Arthur and Emily wanted to spend their pocket money, so Kieran and I took them to GiFi, a huge shop, full of cheap tat. While we were there, I had a look for little gifts to put into the crackers we’re going to make for Christmas, when Alex & co will be here, but found very little. I wished aloud that I’d thought of this while I was in an amazing little shop in San Sebastian, to which Kieran replied that he needed a trip to Spain too.
So last Saturday morning I picked him and the kids up and off we headed for our day out. I love going places with Kieran as he’s happier driving than being a passenger, so it gives me a break from driving.
It only takes about an hour and a half to get there, so by lunchtime we’d already visited the Flying Tiger shop, leaving with bags full of goodies. The kids chose a stretchy, catapult dragon each, which they played with for the rest of the day. I was delighted since that’s what they’re getting in their Christmas crackers and the ones they bought will have been destroyed by then.
San Sebastian was rattling with tourists and locals so we quickly found somewhere to eat; they loved their tapas, I couldn’t believe how many slices of tortilla Emily got through! It was as well we’d got in before the late, Spanish lunchtime, as people were queuing when we left.
San Sebastian backs onto what I’d describe as a mountain, though it’s probably not really big enough to warrant that name; anyway, a very steep hill, on the top of which are the ruins of an ancient chateau and a more modern statue of Christ, Rio-style. We went to explore. The views over the city and the sea were fantastic and there was so much to see in the ruins. There were dozens of canons from different eras, the older ones covered in rust, though still impressive, the newer ones with beautiful embellishments worked onto their barrels. There were even “ladies’ canons”, with much finer barrels; but how many women fired these, I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess.
Exploring done, it was time to descend the mountain and find ice creams, then back to the car.
We called into the supermarket on the way home. Unfortunately they didn’t have the Danish bacon that Kieran wanted, though he did stock up on his favourite beer, and I bought some booze for Christmas and some olive oil, all very much cheaper than in France.
Arthur and Emily were much quieter on the journey home; they’d had a great day out, climbed a mountain, explored a chateau and nearly stretched their dragons to breaking point.
We’ll definitely be doing it again.