San Sebastian

The student travelers...

Kerry, Cara, Me and the two Israeli boys we met at the hostel

Keeping guard of our things on the beach

Spectators during the boat race

Me and Kerry on top of the mountain

View of La Concha from the mountain!

Group of us on the beach at night

San Sebastian at night when we arrived

This past weekend, I traveled with 9 of my good friends to a beautiful beach town in Northern Spain called San Sebastian. It was the first time I had ever REALLY traveled by myself (before there had always been parents and teachers) and it was quite the experience. We took a 6 hour bus ride from Madrid and left at 5pm...reaching San Sebastian at around 11:30! Some of our friends had taken earlier buses so they were already there and we all met at the hostel.

Now, it is official. I have survived 2 nights in a hostel. Normally I would be totally grossed out by anything in a hotel/hostel like pillows, curtains, sheets. Weird, I know...but just ask my family and they will tell you. For some reason when it comes to sleeping somewhere I turn into a major germaphobe. This hostel, Olga's Place, was made up of many dorm style rooms with bunk beds and single beds and housed about 50 guests. My room happened to have 5 people we were traveling with and 1 Australian girl who was backpacking through Europe on her own (something I was in totally awe of). I felt much safer that my girlfriends and I were in the same room as our guy friends which I think made the experience much easier. The thing I liked most about the hostel was meeting people from ALL OVER the world. We met people from Israel, Germany, Barcelona, and even some other students that were from the Netherlands and are studying in Madrid! Everyone was very friendly and gave us recommendations on places to go and things to see. The first night in the hostel we all went to the beach with some people we met and had a great time.

On Saturday we all hiked up to the top of (what we believe to be) the highest point in San Sebastian. At the top of this hill/mountain there is a huge statue of Jesus. I didn't get the memo about bringing sneakers or any type of athletic clothing so I made due with flip flops. It was challenging at times, but definitely worth it. After, we all went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. The beach we went to, Playa Zurriola, was where all the surfers go..and there were definitely an abundance of wet suits. After coming back to Olga's Place and changing, we went out to dinner in the old part of the city. We found a plaza with tons of outdoor restaurants and had the BEST meal. The cuisine changes where ever you are in Spain and for some reason, Northern Spain has MUCH better food than Southern Spain. That night we walked around the old part of the city and found ourselves in a club/bar that overlooked La Concha, the other main beach in San Sebastian. We didn't know this ahead of time but Sunday was a huge boat/crew race at La Concha. Hundreds and hundreds of people lined the beach wearing different colors to signify what boating team they were rooting for. The beach was PACKED and since we had just checked out of the hostel, we had all of our things with us and had to be super careful to make sure nothing got stolen (see photo). We hung out at the beach until it was time to hop back on the bus to Madrid. It was perfect weather and one of the most beautiful beaches.

Traveling for the first time without any parental/teacher supervision was extremely eye opening. I'm so proud of myself for spending money wisely, sight seeing and also being able to take some time and relax. I would love to return to San Sebastian at some point but I cannot wait to continue my travels throughout Europe!