An Escape to the Seaside

"A skateboarder with boat shoes and ray bans personifies Brighton"

Brighton is edgy and cool and the epicentre of a flamboyant gay culture. Gorgeous Georgian townhouses line the seaside and magnify the rich artistic lifestyle behind the closed doors. 

A late start to the day and an hour on the tube left us only the afternoon to spend in Brighton. We had a few complications getting our road trip underway the fuel and toilet stops set us back slightly but just over an hour in the car and we arrived at the seaside escape. Unfortunately everyone else in London had the same idea, leaving Brighton Pier swarming with people. 

It is well known that Brighton is best enjoyed with fish and chips on the sand-free beach. We found a local fish and chip shop and hurried with our bundled paper parcels to the pebbled beach. I haven't had fish and chips since I have been in the UK so there was huge excitement for some salty chips smothered in sauce by the seaside. 

The lanes in Brighton showcase an eclectic array of shops from boutiques to maze like vintage stores. It is easy to get lost amongst the tangle of back streets that revealed this tiny jam packed candy store and amazing art stores. 

Behind some streets we found amazing street graffiti.

Sickies in San Sebastian

After a blissful first day in San Sebastian, we were looking forward to the relaxing days ahead. Little did we know the remainder of our holiday would be spent in bed feeling sicker than a teenage girl sculling a bottle of vodka before going on a roller-coaster - hell. 


Here are the three culprits, 


1. The tap water we drank in Barcelona had a very strange taste to it. In desperation after a night of many cocktails and jugs of sangria there were times when we had to drink out of our dodgy hostel's basin taps. 

2. After arriving in town late we went to a bar for a drink and some food. Starving we ate a few pinxtos made up of  a slice of bacon, chicken and aubergine on a slice of baguette. Unlike Barcelona where you grab the pinxtos you want, eat it and then take the toothpicks to the counter to pay, here as I picked up my chosen pinxtos the barman grabbed it out of my hand , cussing some sort of Spanish words, threw it in the microwave and then gave it back to me. I have a feeling it had been sitting there all day and the reheat clearly wasn't sufficient in killing the bacteria that invaded our bodies!

3. Rumour has it the mayonnaise in Spain can be a little funky. On our first, lovely beach day in San Sebastian we ordered a sandwich which in my poor attempt to translate the menu had hoped would be a ham and salad sandwich. It turned out to be ham, tuna, white asparagus, tomato, egg, mayonnaise and buttered white bread - not my cup of tea. This may not have been the source that made us awfully sick but the thought of it does make me sick, which is never a good sign. 

It was one of those nasty food groups that made us dreadfully ill for 5 days straight. We had terrible nausea and were forced to stay in bed, only able to drink powerade. NIL BY MOUTH was our motto as we felt so sick at the smell of Spanish food. After a few days we were getting our starve on and Matt did a dash to the McDonald's on the corner. All we craved was salty delicious chips. We had chips for dinner two night in a row - so so naughty. 

It took multiple packs of nurofen, powerade and foreign tummy tablets to convince us we could make it home. After a 30 minute walk to the bus station, missing our bus to Biarittz we had to get a cab to the train station followed by two trains to get us to the airport. By the time we got back to english speaking country, it was a sunday followed by a public holiday which meant doctor was out of the question so we just had to wait it out. Such a miserable end to our amazing Spanish fiesta. 

Beach etiquette in San Sebastian

The beach in San Sebastian is beautiful. It spans for miles, crowded with bodies sprawled across the sand. Much like Barcelona, the beach etiquette is to go topless whilst sun-baking, swimming, talking to friends, walking along the beach (the list goes on). Unfortunately San Sebastian seemed to consist of an older generation of topless women, many blessed with saggys! Even though there was some ghastly, leathery skin walking around, there was also some tanned and gorgeous bodies to look at. I wished to have the confidence to rip my bikini top off and walk around like Mediterranean local but kept telling myself that I would definitely do it the next day. Tomorrow never came as heavy rain decided to hit San Sebastian, so my top will have to stay on until my next tropical holiday. 

Our topless neighbour

This was the beach club - members only. A row of people lying back in sun chairs over looking the water with cocktails in their hand.

We were so infatuated with the beach we decided to go back for an evening stroll along the water. The sea was splashing against the shore as the sun slowly set at around 9pm. 

Lovely Little San Sebastian

We arrived in San Sebastian by late evening after a long train ride from Barcelona. Our hostel was in the heart of Old Town, said to have more bars than any other neighbourhood in the world. Around every corner is a bounty of bars serving a host of the basque regions famous pintxos, gourmet bar snacks served on toothpicks. After a day exploring San Sebastian it was clear it is charming and relaxed by day and cool and flirtatious by night. At 2pm the streets become deserted and nearly every shop closes for a 3 hour siesta, either forcing you to a bar for a drink or to bed for a nap. 

View from our Hostel 

Bakery Window

Coffee and Croissant for Breaky

A little park on the walk home

A Protest in the Main Street 

Barcelona's Beautiful Beach

"Vamos a la playa"

Barcelona's beach was a prime position for people watching. Shady men walk up and down the beach whispering "water", "beer" under their breath for any beach goers wanting a refreshing drink. Chinese ladies make circles around you saying "massage five pounds, very good massage" trying to coax you into a massage on the beach. Every time we were approached I shook my head, but after seeing someone else relishing in what looked like an amazing massage I wished I had tried one out. We also spotted some girls posing like swimwear models but were really just taking "facebook" photos. Then there was "Adonis" a tanned Spanish looking guy wearing white speedos who refused to turn around for me to check out his goods. 

"Adonis" back view

The beach was lined with bars that allowed you to take your drinks down the beach and sit in the sun on the sand. They may have been overpriced frozen margaritas and jugs of sangria but they were luscious to sip watching the sun go down after a day at the beach.

Jug of Sangria

Drinks and Potatas Bravas on the Beach 

A Spanish Picnic

After jam packed days seeing all the sights Barcelona has to offer, we needed a relaxing picnic to get back into holiday mode. We rode through Parc de la ciutadella on our bike tour and were completely wowed by the cascading waterfall, deciding it was a prime picnic spot. We selected the finest goods from a market we found on the way and attempted to ask butchers for 100g of sliced chorizo in Spanish hoping we didn't end up with pigs ears.

Sliced Chorizo, Jarlsberg Cheese, Stuffed Peppers, Olives and Watermelon.

The park is expansive filled with tangled pathways that lead to the pinnacle point of the cascading waterfall. At the top of the "tower" there is a beautiful view of the park.