That being said, lets rewind to Saturday Oct 18th....
With a week off and a whole world to explore, Justin, David & I hopped a cheap Ryanair flight to Barcelona. Getting in late at night, we decided to forgo the hotel / hostel for one night and spend the night wandering the city. After hours of exploration (and strange Indian men seeming to pop up EVERYWHERE hocking Estrella Damm Beer for 50 Euro Cents), we made our way across the city to the beach and sat down there for impending sunrise. Soon after, the smell of freshly baked breads / pastries wafted through the air and we set off for a quick and easy breakfast...
[Now, as a side note, I had a FANTASTIC week in Spain. It was so great to spend a culinary bonanza like that with people like Justin and David that I could happily go into excruciating detail describing every aspect of our week abroad. However, this would be amazing to some and horrendously boring to others, so i'll try and trim it down to the big, meaty points.... mmm, meaty]
Ok, back to Barcelona. =)
SO, after wandering around all night, we were exhausted. We finally got ourselves to the apartment we rented, got settled, and dropped off a ton of our stuff. Shortly after we began our Barcelona blitz, hittin the city hard with a bus tour complete with (smuggled) wine service, gorgeous scenery, and a visit to the chocolate shop of one of the world's premier pastry chefs Oriol Balaguer. We even found ourselves an Italian Aperitivo Bar in Barcelona one evening and couldn't resist getting a little taste of our (new) Italain home while away.
After 3 days of Barcelona, it was time to bid "Adios" to Catalonia, and hit the road for San Sebastian, a 5 hour drive across Northern Spain into the Basque Region. To do so, we headed back to the airport and picked up the 3rd Fiat Punto i've rented yet. (Gotta say, for a cheap car with lots of space you've gotta love the Punto!! OK ok, enough of my shameless plugs) After a few hours on the road, hunger set in and a quick meal was in order. We stopped in a random town along the way, and had an amazing (3 course) meal for an astoundingly cheap 9 Euro. Shortly after, we were back on the road, and found ourselves passing the town of Pamplona. Without being able to resist, we pulled off the highway and spent a bit driving around Pamplona, getting a quick bite to eat, and enjoying the fact that the car would afford us all kinds of opportunities like that should we want them.
Not long after Pamplona, we arrived in San Sebastian. Our hostel was positioned right off the beach in a great location, and was filled with so many twenty-somethings that it basically functioned as an overseas college dorm. The town itself was an amazing blend of history, extremely thoughtful (and aesthetically pleasing) architecture, incredibly nice people, and knock-out food. We spent the majority of our time wandering around the harbor / old city, exploring the mountain roads overlooking the area, getting to know (and going out with) the other kids in the hostel, and mentally prepping ourselves for arguably the best restaurant experience any of us had encountered in our entire lives.
That being said, the meal i'm referring to is one we enjoyed at a restaurant called Arzak. I can only describe to you a small percentage of what the actual meal was like, but suffice it to say it's one we won't be one any of us'll forget for a LONG time. Essentially, this is a restaurant that already sits on the list of the top ten restaurants in the world. It's tasting menu is a comprehensive tour of the culinary play that Juan Mari and his daughter Elena has created and maintained for MANY years. (Arzak recieved it's 3rd Michelin Star in 1989 and has held it since) That menu alone is fantastic and needs no adjustment. Fortunately though, I had the incredible fortune of being put in touch with the Maitre D' through a great friend of mine, and as such got to hear something everyone dreams of hearing at a restaurant of that calibre, "Put your menus away, If you'll allow us, we've prepared something special for you."
21 Plates later, we were satiated with probably the best meal that has graced my pallet. During the meal itself Juan Mari personally visited the table TWICE to ask how the meal was progressing, and at the end, we were privy to a private tour of the kitchen and the wine cellar. To put it bluntly, I was completely beside myself. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, as the restaurant was breaking down and cleaning up, the Maitre D' asked us "So, are you staying in San Sebastian." To which I of course replied "Oh yeah, right down on the beach." "Great" he said, "What are your plans for tomorrow?" HAH! "As of yet, nothing. We're just planning on wandering around the city and taking it easy." I replied. "Ok, well if you'd like to come back at around noon I'd love to show you around the Labratory where we develop all of our ideas."
...Umm, wow. Not bad eh? So yeah, all in all it was an incredible culinary experience. I'm extremely grateful to the people of Arzak as a whole, and I can't wait to bestow something like that upon a fan of mine one day.
That afternoon, we rode out the two day high that was our meal, finished up our time seeing the sites of San Sebastian, and tied up our trip with a last-hoorah with most of the kids in the hostel.
As we drove back to the airport the next morning we were a little banged up and happy to just listen to our two favorite roadtrip cd's (Mute Math - Mute Math, & The Killers - Hot Fuss) and silently reflect on one hell of a trip. There were so many stories and jokes to remember I can only hope we keep reminding ourselves how great a time we had.
I know it's only scratching the surface, but here are a tiny tiny few of the 906 photos that fully describe our week in Spain:
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| SPAIN 3.0 |
ENJOY!
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