San Sebastion - Donostia

The train was busy so we were glad of reserved seats.  We saw a pilgrim girl from Colorado who was alone, carrying a pack that was literally as big as she was! Her plan was to camp, we were all thinking she would be throwing stuff out along the way. The train is a great way to travel, as long as you can find the dining car, which we did eventually...thanks Sandy for persevering, the tea was lovely and cost just as much as the next train fare! The trip was about 4 1/2 hours stopping at little villages all the way to Hundaye, where we got off the train, walked about 50 steps to Irun and we were basically in Spain.  There were about 12 more stops in tiny villages and we reached San Sebastian, or as the basques call it Donostia.  The drill is, follow the sortie signs once off the train....when we disembarked Jan and Sandy immediately threw their tickets in the trash, a mistake as they discovered they were needed to exit the platform, back they ran to rummage the trash! They found their tickets and I caught them on camera...it was a good laugh! We emerged in San Sebastian and could immediately see it was a lovely tidy town. After a 5 minutes walk we were at the cathedral and from their we found our pension. From our room window, just above the shopping street we can see the cathedral.  By the time we check in and dump our packs, try to get online, it is time to walk about ---down to the beach and out for tapas.  We chose 4 different bars. in the first we had the special wine that the region is known for (forget the name right now!) it is blanco! The bartender pours it from a great height - not sure if this is for effect or taste.  All very theatrical!  A lot of the tapas are seafood related, San Sebastion being known as a foodie city, prawns, crab, mussels, calamari, the special potatoes, bread, cheese, egg - and not a vegetable in sight unless you count potatoes. This was repeated four times - we are fattening up for the walk! which will begin day after tomorrow. Bed and checking messages ensued then sleep.