Birthday Celebrations Amid the Pandemic

Last weekend we had a great time celebrating my birthday. Fortunately, Spain was about to complete the “de-escalation” process, which allowed us to enjoy it in an almost “normal” way: eating out and strolling outside.

Although my birthday was Sunday the 21st, we made reservations to have a special lunch on Friday the 19th in Getaria, a small fishing village that is about 11 miles from San Sebastian. We chose Txoko Getaria, a highly regarded fish restaurant, based on its reputation, it’s large patio with views of the harbor, and because we saw it in a scene in “The Trip to Spain,” the Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon movie that played at the 2017 SS Film Festival. During Steve and Rob’s lunch at Txoko, it starts to pour rain, which was very typical for the area and amusing to us. Thankfully, we had a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

Getting to Txoko Getaria was part of the adventure. We took the local train (masks on!), for the first time since the start of the state of emergency, from San Sebastian to Zarautz, another beautiful beach town. From there we headed west, walking along the malecon (promenade) and then on to the coastal path towards Getaria. As you can see, the coastline is amazing:

The view from Zarautz, where we started, to Getaria:

The stunning shoreline:

The approach to Getaria:

The entire walk is about 4 miles. Just the right amount to work up a good appetite. We had the best table, with an unobstructed view of the little fishing port. As we sat down and noticed the other restaurant patios and diners around us, we couldn’t help but feel that this was no different from any other summer terrace dining experience … until the waitress approached to take our order with her mask on – that omnipresent reminder that nothing is quite normal. We started with grilled, local white asparagus (from Navarra) and tempura style prawns (Jeff’s choice, but I even ate two, they were so beautiful), and then we shared a delicious whole red seabream with a side of piquillo peppers, and, of course, a wonderful bottle of a white wine. Everything was amazing and we were too full for dessert, or to walk all the way back to Zarautz. Instead we took the bus back from Getaria and then had ice cream on our way home. It was a perfect afternoon out, with no need for any dinner since we started lunch at 2 p.m., a very Spanish time.

On my actual birthday we went out for brunch at La Madame. Brunch is not really a Spanish thing, but La Madame does it right. Before lunch we took a nice long walk on the La Concha beach:

You need to be hungry for brunch at La Madame, where brunch includes 3 courses. First, juice and coffee with either a bruschetta or a muffin. Second, a savory course; for us, huevos rancheros. Finally, a sweet course of pancakes or French toast. Of course, we added a cocktail.

As everyone should on their birthday, we overindulged and left feeling stuffed and ready to relax for the afternoon, which is exactly what we did. I especially enjoyed all my birthday calls from the US.

I’m lucky to have a June birthday, when the weather is pleasant and summer is in the air. Since we didn’t make it to Germany in April to celebrate Jeff’s January birthday, we’ve made reservations for another lunch on his half birthday next month. It’s always good to have something to look forward to, especially when it’s steak at one of the best places in the country!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff 

Pasapalabra Returns

A bit over a year ago, we wrote about our favorite Spanish game show, Pasapalabra. We did not write in October when it was taken off the air because the channel that had been showing it did not actually own the rights to the show (oops). Well, now it is back, with a new host on a different channel.

The show is basically the same as it was, but we miss the old host who was funnier and in Shana's opinion, better looking. Still, we are happy to have it back and usually watch 3 or 4 times a week. We have definitely noticed that our improved language skills have made it easier to follow along and, now we even get some of the correct answers during the final game of each episode, El Rosco.

Right before Pasapalabra airs we often will catch an episode of The Big Bang Theory, which is dubbed. We are finally getting used to the Spanish voices for the characters and can even recognize them if we are listening from afar now. We barely need the Spanish subtitles anymore, but they are helpful when the dialogue is moving fast.

Hopefully, we will have something more interesting to write about soon, but given the state of the world, who knows? The fact that our lock-down has been lifted enough so we can go to restaurants and even the gym hardly seems like exciting news, but we have certainly enjoyed our bit of regained freedom.

Stay well,

Jeff and Shana