Europe 2011 V4 - Food Life V49 - The Basque Country

During my Spain excursion I visited San Sebastian, in the Basque Country which is a autonomous community up north and was granted its own nationality within Spain back in late 70s. They speak their own language, have their own traditions and just generally want nothing to do with Spain.

And they drink over there, ALOT. First night there I barely had a chance to drop my bags when some lively locals insisted I join them for some wine and pintxos. Now, pintxos is Basque Country's answer to tapas and is the second of 2 reasons why I even marked San Sebastian on my travel map. First reason is that it's one of my fathers favorite citys in the world, and now I know why.

The concept is sublime. You go to a bar and its laced with dozens and dozens of different dishes. Little bites. All sorts of sea food, cured meats, veggies grilled and roasted, cheeses - basically anything and EVERYTHING you would want to eat while drinking right there and then. You just grab a plate, fill it up with what you want, show it to the bartender, he grabs and heats up what needs to be heated up, charges you and off you go. The next few days I spent just shlepping my way from a bar to a bar eating silly. The smell of these places was intoxicating. Can you say Jamon a million different ways. YES! Without a doubt, I'm going back to San Sebastian.

And just to put that fresh cherry on top, there happens to be some sort of a college in San Sebastian, which, needless to say, made for some fuckin OFF THE CHAIN dance clubs right along the beach front. Where am I from you ask? NEW YORK, BROOKLYN. Yea, I love it to! Come visit! ;P

Tweet