Site Visit – San Sebastian, Spain!
I’ve been to Spain many times, but never to San Sebastian. I love working in new places. New locations mean new design challenges, new artisans, new inspirations, and another new culture to appreciate and understand (oh… and more new food and new drinks to try!).
The fabulous Mindy Rice joined me for this site visit. She is one of my favorite travel partners….not only because she is one of the most talented women I know, and one of the funniest women I know…but mainly because she will eat and drink ANYTHING! We have a blast sampling the local cuisine and the local libations together. San Sebastian is home to a high concentration of restaurants boasting Michelin stars – so what better place for a gastronomic adventure?
Our mission for this site visit was to find specific locations for our client's rehearsal dinner, their ceremony, and their wedding dinner reception. From the moment we stepped foot in the “Parte Vieja” (old part) in San Sebastian, we knew a “pintxos” tour was a must for our client's guests. Pintxos are essentially the Basque version of tapas, and in San Sebastian, you basically belly up to the Pintxos bars, enjoy a few, then head on to the next bar. So - rather than doing a traditional seated rehearsal dinner, we will be giving our client's guests an authentic taste of San Sebastian by doing a Pintxos tour. Delightful!
On the pintxos tour, we’ll also make sure the guests are able to sample the traditional libations of San Sebastian as well….Basque cider, Txakoli (Basque wine), and my all time favorite….Patxaran. Our darling Basque friend Fernando turned us on to Patxaran which is a delicious liquor made from soaking sloe berries, a few coffee beans, and a vanilla pod in anisette. You sip it chilled after a full pintxos meal and it is the most delicious digestif. I may have accidentally brought a bottle (or three) home for myself!
For the nuptials, we selected a gorgeous Basilica. It goes without saying that the churches and basilicas in San Sebastian are mind blowing. I get chills every time I walk through the church doors, and I can already picture the groom's face as his bride walks through the Basilica doors and down the aisle towards him. A-ma-zing.
(Images from Mindy and my 16 mile walk to Getaria)
My absolute favorite part of the site visit was the day trip Mindy and I took to Getaria (a small fishing village just outside San Sebastian). We were looking at Getaria in hopes that it would work for a small day excursing for our client's guests. It ended up being too far to be practical for a day trip…but holy cow…I’m so happy Mindy and I got to experience it. The town is straight out of a storybook, and is the birth place of many famous commanders in the Spanish Armada, as well as many famous Spanish explorers.
(Gorgeous La Concha bay in San Sebastion)An incredible journey and yet another incredible learning experience! This wedding is coming up in May – so stay tuned for more photos after the wedding!
Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 1:24PM
Reader Comments (6)
okay, i would like to take a pintxos tour right about now! haha! sounds like it's going to be a wonderful wedding lis....can't wait to see how it all comes together!