San Sebastián by way of Estrella

 There's not a lot between Vitoria and San Sebastián if you go direct so we chose the scenic route through
the hills to Estrella then on North to where were planning to stay for the next few days.  The roads were a delight to drive on, the car performing beyond expectations. The big three litre V8 had so much torque it just powered up the hills and mountains in a high gear at 2-3000 revs. In the rocky corridors the burble of the exhaust reverberated between the walls. It's a wonderful touring car, especially with the hood down.

Estrella certainly was an old town with a pleasant enough square but didn't have a lot to commend it apart from a convenient place to have a break and a coffee. Fortunately it was really easy to park anywhere on the roads, just like the Parisians do.

We tried to visit a bodega but most were quite small or closed. We managed to get into Iguzquia, which is close to the town but only the shop was open so we bought a couple of bottles of rather nice wine so we could use the loos to change into lighter clothing. We'd set off in cloudy conditions but it had warmed up around midday for a few hours before the rain clouds rolled in once more. Fortunately we were able to reach the hotel before the rain caught us out with the hood down.

The hotel was right in the centre of San Sebastián with a secure underground car park which we eventually managed to get into. It had a film theme, all the rooms were named after stars together with a wax figure of Hitchcock sitting the foyer on cinema seats. A bit touristy but pleasent enough.

A highlight of the day was having a drink in a coffee shop that became a regular stop close to the hotel. Two elderly ladies sitting next to us with thier dog proved to be exceptionally interesting and friendly. Language was a slight difficulty at first with a mixture of French and poor Spanish but eventually English prevailed.

Not being familiar with the area we chose a restaurant we thought was in easy walking distance; it wasn't but we got there eventually between bouts of rain. The fish was excellent, perfect squid for starters and rare tuna as the main; we took a taxi back!

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