On any given day you can start out with one agenda, and sometimes it turns out that the universe has other plans. I think when you are traveling the odds go way up though, there's a 50/50 chance things will go off the rails.
We actually managed to get off by 8:15 a.m., partly because the gal that managed the house showed up at exactly 8:00 a.m.--the exact time we told her. It was good she was punctual though, the drive to San Sebastian was slated to be a 6.5 hour drive. We were hoping to be there by 3:30 so that we'd have time to walk around before dinner. We had to make a pit stop in Léon to add me to the Hertz contract so that I could drive as well. We headed off, and had a full hour under our belt before a strange light came on in our piece of crap euro-mini van. John's focus on the "not esthetically pleasing" aspect of the vehicle really was the least of the reasons to not like the van. The car also didn't seem to have a controls for the back vents, the USB cord in the front didn't work, there was no rear navigation camera OR GPS system. The list goes on. So when John spots this strange light pop up we try to figure out what it is by finding the manual--but OF COURSE the piece of crap euro-mini van has no manual. OK, no worries we thought...we'll just wait and ask them at the Hertz counter in Léon.
We finally get there, about 3 hours total drive time. Everyone is starving, Lucia is threatening to lose it if she doesn't eat. Her exact words, "I'm going to literally DIE if I don't get food immediately." That statement or a not as nice variation of that statement went on during most of the drive because she had not managed to get up early enough to eat anything. No one was in the mood to be in the car, and the drive was a lot of, "when are we going to be there?" The drive from Såo Gens to Léon is boring....wheat fields and country side, not much else.
So needless to say, everyone was in top form by the time we finally rolled into the Hertz counter. We got me added to the contract, and then ask her if she can decode the mysterious light. She takes a look at the light, says the engine is broken, and we can't drive the car....no, her exact words, "I can't let you leave with this car." Now John's convinced that we should have just said nothing, driven with the light and "probably" nothing would have happened. He could be right, or he could be totally wrong and we might have been in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road trying to figure out what to do somewhere between Léon and San Sebastian.
So then we spend about 30 minutes trying to figure out how they are going to find a car that is as big as the one we have. The first gal thinks it's not possible, they have only slightly smaller cars (which won't work at all because we barely fit as it is.). Then another gal steps in and says, "oh you are 6 personas not 7 yes?" Yes, yes...only 6 personas (but we have a lot of luggage.) "Oh great, I have the solution." She walks us over to an enormous Volkswagen cargo van. "This is for you!" she announced--very pleased that she had solved this hideous problem that had dropped on their doorstep. At first I think she didn't understand that we had SIX because there is a driver, passenger and one row of seats. Then I realize that in fact the front seat has a micro-seat next to the passenger seat. It's like a bucket seat for two next to the driver's seat. We've got no other choice though, otherwise we aren't leaving in one car.
So we move all our stuff over, and the good news is that the back was so big we feared our stuff would roll around. The bad news is that we'd have to spend the next 4+ hour making a Romeo sandwich in the front seat. The van was like a true truck....sparse inside, and very bumpy to drive. The plan was to drive the van to Bilboa, go to the Hertz counter at the airport there, get another car like the one we had pre-bad-engine-light, and THEN drive to San Sebastian. So we did just that but not before we stopped for the worst lunch ever. Trying to feed our starving kids AND simultaneously hurry, we spotted two fast food restaurants within eyeshot of the Hertz counter (which is really in the middle of outskirst hell, we can't see any options from this vantage point.) The kids decide that Kentucky Fried Chicken is going to be A-mazing. I don't even bother telling them that could never be true, but they are talking mashed potatoes, biscuits, corn...they were ready for a full Southern lunch, all the fixings included.
That wasn't what they got. The fried chicken was gross, per Lucia, "I'm not convinced it's chicken." Romeo got a fried chicken "wrap" (which looked like they tried to take a big flour tortilla, throw in some chicken nuggets and a tiny bit of shredded iceberg and somehow call that burrito concoction a wrap. No deal, Romeo said it was gross. Ava ordered potatoes with bacon and cheese on it....but the bacon was basically raw, and the cheese looked like plastic. All that bad food was a fortune too, Romeo's burrito imposter alone was $7.50, doesn't that seem ridiculous? Even. the French fries were barely edible. No Mac n' Cheese, no potatoes, no biscuits. It was not a self-respecting KFC that is for sure. Disaster. After we are all back in the car and headed out, I decide to google "Starbucks" because I have a monster caffeine headache and made John turn around and drive a mile because my Google Maps was convinced there was a Starbucks. There definitely was not (Google was messing with me), but we happened upon a little local coffee shop with a fruit stand right next door, AND a big parking spot right in front. Done and done. I had an espresso that literally grew hair on my chest, and the kids got a big bag of nectarines to help detox from breathing Kentucky Fried Chicken air.
We spend the next 3 hours driving thru gorgeous countryside (it gets quite lush as you move further into Northern Spain, with rolling kills and little villages scattered about), and I listened to Romeo chatter about everything under the sun. He didn't stop talking the entire time, he had a front row seat and he wasn't going to squander it.
We eventually got to Bilboa around 5:00 p.m., switched cars (and yes, we got the brother of the car we had, perhaps a little cleaner, but just as crappy genetically). We then drove another hour to our destination, but not before we literally got stuck at the car park exit because we didn't have a parking ticket. That was a mini crisis as the cars piled up behind us. An hour later we were FINALLY in San Sebastian and by 7:30 all our stuff was at the apartment and we were ready for action. Romeo changed and put on his bowtie....his latest thing is bowties and neckties--just because. It felt like it might just be the right time for a bowtie too.
San Sebastian is gorgeous....GORGEOUS. We were at the ocean within a 5 minute walk and set our eyes on this incredible scene you below, which inspired Gia to comment that it looked like God should pop out of the clouds like in the classic white haired, old man in the clouds image. It was certainly heavenly.
We had a late dinner that ended at 10:45, and of course it was bustling and packed as we made our way home. Hello Spanish nightlife. Everyone was exhausted, and no one went to bed early, but we survived our major curveball and I think overall did fairly well. I'm super excited to walk around this city, there are tapas bars galore in the old town, and shopping looks to be cute.The kids are really excited about the ocean because it's surprisingly warm (70 degrees), not exactly a bath, but warmer than anyone thought it would be. We have such a short time here which is sad, but we'll have to max our day tomorrow.
Coming home we snapped a picture of a store (actually, I think it was a restaurant of some kind), and the tag line was "loving the life you life." Amor Fati simplified, my favorite philosophy/attitude on life.
Signed, ME {lv}
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