30th birthday in Spain

Ending my 20s and beginning my 30s called for an epic trip. A trip to a new place. A place with beaches and mountains, good food, a long history, and happy vibes.

After months of research, exploring the deepest crannies of Google Maps, and debating between France and Italy, ‘The North of Spain’ was the destination I chose for my birthday trip.

Below is our recap of the food we ate, the things we saw, and the stories we have to share.

Tuesday

Eric and I flew from Salzburg to Frankfurt, then from Frankfurt to Bilbao. We picked up our rental car and arrived in San Sebastián, a small coastal town just 12 miles from the French border dating back to 1180.

By 8 pm, we pulled up to our hotel, Far Out Inn Guesthouse. The elevator led us right to our balcony and the views from our room were exactly as I hoped they would be. There is very little historic information about this hotel, but I read it is a historic villa previously owned by a countess. I can see why a countess would want to choose this house as a place to live.

*Our room at the Far Out Inn Guesthouse*

*La Concha Beach and Mt Ulia from our Balcony*

San Sebastián has three beaches and mountains. All visible from our balcony. To our left, we could see Mount Igueldo, the amusement park, and Ondarretta beach illuminated by the bright orange sunset. Straight ahead, La Concha Beach and Santa Clara Island. And to our right were Mount Urgull, Mount Ulia, and the historic old town of San Sebastián and Zurriola Beach.

Once we spent a few moments on the balcony, we made our way out to find a place to eat.

“You could make the argument that there is no better place to eat in Europe than the city of San Sebastián.”
– Anthony Bourdain

…Unless you are a vegetarian. Then Spain, in general, is kind of tricky. Only 1.4% of Spain is vegetarian so while there are plenty of Spanish tortillas, patatas fritas, risottos, Champinones Al Ajillo, and Padrón peppers, the main menu items are meat-based.

In a city known for having the best Spanish “Pintxos” (PEEN-chos) or “small plates”, our first meal in Spain was pizza at La Mamma, a quaint little Italian restaurant below street level. It was also just a few minutes down the hill from our hotel, which was a bonus!

While the atmosphere of La Mamma was cool and the place was packed, the pizza was only a 6.4 out of 10. It did the job, though, and we finished the night with a walk down the La Concha Beach Promenade.

La Concha Beach is a crescent-shaped beach hugging the Bay of Biscay, a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Named one of the best beaches in Europe and Spain, La Concha is one of the city’s main attractions. The calm protected waters, views of Santa Clara, and the century-old railings along the beach are what makes this spot so unique. For 100 years, people have enjoyed the view from the famous railings. People like Spain’s Queen Isabel II, Ernest Hemingway, Bruce Springsteen, Elizabeth Taylor, and Julia Roberts.

*Close up of the railing and La Concha Beach*

Our first night in San Sebastián ended with a cute little crescent moon shining over this crescent beach, the door to our balcony open so the sea breeze could fill the room, and the sound of the waves crashing to soothe us to sleep.

*Crescent moon over the crescent-shaped beach*

Wednesday

My final day of my 20s began with a 6:20 AM alarm.

Eric was still asleep, but I rolled out of bed, made my way to the balcony, and waited for the sun to come up. Thirty minutes later, the sun began to peak over the mountains, piercing through the spires of a building to the right of ours.

We walked to Old Town Coffee for breakfast. It opened at 9:00 AM and by 9:10 AM there was a line of people waiting for a table. Cappuccino for Eric, Chai tea latte for me, and avocado toast for the both of us.

Eric said we needed to go back to the hotel for a little surprise before continuing with the rest of the day. At 10:30 he received a call. We went to the front gate and a man on a bike stopped and dropped off a bag for me! With the logistics help from Eric, my best friends managed to send some delicious pastries and chocolates to celebrate my birthday ❤️

The box of pastries was devoured in about 7 minutes and then we made our way back outside following the famous white railings all the way around the beachfront to Ondarreta beach.

For €15 we were able to reserve a beach shade and chairs for the entire day. Even if we left and came back we could still use them. So from 11-4, we people watched, read, swam, kayaked, walked, and relaxed.

*In between La Concha beach and Ondarreta beach.*

By 5 pm we were back on our balcony.

As we were about to walk out for dinner, dark clouds rolled in, and looked like it was going to start raining. So for the second night in San Sebastián, instead of traditional Spanish Pintxos, we had Indian food delivered and watched the sun set from the balcony, and closed the final chapter of my 20s.

Thursday

I woke up as a 30-year-old.

Happy messages began to roll in as Eric and I were en route to brunch at Maiatza, a very popular brunch spot in old town run by two sisters from Argentina. Maiatza specializes in homemade pastries and coffees and all things vegetarian and vegan! The outdoor seating was taken, but we were grateful to be able to grab a table inside as there was a long line starting to form just a few minutes after opening.

After our big brunch, we hiked one of the San Sebastián ‘mountains’, Mount Urgull, a tree-covered hill leading to “Motako Gaztelua” or “Castillo de La Mota,” a walled castle dating to the 12th century with cannons serving as a watchtower over the sea and the city.

*The view from the top of Castillo de La Mota*

After we conquered the views from the top of Mount Urgull, we walked back down through old town and crossed the bridge to Zurriola beach. We originally were planning to try out surfing. Zurriola is considered one of the best places in the world to ride the waves and a premier surfing destination in Europe.

After seeing how packed the beach was and how many surfers were crashing into each other, we decided to forgo our attempt at riding the waves. I hope to try it out someday though.

The heat and all the walking wiped us out. So we decided to walk back to the hotel and ended up taking a long and much-needed mid-day nap.

For our third and final night in San Sebastián, it was finally time to try out all the famous pintxos bars with my “progressive dinner pintxos crawl.”

The weeks before we came to Spain, I had mapped out the locations we would be able to eat at. When you go to these bars you do not have time to think about the order, you need to know ahead of time what to get so you are not taking up too much time for the rest of the people waiting in line for a seat.

After reading several blogs and articles claiming to know “The Best Pintxos Bars in San Sebastián”, I created my own list. The places I chose for us needed to be highly recommended, close in proximity to each other, and offer vegetarian/vegan options.

The best Vegetarian Pintxos Bars in San Sebastian

BAR CIABOGA
GANBARA
BORDA BERRI
BAR TXEPETXA
LA VIÑA

Potatoes, olive oil, garlic, and parsley may not sound like much. But believe it or not, these four ingredients make up Bar Ciaboga‘s star dish, known as “platillo”. To our delight, it was better than people said it would be.

Reviews also stated Bar Ciaboga serves one of the best tortillas in San Sebastian. A tortilla is simply a potato and onion omelet. However, the tortilla was sadly a letdown. Had it been served hot, it would have been a contender for a favorite, but it was served cold and not worth it in our opinion.

“Ganbara, my favorite place. I come here every time like a heat-seeking missile.”
– Anthony Bourdain

With a recommendation like that, Ganbara was our second stop on this birthday dinner pintxos crawl.

Heeding the late celebrity chef, author, and travel writer’s recommendation, we arrived at Ganbara and stood in line for about 40 minutes waiting for a seat to open up. We were given the front and center seats at the counter. Eating at a counter with servers and strangers reaching around you for drinks and dishes may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but the food here is worth it.

We started out with a house specialty “Sautéed mushrooms with egg”. If you want to experience the most delicious mushroom dish of your life without flying to San Sebastián, follow this recipe home.

*Sautéed mushrooms with egg from Ganbara*

Next was an order of the white asparagus. One spear of asparagus plated with a dollop of dipping sauce. Eric and I looked at each other thinking “how is a little asparagus going to fill us up”? But, we remembered this is just one plate of several for the night so all was fine and this dish was DELISH!

For our final plate at Ganbara, we ordered the grilled peach. It is exactly as it sounds. Grilled peach with a scoop of ice cream on the side.

Our time at Ganbara came to an end and we were on the move to the next place called “Borda Berri.” After squeezing our way into a corner, we ordered a bowl of the highly rated risotto mixed with mushrooms and idiazabal (a Basque cheese). While delicious, this bar was crowded and loud, so we quickly enjoyed our dish and left.

Bar Txepetxa was next and just around the corner, but the Gazpacho soup I wanted to try was no longer on the menu, so we left and moved to our final bar of the night for a little birthday dessert.

The famous Basque Cheesecake was created in the 1990s by chef Santiago Rivera and is served at La Viña bar in San Sebastian's old town. Now, everyone stops here for a slice or two, including us.

The order of our favorite dishes from the night (#1 being the absolute yummiest):

By the time our Pintxos crawl was over, the sun had fallen and the promenade was lit by the gorgeous gas lamp streetlights and lined with people.

Friday

We checked out of the Far Out Inn Guesthouse and drove 4 hours to Picos de Europa. A national park forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains in Northern Spain.

*Terracotta huts in Collado de Pandébano*

By 1:15 PM, we arrived in the national park and, with the help of a national park guide, we parked our car along a gravel road in Collado de Pandébano, just a few minutes from the start of the trailhead, and set out on a hike to the base of Picu Urilleu.

Pack Mama Tip: Leave an itinerary in your car in case of an accident.

The skies were completely overcast, so we were unfortunately unable to see any mountains. However, we were able to walk along the trail with several friendly cows which was fun!

An hour had passed and we arrived at a refugio to have a quick snack and drink.

By 5:00 PM, we made it to the base of “Picu Urriellu” or “Naranjo de Bulnes”, the national park’s most iconic mountain with various climbing routes on its 4 walls.

We ordered a sandwich from the hut at the base of the mountain and, to our delight, the clouds parted for just a moment long enough to see what was around us.

*The view from the base of Picu Urriellu*

By 5:30 PM, we had to leave the base and make our way to Bulnes, a remote village where we were spending the night.

We descended the mountain on a well-marked, extremely challenging path. I would hardly call it a trail.

*Making our way down the steep rocky “scree” (A scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff)*

We had to descend 3000+ feet and do it before dark while bearing in mind the list of creatures living in this park. Cantabrian brown bears, wild boar, wildcats, and wolves just to name a few.

Hour after hour passed by as we maneuvered around rocks, open fields, unplanned via ferratas, and a slippery forest path. Halfway down, we walked by a cave and could not get the thought of a wild animal running out of it so we tried to pick up the pace a bit and for the rest of the hike we would constantly look all around us, ensuring no creature was watching us.

By 8:45 we started to hear music and celebratory cheering. Civilization and the time-worn terracotta village of Bulnes was finally within reach!

We followed the sounds of the cowbells and, by 9:07 pm, our feet hit the pavement. We were so glad to finally be on a road in this extremely remote village. We were just 500 meters from our hotel, El Caleyon.

We arrived at the hotel and looked like a crazy hot mess from our 8 hours of hiking through the mist and heat. But the host, Alberto, and his daughter (who is half American), were very kind and welcoming.

Alberto gave us a pitcher of ice water and chatted for a little while. We told him all about the hike we did and he said the route was an old shepherd’s trail. Eric asked him about the showers and beds and Alberto responded with a very serious face “we don’t have a shower” and “you brought sleeping bags right?” Eric about lost his mind, but I was suspicious Alberto was just playing a trick so I called him out and we all laughed with a sigh of relief.

We got to our room, showered, ate the rest of our snacks, and fell asleep.

Saturday

We woke up in the heart of the Picos de Europa and a clear blue sky. Completely opposite of the day before. We placed our boots in the sun hoping they would dry out before we set out on our hike back to the car and Alberto brought us a delicious breakfast on the terrace.

By 10:30 AM, we were slowly hiking out of Bulnes.

Just a few minutes into the walk, beyond the terracotta roofs of Bulnes, we took a small side path leading to the Mirador de Naranjo de Bulnes, the stark pillar peak shooting up between the surrounding mountains. This rock was one of the main reasons why I chose to travel to Spain and was the first time we actually caught a glimpse of the peak we hiked to the day before.

As we continued up the trail, which was an incline for 2 hours, we emerged above the tree line where we were met with the sweeping hillside and the dramatic Pico Urriellu peeking over the horizon.

*Picu Urriellu along the trail back to Collado de Pandébano*

*Taking a moment to remember this insane hike.*

A long, crazy 24 hours later, we arrived back at the car and drove to Sotres, the highest village in Picos de Europa National Park.

We enjoyed lunch and souvenir shopping, then drove to a lookout point where we could catch another glimpse of Pico Urriellu one last time.

For our final night in Spain, we stayed at Hotel Balneario de la Hermida, a 4 star hotel along one of the most scenic canyon roads in Spain.

Our hotel reservation included a thermal spa visit and, after the hike we did, our 80-minute spa session was much needed and appreciated.

For dinner, we drove 20 minutes to Potes, but no one would accept us. 9 pm on a Saturday probably had something to do with it.

So we did a 10-minute mad dash challenge at a grocery store and came out with a decent dinner.

Pack Mama Tip: If you want to save money, groceries in Spain are very cheap.

One of the best parts about this hotel’s location is the proximity to several via ferratas. Had we not been so tired and sore from the hiking, we probably would have climbed one of the mountains around us.

Sunday

We checked out and drove back to Bilbao. On the way, we stopped at a McDonald’s in Spain. Checking off another McDonald’s around the world.

Our final stop before the airport was the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, also known as the island fortress of “Dragonstone” from season 7 of Game of Thrones. Unfortunately you have to have a ticket to access the path, but since we did not have much time and were still tired from the hike, it was fine.

*“San Juan de Gaztelugatxe” aka “Dragonstone”*

We ordered lunch at the restaurant overlooking “Dragonstone” and, to no surprise, no vegetarian options other than fries and Spanish Padron peppers which were REALLY yummy.

While the best 30th birthday trip to Spain came to an end, the best is still yet to come.

‘til the next adventure ✌️

Week 93: My 30th birthday to The North of Spain