This tour was simply the best travel and gastro experience in a long time! Our tour guide was top…read morenotch expert on authentic local Basque cuisine and culture. She catered to our dietary needs/preferences and customized the gastropub tour to fit our needs. I loved everything she had us try, not a single pintxo was anything less than superb (which by the way she ensured was freshly made for her tour guests once we arrived). I am still daydreaming about this experience and already planning my next visit in the near future.

When I originally began to design our Northern Spain European vacation, I was overly excited about…read morediscovering San Sebastian. The scenic resort town is on the Bay of Biscay in Spain's mountainous Basque Country. There are two popular beaches also that one can enjoy either on the Bay or on the ocean. These beaches are bordered by a charming Bayfront boardwalk, and popular restaurants with creative chefs. Anyone that is not a seafood lover will have challenges eating in these popular restaurants. Most of our time invested in this fabulous city was in the Old City where we enjoyed pintxos and at one time an awesome cheese cake for desert. San Sebastián was surly well worth the visit. The magnitude of people and their energy draws out the dynamic appeal and absolutely wonderful culture of this delightful city.

I had no interest in buying any sporting goods, but I happened to be passing by and the place…read morelooked super busy, so on a whim I decided to pop in and see what it was about. No firearms, obviously. But otherwise, it was very similar to Academy Sports and Dick's Sporting Goods. Organized by department based on the sport. Tennis, golf, raquetball, running shoes, exercise wear, etc. Everything had pretty clear looking prices and while the store was super busy on a Saturday night, it was well stocked and pretty tidy.

These stores are all over Spain. Some are tiny shops with a little bit of everything (eg the Puerto…read moredel Sol store in Madrid), others are huge multi-floor got-it-all REI-style megastores with long aisles of shoes, clothing, outdoor gear and sports equipment for any sport you choose (eg Bilbao). Prices are excellent. I needed an extra fold-up duffel to haul clothing displaced by souvenir purchases. They had multiple sizes and colors - good quality at surprisingly low prices - 5 to 10 euros. Docked one star for unimaginative displays.