Day 31, July 23

San Sebastian is hosting a 5 day Jazz Fest.  We went to see Chick Corea, Lenny White, and Jean Luc Ponty in Return to Forever.  The old guys are still really amazing.  Not sure that Brendan fully appreciated the show...

Day 30, July 22

Jacqueline and Brendan had their last day of Spanish camp today.  The camp offers both a Spanish and an English language program. The Spanish program remarkably had many kids from California.  However, Jacqueline made a French friend who was learning Spanish as her third language.  We had gelato to celebrate.

Day 29, July 21

I went on an eating tour of the old town today.  Our guide led us through the market and talked about local produce, then took us to several of the small bars which serve tapas, known in Basque as Pintxos.  In the bars, there are large platters filled with these fingers foods.  They are generally loaded onto a slice of bread, or held togetehr with a toothpick.  You help yourself to whatever looks good, and pay at the end.  Toppings include lots of fish (sardines and tuna), egg (we have seen ostrich and quail), Jambon Iberico (like proscuitto, but much better).  There are also hot Pintxos which include an egg and potato torta, foie gras, and whatever else might delight the chef that day.

Day 28, July 20

Today while the kids were at camp I went to the San Telmo Art Museum.  A new addition has just been completed by Nieto Sobejano.  It is a contemporary juxtaposition with the existing Renaissance facade of the former church turned museum.   Inside the church naïve are wonderful paintings by Sert depicting Basque life.  A bit of culture...

Day 27, July 19

Today Connor turns sweet 16.  He is spending his special day with the Prujas, his French family, and his former French tutor, Barbara, who we got to know in Menlo Park.  Connor was offered wine, but says he refused…  This is a self taken photo.

Day 26, July 18

As part of our house exchange, we also swapped cars.  Our new car we affectionately call the Yellow Submarine.  It is a bright yellow Renault camper van.  It has no power steering or power brakes and has a manual ignition.  This morning we came out in a hurry to get to camp and discovered the battery was dead due to leaving the lights on.  We spent the next 2 hours trying to explain to a local car mechanic that we did not want a new battery, just a jump.  I-translate on my I-pad was very helpful, much to Jacqueline's embarrassment. I am missing my fully loaded mini van.

Day 25, July 17

We went to Hendaye today which is a small seaside town just north of the French border.  It was raining and very windy.  The surfers were however loving it.  We had a menu de jour at a local tavern; 10Euro for checken leg, mushroom mouse cake, creme brulee.

Day 24, July 16

Jacqueline and Brendan had their last surfing lesson today in Biarritz.  After the beach, we went to the charming town of Bidart and had dinner in the town square.  After dinner there was a Basque Ball match in the square.  Every town in the Basque Region has a Basque Ball Fronton which is essentially a large wall with one side wall.  Players use their hand to whack the ball against the wall, similar to squash but without the racquet. The pix is of the kids playing on the court near our apartment. 

Day 22, July 14

Ellen and I go up at 3:45am to drive to the Bilbao airport for her 7:00 am flight.  We were all very sad when Ellen left as she made everything extra fun.  Miss you sis, thanks so much for coming!   It is a rainy day, yet again.

Day 21, July 13

Ellen and I took a cooking class today with an American named Gabriella.  We started in the Merkat (market) and learned about local cheese, fish, hams and peppers.  We then made pinxtos (tapas) which are the local specialty.  Each bar in San Sebastian serves a unique tapas with a paired wine.  In the old town, people walk from bar to bar until they reach their limit (food, wine, or energy).  The tapas vary widely, but generally are prepared sardines, salt cod, jambon iberico, tuna, egg,  shrimp,  olives, cheese, served on a slice of bread. We finished our meal with a puree of strawberries, lime juice, sugar, and a very strong liquor.  We rolled home but still managed to eat a double serving of gelatto with the kids, thanks to Ellen's encouragement.

Day 20, July 12

From July 8-14 Pamplona celebrates the Festival of San Fermin, better known as the "Running of the Bulls" made famous by Earnest Hemingway.  The running of the bulls takes place everyday of the Festival at 8:00 am.  We missed the running, but that morning a bull ran a track record  (2 minutes, 20 seconds) and managed to trample 7 people. One guy lost his pants!  We arrived around 10:30 and clearly the remnants of a 5 day party were everywhere.  The city essentially shuts down, everyone wears white clothes (the pureness of the Saint) with a red scarf/ sash (blood of the bull).   There were parades, live music, eating, and LOTS of drinking by everyone, everywhere.  The bull fight takes place at 5:00pm daily and results in the inevitable killing of the bull - we skipped it.

Day 19, July 11

Connor left yesterday for his home stay with the Purja Family who live just outside of Lille.  We sent him with 2.8 kilos of Ibericao Jambon de Bellota (no hoof), Paries Chocolates, and two Stanford t-shirts for gifts.  Today Brendan and Jacqueline started their Spanish language camp.  Ellen and I spent the day walking through Hondarribia, a small town located just north of San Sebastian.  It is a beautiful old walled city.  We lunched on clams, salad nicoise, and Gelato.  For dinner Ellen and I splurged on a fancy dinner out at Rekondo.  We had pate du foie gras with mango sorbet, suckling pig, venison (so rare it was almost wigling), apple tart, chocolate souffle.  A gastronomic day!

Day 18, July 10

Happy Birthday Ellen and Tom!  To celebrate Ellen's birthday we went to La Perla Spa which is located right on the beach with fabulous views.  The spa consists of a series of water experiences: salt baths with different massage jets, cold plunge, sauna, steam bath, car wash like jets that you walk through, and a work out pool with equipment located under water.  We felt like melted butter by the end.

Day 17, July 9

The kids had their second surfing lesson today in Biarritz with the Floquets.  Ellen and I took a walk down the beach and suddenly realized we were on the nude beach - no tan lines to be seen.  We looked sooo American/ puritanical in our one pieces. (Sorry no pix).  Afterwards we walked around the town of Biarritz and had a prix fix dinner of squid, mussels, and Gateau Basque.

Day 16, July 8

Ellen, Marnie's sister, arrived today in the Bilbao Airport.  We all drove the hour to meet her, then we went to the Gugenheim museum which was absolutely amazing!    No vertical elelments are perpendicular.  This is another Frank Gehry masterpiece.

Day 15, July 7

It is a rainy day so we are getting our house clean and the laundry done.  This is a big production since we do not have a cleaning lady, nor a clothes dryer.  Apparently most families do not have clothes dryers, thus laundry hangs outside of every apartment window.  We also do not have a microwave and our car is a standard shift.  Like everyone else, we walk to the market every couple of days with our cart (red in pix), then we haul our groceries back up the hill and up to the 5th floor.  Lifestyle changes.  Now how do clothes dry when it is raining......

July 6, Day 14

We drove our 'Yellow Submarine Van' to Biarritz for our first surfing lesson.  Our dear friend Louis Floquet met us there with his family.  Louis did a home exchange with Connor last year.  Brendan and Jacqueline braved the surf while Connor and I practiced our French, mais qui!

July 5, Day 13

Today it is quite hot so we went for a swim in the bay which is walking distance from our apartment.  The mono-kini is very popular but Jacqueline and I decide to keep to our prudish ways.  We tend to spend our evenings "skype-ing" with relatives.  Tonight it was Grand-Mom Cryer.

Day 12, San Sebastian Market

San Sebastian used to have a large outdoor farmers market.  However, like most other European cities, the market has been moved to a permanent indoor structue with modern ammenities like bathrooms and refrigeration (imagine!).  This market has a large fish market with creative displays of fish, as well as many Jambon de Iberico, a local specialty ham whcih comes with the hoof.  They hang these from the rafters for 2-4 years to cure them.  They can be seen hanging in all the local restaurants and bars as well.

7/3

Today we went to Saint Jean de Luz in France. We had two main goals, one was to drive the car, and the second was to see the town. In Saint Jean de Luz, we walked around on the beach, got pastries in a local shop, and over all enjoyed ourselves. The car was easy to drive, as I quickly refreshed my stick shift driving. Looking forwards to surfing on Wednesday!

7/1

Today we returned from Barcelona. We checked out at about 11:30, then took the subway to the train station, where we checked our bags. From there we went to get lunch at a tapas place that we heard about. After lunch we walked around a park until about 2:45, when we returned to the train station and boarded our train.

Today we went to the Old town of Barcelona, or El Born, which is very charming, authentic, and clean. We started our day by visiting the Picasso Museum, located in a restored ancient building. Afterwards, we had a pleasant lunch in a small cafe a few blocks away, and enjoyed a plate of large shrimps, or langoustines. While searching for a dessert, we stumbled upon a museum devoted to chocolate. The museum was mostly centered on the confectionist and decorative aspects of chocolate as opposed to the production aspect. All in all it was an interesting day that revealed the true nature of Barcelona.