By the time we get ready and pack up its after 11. So much for catching up on the blog. Fortunately we don't have to catch a train until almost 4. We wander Bordeaux since we need a few life things like toothpaste. As we wander I get a text from Google that my account has been locked out for suspicious activity. Great. While Aparna is shopping, I reset my Google account. T-Mobile great free 2G data speeds when roaming makes this a trying experience.
It's almost 12:30 and I'm hungry. Since we didn't eat Japanese last night and it's cool we decide to eat ramen.
The broth is much lighter than the place in Paris but tasty. These noodles are also much thicker.
It just after one. We still have some time to kill since our train isn't until 3:50. Now that we have eaten we actually buy what we set out for this morning. We stop by a park bench in the sun and I check my email. Now it's after 2 and nothing from Airbnb so I email the listing. They say as long as we can check in after 7:30 it's will be fine. I get the pre-approval but now I have to confirm my identity. We go back to the hotel to get our bags and use the wireless.
I upload my passport and It seems to work but the app keeps saying I need to verify my identity. I try my drivers license. Same thing. I even take screenshots of the verified message in the app. It's past 3 and Aparna wants to head to the train station. I want to fix my Google voice number first in case we get a call. Now the host is texting asking if we are coming. I explain the situation and tell him to plan on us coming. But we are also about to board a train and I don't know how my internet connection will be.
We are on the local tram and I'm trying to download my passport scan from my email over the super slow phone internet. We get to the train station and I use the wireless there. Still issues even with a passport scan. Now I'm searching Airbnb site looking for a phone number to call. Nothing. Our train is 10 minutes late but we head to the platform on time.
We board the train. I read some FAQs and I decide to verify via the website. There is an option to verify via questions rather than uploading an ID. Why don't they have that in the app? It's painful over the slow cellular connection but I get through the questions and it says I'm verified. I check the app but it's still not happy. 4:15 I get a text saying "I finally got it!" We finally have a place to stay.
I can relax a bit now. It's a 2.5 hour train ride to Irun where we have to transfer. It's uneventful which is great since I've had enough for the day. We arrive in Irun and the train to San Sebastián leaves in 15 minutes. We are stopped by a plain clothed police officer asking for our passports. He flashes some badge looks at our passports and let's us proceed.
We head to the ticket counter and he explains we need a reservation for that train and it will cost extra on top of the rail pass. I don't really care. However there is a slower local train that we can take for free. He hands us some pass and we are off.
Welcome to Spain.
I'm looking at the train stops and my map app. It looks like we can get off a stop earlier and save us some walking. I text the hosts but they don't use the train and have no idea. Let's roll the dice. We depart and begin walking. We past a church.
We still have a few minutes to kill and the beach is only a couple of blocks out of the way.
The surf is rough here and there are surfers.
We find the place just fine. The couple does massages in their apartment. There is a rice cake in the oven. I'm not sure why it's called rice cake as there is no rice in it. We sit at the dining room, share a drink, get to know each other and they give information about the area. We are in the Gros neighborhood. It's a short walk (mile ish) to the old town. This town is pretty small and we should be able to walk everywhere. It's also nice to not be in the super touristy zone. It's getting late and we are hungry. We set for one of two restaurants they recommend. As we walk we notice the colorful sky. Crap, missed the sunset by minutes.
We still catch some killer colors.
We go to the first restaurant but it doesn't seem that interesting. As we walk towards the other restaurant we pass a vending machine room. There must be 6-8 vending machines.
We decide to go to the other restaurant. I take a picture of what translates to the daily special. The person behind the bar doesn't speak English.
I point at the picture I took and try to order one fish and one meat. A customer helps who speaks some English. We end up ordering two fish dishes based on her recommendation and a bottle of wine.
Black cod
After we are done, the bartender comes by and asks something. We don't understand. He starts listing things and I hear flan.
It turns out we get charged individually and not the daily special but I'm just happy to have eaten at this point. Getting around here will be interesting. At least in France I know some of the food and can say a phrase or two. On top of not knowing Spanish, Basque is also spoken here. The next few days will be interesting.












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