By Emma Krasov. Photography by Yuri Krasov
For an American tourist, discovering San Sebastian, Spain, is a mighty royal affair. Beautiful wide boulevards, endless avenues lined with chestnut and linden trees, artful bridges adorned with sculpted horses and spherical lanterns are all nostalgic markers of the glamorous past, when during World War I European royal families used to retreat here for their summer outings instead of the neighboring Biarritz in then war-torn France.
San Sebastian, or Donostia in Basque language, is a midsize city in the Basque Country (Euskal Herria), which is sprawled on both sides of the Pyrenees in Spain and France. Even though people here speak at least three languages, their native Basque sounds very different from any known language of Romance or Germanic groups, spoken in most European countries. Likewise, folk music and dances, legends, holidays, and rituals are unlike any others, found in the surrounding regions.
In addition to its distinct cultural profile, the city of San Sebastian boasts an enviable geographical location on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, at the foot of Mount Urgull, crowned with a "Sacred Heart" statue of Jesus Christ.
And yet, despite this embarrassment of riches, coming to the Basque Country JUST FOR FOOD shouldn't surprise anyone remotely familiar with the art of pintxos; with the pure indulgence of young and fresh Txakoli wines, and with the world-famous Basque apple cider, poured into your glass in a very special manner—from high above!
San Sebastian Ultimate Pintxos & Wine Tour, implemented by the Devour Tours/Walks, would be the best way to explore the gastronomic paradise of the San Sebastian Old Town, where you find'll yourself in a maze of narrow cobblestone streets, as if doubly blessed by the tall tower of the Neo-Gothic Good Shepherd Cathedral on one side and the Baroque Saint Mary's Basilica on the other.
A charismatic and knowledgeable guide (in this reporter's case, a native of San Sebastian, with the Basque name Gorka) educates a small group of participants—usually about 8 people—on the history of the city and the many significant events that led to its present glory as a culinary center of the Basque Country with the mind-boggling amount of Michelin-starred restaurants, before embarking on a gustatory adventure like no other.
The local bars, most of which have been here for dozens of years, are equipped with long behind-the-glass counters, where they proudly display their pintxos—the colorful multi-ingredient finger food treats, based upon a slice of baguette-like white bread that serves as an edible mini-plate. The most popular parts of elaborate constructions, skewered and held together by long tooth picks, would be the world-famous Iberian ham, sheep and goat cheeses, shrimp and prawns, sardines, anchovies, octopus, chorizo sausage, grilled steak, mushrooms, sweet and hot peppers, pickled and marinated veggies, and various combinations of hearty salads in mayonnaise.
Usually there are also "plates," available for larger portions of steamed mussels, fried calamari, patatas bravas, ox tails, or beef cheeks with mashed potatoes.
All pintxos meals are accompanied by beer, wine, or the trademark apple cider, and Old Town bar hopping is also a great way to mingle with the locals who made it a time-honored tradition to meet up with friends and neighbors at these cozy, always festive and bustling, popular bars.
For us, coming from California, and being used to sometimes overly generous restaurant meals, inventive and refreshingly delicate pintxos seemed a great way to have all the freedom to try many different things, and to define a portion size according to our own desires. Plus, after trying all the savory morsels, offered at the Old Town bars, we always had room for a special dessert—Basque burnt cheesecake, invented right here, in San Sebastian!
Devour San Sebastian tours do their very best to accommodate an array of dietary restrictions. The company invites vegetarians, pescatarians, consumers of gluten free (not celiacs), dairy free, and non-alcoholic fare, and pregnant women to get suitable substitutes for whatever they aren't eating.
Our Devour San Sebastian tour has been a part of TBEX Europe 2024 travel bloggers' conference, which we attended in late May.
To learn more about this tour, visit https://devourtours.com/tours/san-sebastian-ultimate-pintxos-wine-tour/?cnt=US; Devour tours: https://devourtours.com/; Walks: https://www.takewalks.com/; TBEX conference: https://tbexcon.com/.
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