Day 2: watching No Reservations

We decided to see where Mr. Bourdain went while he visited Madrid.

While that was on Becca and I watched the TV is showed her the blog. We decieded to check out San Sebastian. It a little more north east than Gijon.


Its only 6.5+ hours from Madrid by train

http://www.sansebastianspain.info/1942beaches.asp

Has several beaches.

Playa de la Concha Centro, San Sebastián - Guipúzcoa, Spain Playa de Ondarreta Monte Igeldo, San Sebastián - Guipúzcoa, Spain

A few of the Top 10 places to see in San Sabstian:

Top 10 must visit destinations in San Sebastian December 16, 2010

Top 10 must visit destinations in San Sebastian

http://www.sansebastianspain.info/must-visit-destinations-san-sebastian.asp




Back to Bourdain:

The cool bar/tapis place....she calls it  a modern gastro bar. We thought it was called Davido teca, but we were wrong.

Gabinoteca

Gabinoteca is one of Madrid's best gastro pubs, specializing in classical and unique tapas.
Calle de Fernández de la Hoz, 53, 28003 Madrid, Spain

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain/Episodes_Travel_Guides/ci.Episode_Bourdain_Madrid.map

Gabinoteca Website:
http://www.lagabinoteca.es/1200.html


While lookiong for pictures of San Sebastian we came upon a website saying it was "Best Food City in Spain".  That took us to a blog with a Top 7 places to eat.


http://gridskipper.com/tags/san-sebastian

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=93+euros+in+dollars&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

It looks like hostels are cheap. 20-30 dollars.

http://www.hostelworld.com/findabed.php/ChosenCity.San-Sebastian/ChosenCountry.Spain?source=googleadwordsuseurope&gclid=CKrt-5Pk8aUCFZ065QodwSJpQg

Do hostels charge per person or per room?

Public Transportation?

Taxis in San Sebastian are generally cheap and efficient and can be a good way to get around the city.  When hiring a taxi be sure that it is authorized by the government and displays an official card.  Official taxis have set prices for beginning rates and distances traveled. 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187457-s303/San-Sebastian-Donostia:Spain:Public.Transportation.html 

This tripadvisor looks like a helpful website.

 

Thoughts on tipping:

 from about.com: http://gospain.about.com/od/spanishlife/qt/tipping_survey.htm

pretty much they do not tip unless it is a huge bill...and even then very very little.

Day 1 Researching trip to spain

12/13/2010  Snow day in Cincinnati

Found a few tickets at Orbitz.com from Cincinnati to Madrid or Barcelona. The average is about $1100 per  person.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/honeymoon-trip-to-southern-coast-of-spain.cfm
Many of the posters recommend going to the north of Spain during the summer. A few posts echo this sentiment:

sashh on May 19, 10 at 1:39am

<< We really want to immerse ourselves in the food, communty, and people>>

hat area of Spain a lot of the food is fish and chips and the culture is 'brit on holiday'.

I wouldn't choose it for a honeymoon

Other posters suggest going to the north to avoid the heat of the southern beaches during July/August.

Robert2533 on May 18, 10 at 1:30am
You may want to rethink your trip. The Costa del Sol (www.visitcostadelsol.com/) is very nice, but overcrowded in July-August and hot! You might want to head north, as most Spaniards do, besides, the cuisine in the north is much better and the beaches not half-bad.

http://www.asturiasguide.com/Beaches.html
This place has some beautiful beaches and is not to far from Madrid.

• Can we get there by rail?
• once there can we get around with out a car?
• hotel or hostel 

It is about a 7+hour train ride from Madrid

I found a beach that is a little outside of Gijon.