As class ended at the Lacunza, it was time to group up and meet with Professor Julian in the San Sebastian district of Gros, where we would begin our tour, trying exotic pintxos. With a 10-minute bike ride from the school to the first pintxo spot at EGUZKI. It is utterly amazing how much of the scenery you can capture biking through the city; it makes you feel as if you are in a movie with cars and buses passing on one side and locals and tourists walking and eating on the other. As we approached the district, Gros, I noticed the similarities among each of the districts in San Sebastian, yet they all have their own identity. For example, the buildings throughout the city share similar colors and shades, but the actual architecture of the buildings and the environment are completely different.
As we arrived at EGUZKI, we parked our bikes and saw Professor Julain in the distance. I always like to joke and say that when you run into Professor Julian, it is like a video game, kind of where you have all these areas to free roam, and we have Professor Julian as our guide for a section of our day. With 5 students on this tour, we had to be quick to grab a seat because the minute someone got up out of their seat, it would get swooped up in the blink of an eye. But luckily, with quick reflexes, we were seated and ready to order.
After we picked out our first set of pintxos, I found it truly amazing how the owner of EGUZKI creates all the pintxos he’s going to sell in the bar in his kitchen at home, because the bar doesn’t have access to gas, so there’s no kitchen, just the owner and his crew, and the pintxos that are homemade and available for sale. And hearing this truly helped depict the beauty and passion the people of San Sebastian have for their community, and less for the money, just shows the culture that has been built here for centuries.
But currently, what’s happening in the city is these older generations of bars are having issues with the younger generation, because they are seeing that the income isn’t great and that it’s hard to do more with their lives when completely running a bar, so were beginning to see a lot of the new generation push towards a new career like engineering or medical to make a good living and not have to carry the weight of the family owned business on their shoulders.
Once the pintxos arrived, the display of sauces and colors was like no other, and it was cool how you could have no idea what sauce was on your pintxo, but have it taste wonderful. Also, as a group, we got to try this squid in its ink, which I can’t lie, at first I thought sounded a little odd, but after taking a bite, I was blown away by how good it was, and this was a good reminder for me to just not be afraid to try new things. I also was able to try sea urchin for the first time, and it definitely lived up to the hype. If you’ve never tried it, definitely do.
From here, we continued our tour, walking down Gros, soaking in the area and everything it had to offer, as we made our way towards TXOFRE TABERNA, our next pintxos spot, where we immersed ourselves in many assorted flavors and types of dishes. Serving sizes are exceedingly small here in San Sebastian compared to the United States, and it truly shows in the community because you hardly see any overweight people, and everyone seems happy. We were able to try some bacalao, tortilla, and much more with the food here, having many sauces that accompany the meals. You will never find a dish completely covered in a sauce; the less sauce on a dish, the more likely it is authentically made and will taste amazing.
Uncordially we were only able to explore and eat at 2 pintxos spots in Gros because of the kitchens closing at 3:30 pm or as they represent the time over here as 15:30. But we were still able to see the different building and churches, and how no matter what district you go its always the same vibe of chilling at a bar, enjoying your drink and having some pintxos. But we were able to stop by and get some gelato, take a little walk near the beach, and then depart.
But, for the brief time we had and the exploration we took, I had a wonderful time. I will repeat this, but the scenery in San Sebastian is like no other; it looks so amazing you might think it is AI-generated, and everything is not real. But being present here, I can gladly say this place is not AI and is just a true piece of art and a true representation of what life is truly about.
