Los Tigres en Espana

This weekend was prophetically laid out by Senor Clowntana in his invitational email in March. Photos and comments attest to the uncanny accuracy of his original predictions (which are italicised).


Gentlemen,

A mission has fallen upon you: conquering the north of Spain in a 48 hour escapade. I have mentioned it to you four at some point or another that we could make a brief incursion into Spain. The attacking plan is pretty hardcoreand very little sleeping will be involved. Baseline is:

Friday: we arrive at Vitoria at 4ish. A friend of mine is reopening a gastronomic society that night in Pamplona, you can imagine what this will entail. Before dinner we can have a wander around Vitoria and then drive to Pamplona with a friend or go straight to Pamplona. Accommodation for that night is unsorted, which means we’ll sleep wherever we can.

Check-in at Stansted.

A welcome to Spain by one of it's most upstanding and accomplished ambassadors.

Welcome to sunny spain.

The party team.

Museo de Bellas Artes, Vitoria. Saw some very nice Goya etchings there as well as some good local paintings.


Geddit?? Museum of Arms!

Interesting approach to drying one's washing.

Town square, Vittoria-Gasteiz.


Pintxos.

Dinner, Pamplona.


Partaking in the local traditions...


Tigers.


Making lots of new friends - this is shortly before I reviewed my drinking levels (and my dinner hahaha) in the bathroom.

Saturday: get to San Sebastian early and see the town. It’s beautifuland we’ll go for proper tapas and a bit of beach if it’s sunny. That night accommodation is sorted at a couple of friends’ dwellings and if we’re not feeling destroyed from the previous night I think we should experience a typical cider restaurant and local taverns. There is also a famous outdoor museum by Chillida which you might want to visit and several cultural sites with gorgeous views.

Well we did get to SS pretty early after a curious series of events involving, amongst other things, a sausage, a nonexistent plate of Poulpe a la Galicia, some local constabulary and a liberal approach to seatbelt usage. Anyway, we got there and that's the main thing.

Out and about in SS.

Funiculare.

View over San Sebastian harbour.

Coooool rock formation!

Chillida sculptures.

Pondering the art, as I like to do from time to time.

Baroque church

Pintxos bar #1

Beach at night

Getting our feet wet as the wave came in.

Contestants, Bachelor of the Year, Regional finals, San Sebastian.

Bar #3.

Bar #4.



Some poor innocent fitties who happened to grab the sordid attentions of Ben and Stas... and my camera.
Hmmm, not quite so spectacular. The highlights are near my chin.

Iggy dancing like nobody's watching.

Nightclub (establishment #6 - arrival time 4:15 am; spain rocks so much more than england).

Sunday: if we have time we can finish seeing a few bits of San Sebastian or just catch a bus straight to Bilbao. I don’t know that city very well, but we can walk around the main parts and visit the Guggenheim – cultural icon of our time, according to Matt. Then head to the airport and die…

Even after our big night, we were up at the crack of dawn to make the most of our last day in Spain.

Time for a bit of breakfast - why not enjoy it at a roadside cafe, or just on the side of the road, in the gutter.

This is one good bocadillos.

Ready to depart San Sebastian.

Navigational deliberations in Bilbao.

The Guggenheim!

Jeff Koons 'Puppy'

Senor Tigre is excited!

Bounding down the stairs with art-inspired joy and enthusiasm.
The Russia! exhibition was really good. We made it to the airport on time and, despite them being significantly larger than the handluggage limit, didn't have to check our livers into the hold. Bit of pintxos, bit of art, bit of history, bit of culture, bit of bread, bit of sauce: all in all a rocking weekend!