Corinne CrawfordNow here is where Alice comes back into the picture. Once we had connected by WhatsApp when I was in Brussels, even though we did not see each other there, we stayed in touch and she happened to be traveling to Spain from France for a short vacation. So I convinced her to come to San Sebastián and after meeting up with her near the beach, we both went to my apartment and got ourselves ready to go back out to the pintxo bars in old town. I had no problem recreating my previous night with a friend along with me. We enjoyed sampling the different items at the various places and added La Vine to get their famous cheesecake and ended our night having a late night beer at pub near my apartment. The next day, because she had a car, we decided to go visit a little village near San Sebastián, Pasai Donabone. Alice had researched “prettiest villages in northern Spain” and this one came up on the list. We followed the directions to the town and found a car park just before the town started. We got out of the car and followed the stone steps leading down to the water. We both were actually quite skeptical at this point because all we could see from this vantage point were basic block apartment buildings and a view of the river port down below lined on both sides with shipping containers and rubble. Maybe we have made an error…. But we kept our faith and kept walking. It didn’t appear to be promising until we got down to the water and noticed in the distance along the river edge some colorful buildings and what looked like a small town square. That’s it! So we kept walking along the river and into the narrow corridors of this tiny village. When we hit the small square- we noticed some pretty shady looking characters sitting at the outdoor tables in front of one of the cafes. Then we noticed a 1930’s vintage car parked in the middle of the square. And then we noticed all of the camera equipment. Turns out they were filming a movie or show or something and the “characters” were all in costume! We continued walking past the square, I guess mainly to see where the path would lead us and we followed a wonderful little trail all along the waterway as it opened up out to the sea. We continued walking as it turned into a trail and we could now see at the end of the point a breakwater and lighthouse at the very end. As we walked further on, we passed three younger girls who promptly told us…. There is nothing at the end, nothing. We thought there was a beach, but it is nothing. A walk to nothing but the end of a point at the entry to the port sounded just what we were looking for so we continued on as far as we could go and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day and the view.
When we got back to the square, the characters and car were gone, filming on another small street about a block from the square. We took at seat at the outdoor terrace at one of the cafes and ordered a beer. Well, we wanted to order a beer but it seems that the staff felt they were quite busy and we had trouble getting anyone to help us. Alice finally went inside to place our order and it didn’t take two long for two beers and the Spanish omelet with fish that she ordered for us to come out. We enjoyed our food and drink and then walked our way back to the car to go back to San Sebastián.
