Having completed my leg of the Camino de Santiago, it was time to enjoy Pamplona. The city is full of old Spanish charm and is a labyrinth of cobblestoned streets built within the city's large wall. It is on these streets that the famous running of the bulls festival takes place. Although the festival was not on while we were there, the streets were buzzing with food markets, medieval festivals and even a travelling choir. We decided to walk the route that the bull run takes in order to see the city and the large bull ring where bullfights still take place. To be honest, the stadium was a little underwhelming. Perhaps I was expecting something a little more like the bullring in Madrid which is quite spectacular, with beautiful statues and architecture. The one in Pamplona is quite a stark round structure in the middle of the city, much like any old football stadium, but you can see that it would come alive during the festival.
After our walk we decided to enjoy some tapas and retire for my new favourite part of the day, siesta. I definitely felt that I had earned an afternoon of reading my book and resting my legs after my effort over the previous three days! Despite the rest, we were still keen to eat dinner at a normal hour rather than the Spanish way of eating around 10pm. If not from the jumble of Australian, British and New Zealand accents, the restaurant must have known we were tourists purely based on our dinner reservation time. When we were entering for dinner we were literally the only people there and the place was packed and still eating when we left after midnight. In that moment I got a sense of what my old age would be like, getting in for the early bird special at the pub.
The following day we left Pamplona and made our way to San Sebastian. This was a special trip as we were heading there to go to lunch at the three Michelin Star restaurant, Martin Berastegui. One of the people in our group had visited the restaurant the previous year and had loved it so much that he made another reservation, just in case he was in Spain. I can say with confidence that the hype was well worth it. While I wasn't brave enough to sample the 10 course tasting menu that most of the others in our group dined on, I had an amazing 3 course meal and copious amounts of gorgeous local wine. As an appetiser I had a potato soup, which sounds pretty standard but as I quickly discovered, nothing on this menu was standard. Everything was beautifully served and creatively put together. For example, the soup came with tomato to accompany it which was served in the form of a red powder along the side of the bowl. The second appetiser was a squid ink pasta ball served in a broth. We were told that the ball should be eaten in one bite otherwise it could become messy. I had misunderstood what we were eating, assuming that the pasta was dyed with squid ink when it was in fact filled with it. I did as instructed and ate it in one go, however I had pushed it to the back of my throat where it exploded and the ink went down the wrong way. Anyone who knows me well knows that this would have been a big deal for me, as I usually don't eat small round objects (yes, I know it's odd). Grapes, cherry tomatoes, pretty much anything that can burst in my mouth so to eat a ball filled with squid ink was no small feat and it didn't exactly go well!
For entree I decided to continue my brave exploration of food and ordered oysters served in coconut, kaffir lime and cucumber. I had never tried oysters before so I thought that the best way to do it would be when they're served in the thai flavours that I love. While I wouldn't go making them a regular choice, they were delicious. For mains I had red mullet served with squid ink pasta (not the exploding kind). By this point in the meal I was well and truly drunk so the novelty of having my tongue dyed black from the squid ink resulted in some very unflattering photos as well as uncontrollable giggling in the privacy of the bathroom. Last but certainly not least, was the amazing chocolate soufflé for dessert. Articulating how soft and light the soufflé was and how warm and rich the sauce tasted when it oozed out of the centre does not do it justice. Finally, when tea and coffee came around I thought it best not to ruin my meal with something as standard (and sobering) as coffee so I ordered a cheeky moscato, much to the amusement of the others at the table.
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| Red Mullet and Squid Ink Pasta |
After lunch, in a wine fuelled haze, we headed into town to see a bit of San Sebastian. There was some sort of festival on though and the streets were filled with drunken adolescents, singing and peeing wherever they felt appropriate. We sought refuge in a pintos bar where we drank sangria, played cards and somehow managed to fit in a little tapas and pintos.
The following day was my last day of the trip. I had the pleasure of catching up with the two friends I travelled to Budapest with and we enjoyed a lazy day together, walking along the beach and catching up on some much needed rest. That evening I had dinner with my fellow pilgrims for one last taste of the amazing food that Spain has to offer. I am so grateful for such a unique and amazing experience; not many people can say that they walked the Camino and ate at a Michelin Star restaurant all in one week!
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