San Sebastián & Bilbao, Spain
1 August – 2 August 2019
Just when we thought we were getting the hang of driving in Europe, we entered the city of San Sebastian. Cars stopping on a dime, motorcycles rushing in between lanes, pedestrians crossing at random places and times, and one way roads without clear marks…. so stressful! We had read before coming on this trip that the busiest months were the summer months (obviously), but we did not expect things to be THIS busy. Driving is difficult here without people around, so imagine how overwhelming it can be with tons of tourists mixed in! San Sebastián was POPPING, which really made it hard for us to find a parking spot for the night.
The lot we had our eyes on was completely full, so we used our “park4night” app to find another spot. We turned down a couple options as they were right in the middle of the city and there were some reviews saying they had been broken into. So we settled for a windy backroad up a mountain where we found a space with a view showing a sneak peek of the ocean. It also had a restroom with running water, but the sink didn’t drain and the open roof allowed for the rain to soak the floor and toilet.
TIP: Always bring your own paper to the public toilet. You never know if there will be any. It may not even be a real toilet. It may just be a flushable hole in the ground. Haha! Oh, and don’t flush the butt wipes – big no, no!
That next morning, we drove to the city of Bilbao to do some shopping for the van and buy some clothes. We also went swimming at a beach just outside of the city. Our newly purchased goggles and fins came in handy! However, I lost my new goggles as well as my silicon wedding band to the crashing ocean waves… so it was bittersweet.
This was also our first experience with Spanish beaches, and beach-goers. So, we saw our fair share of topless women and even some banana hammocks. We actually thought that this part of the culture was pretty cool. You could tell nobody really thinks twice about it and that it was just a normal thing. So no one was staring or being shy because it’s simply the cultural norm. Sorry, no pictures 😉
We finally retired for the night in a busy parking lot near the beach that stole my belongings. We had bought Durums from a small shop in town for dinner. They were supposed to be Döners because Ben has been craving them, but we accidentally ordered the wrong thing in the confusion over the language. It was still delicious.
Syd & Ben
Vaughan_Ventures 