bar for a couple more drinks. We went back to the camper and had dinner and some sangria before falling asleep about 7pm. 

Supermarket Sangria (2€) 

The next morning we woke to a scene that resembled The Hangover. Both bleary eyed, trying to piece together exactly what happened and how our camper van looked like a bomb had hit it we cleared up and set off for Bilbao.