Empanadas and a View

Today one of my parents, I can't which remember because I was so groggy, woke me up at the ungodly hour of ten so I could go on a long run. It wasn't too hot because the weather here has been pretty rainy and cloudy the past few days. However, I would much prefer some chill bumps to sweat dripping down my back. The sidewalks to run on here and pretty much everywhere we have been has been hard stone, which has really been hurting my hips and knees. Today my dad tried to find us a run with the most amount of grass as possible because any grass is better than no grass. Getting out on our run was pretty smooth and as far as I know we didn't take any wrong turns. I do know that our run took us outside of the city, which was really nice and I definitely appreciated a run with trees. When we got to half way through our run we turned around because we decided a few days ago out and back runs are the way to go when you are in a city you don't know. They are much harder to get lost on. However, we proved it is not impossible to get lost. After going just a half mile back my dad and I didn't seem to recognize where we were. We decided to go over a nearby bridge, but my dad didn't remember crossing the river so far away from the ocean. We ended up going left after that and finding ourselves in a parking lot for what looked like a trail, which we also didn't recognize. I was getting worried that we would mess up Hannah's plans for the day if we didn't get back so my dad was probably feeling some pressure from me to get us going the right way. Eventually we decided to back track and we discovered we turned at a stop light we sould have gone straight at. Our little detour added a half mile to my run, which I didn't love, but I guess I just have a bigger head start on mileage for the week.

Finally back, we got cleaned up and all of us headed out to a small amusement park that was built in at least the 1900s. Getting there proved to be tricky, but we eventually found a cab that took us to the base of the mountain the amusement park is on. From here Hannah was our guide and she led us to a really steep tram that takes you directly up the mountain. I thought the view in the trees was amazing, but my mom didn't appreciate the rapid height gain at all. She was relieved when we reached the top after a few minutes and we stepped out of the car into beautiful weather, which lasted about three minutes. In those three minutes we got to see almost all of San Sebastian from above, which was stunning. We cut off our viewing time by beelining it to the cafe in the amusement park just before the sky's bottom fell out, dropping a boatload and a half of rain on us. Glad to be inside, we ordered some tea and coffee and watched as everyone in the amusement park dashed to refuge inside of the cafe. It might have been the most stressful day of the one woman working the counter's life. In about thirty minutes the rain stopped, but the park was still mostly closed because everything was wet. We decided to make the most of our day though by walking up a huge tower that poked out of the trees on the top of the hill. As we climbed the stairs we were able to look at pictures of San Sebastian and its people, dating back to the 1800s. There were quite a few flights of stairs in that building, but we eventually reached the top, or thought we did. Inside, there was a fantastic view of the bay and the surfer beach, which is the most popular view of San Sebastian, but from this angle it was even more amazing. I started to feel a draft and wondered where it came from. Hannah beat me to figuring out that there was a small spiral staircase with slits in it that took you to the roof of the tower. From up there people looked like little ants splashing around in the icy waters below. You could also see both sides of San Sebastian, both the bay and the ocean, which was fog covered so it didn't reach the horizon. The amazing view satisfied the lack of roller coaster and we headed back down, all the way down, into the city.

We managed to get a cab again by some miracle and went to the market where Hannah got lunch almost every day. We got her typical lunch of empanadas and a huge green juice. My dad also got an enormous slab of watermelon and we picked up some snacks. Not knowing where to eat our empanadas, we ate as we walked toward old town. I was on a mission to get some summer bracelets, which Hannah got a few weeks ago. We went into two stores and I found some I liked. We then walked to a mailbox so I could send some postcards I had collected from multiple countries back home. After checking those two items off of my to do list the four of us headed back to the crepe shop we went to yesterday to get some more. I got one with just strawberries this time and it was amazing. I reminded me on lazy Sunday breakfasts at home with Millie on the floor and Hannah being annoyed that I didn't help enough.

I was stuffed from both my empanadas and my crepe and we all headed back home. I was the earliest we had checked back in for the night during the entire trip. Although, Hannah ended going back out with one of her friends from La Cunza, the language program she did here, and my parents went out in search of tapas. I decided to call it a night and catch up on some blogs, reading, packing, and anything-but-walking. Hannah has successfully showed us San Sebastian from all the angles and I am so grateful to have her back.