Back on Track -- Saint-Jean to San Sebastian

We made it to Spain and reconnected with our original route.  Back on track.  It was a short ride today hilly, but pretty along the coast.  And it was super hot!

Here's the route:

A

A beautiful morning as we leave Hendaye, France and ride into Spain

The Hendaye harbor

Lots of up and down over headlands along the coast, and for once we thought that maybe a little wid would be nice to cool us down a bit.  But we weren't going far and made it to our destination shortly after noon . San Sebastian (Donastia in Basque) is a busy town that has three very popular beaches.  The first one is the surfer beach -- we rode past on our way to the old part of town.

Lots of surfers out there

The bridge that leads to old town

 As soon as we got to old town and Constitution Square it was clear that something was happening.  It was a cider festival.  Cider is huge in this part of the world and the festival celebrated this year's crop.  For 5 Euro you get 10 tickets for a sample of cider.  They give you a cup and you choose your vendor -- each green sign is a different cider maker.

The Cider Festival!

 The ground was soaked with cider and the crowds were wall to wall.  The cider makers have a very particular way of pouring the cider into your cup:

Our cider cups

Very dramatic pouring!

You get food, too: Chorizo, cod omelette and cheese sandwiches

There is friendly competition to see who can pour with the most flourish

Some of the cider makers gave you a lot more than just a "taste" and after about 5 or 6 such tastes we were pretty much done in.  But we wanted to try the cheese sandwiches and they were great.  This girl's Dad is the cheese maker and she was proud to be able to speak English to us.

Too much sider (aka cider)?

This guy poured without ever looking at the cup.

We needed to walk around, so we wandered old town and over to the other two beaches.

Hams in old town

 The other beaches are so jamb packed with bodies that it looked like not too much fun at all...

That's a lot of people...

Here's where we are staying tonight - an AirBnB room in old town.  Note that there is a craft beer bar conveniently located immediately below our room.  Funny how things work out.

Not sure who he is, but our room is above his head and the craft beer bar (Aunamendi) is below. 

Donastia is a bit busy for our tastes, so we'll be glad to head off toward Bilbao.  We ride along the coast and plan to find a place to camp near Lekeitio, a small fishing village.

Adios.