Pintxos Por Favor

June in 2018 saw us decamp to sunny climes in North Spain and take our first visit to the famous Basque region and in particular the hidden jewel that is San Sebastian.
Its a jolly jolly nice place and is very highly rated by the Funbus!

A Grand Design

Once a favourite destination for Spanish royalty, San Sebastián has lost none of its lustre over the years. Elegant art nouveau buildings, ornate bridges and beautifully manicured parks and plazas create a captivating backdrop to this seaside city. Far from being mere set pieces, the grand architecture remains an integral part of San Sebastián, from the lavish Hotel Maria Cristina to the belle époque spa perched over the shoreline. Meanwhile, the old buildings lining the cobblestone streets of the Parte Vieja have been given new life with charming guesthouses, colourful boutiques and buzzing pintxos bars all part of the great and vibrant mix that is San Sebastián. 

Seaside Setting

Spain’s culinary capital is also blessed with an alluring coastline. The long Playa de la Concha is the city’s great backyard, a picturesque sweep of sandy beach that fronts gently lapping seas. Surfers head one beach over to the powerful waves that roll in off of Playa de la Zurriola, just behind the hipster enclave of Gros. Just offshore of the old town lies Isla de Santa Clara, a small hilly island that makes a fine getaway on a steamy afternoon. The city has some fine vantage points to gaze over its coastline, including the hilltop heights of Monte Urgull and Monte Igueldo.

It does a rather spiffing type of Tapas - available in most bars and the house wines are very good indeed. Definitely given the funbus seal of approval ...

Culinary Superstar

San Sebastián has a justly deserved reputation as one of the world’s great dining destinations. This is a city that celebrates the art of eating well in all its many forms – whether snacking on fresh oysters and txakoli (a lightly sparkling white wine) at a seaside cafe or lingering over a decadent, multi-course feast in a Michelin-starred dining room. Pintxos (Basque tapas) bars litter the streets of San Sebastián, and showcase first-rate ingredients from the surrounding coast and countryside combined with the culinary creativity of Basque chefs. When it comes to cooking, no other city quite 

Great fun 😎

Recommended !!!!

intelligent bumping - revisited

So its that time of year again when thoughts return to languid hours spent idling and imbibing on the banks of the Thames, watching rowers do what rowers do best ...

So here we are at the home of the dreaming spires doing what we do best ... 😂😂

Once more to the beaches dear friends .. once more

So with the weather set fair and the itch of a much needed adventure giving us both aggravation, it was an easy decision to voyage in the mighty bus far from our shores to the land of Gaul and  the spiritual funbus home that is the Vendee.

Bish checked his passport and we duly embarked on the overnight ferry for some much needed R&R

Evening libation

 




The bus ran sweet and life was equally sweet 😎

Petite dejeuner

intrepid explorers

                                                                           

Funbus sat-nav 

Good Times ..😊

 
                


...shock! Horror! a boiler malfunction in urgent need of the Bish's genius ministrations.

Phew .. problem solved so beach and splashing needed.

All to soon it was time to return to dear old Blighty fully refreshed and reinvigorated

Chillin with the Legend

And so it came to pass that the Legend and I travelled to the Eastern edges of the mighty metropolis of London to pay homage to damn fine musicians

As Quoted;

As if the line-up of the final day of All Points East wasn’t strong enough, Nick Cave brought on Kylie Minogue midway through his set.

The two Australians, below, gave an affectionate performance of their 1995 duet Where The Wild Roses Grow.  “I should be so lucky,” he joked when Minogue, 50, left the stage. 

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds put on an exultant show that spanned their career. Still spry at 60, Cave kept leaping down from the stage to clasp the hands of fans, who were captivated by his storytelling, emotional range and poetic lyrics.
Girl In Amber, from Cave’s last album, Skeleton Tree, was a poignant tribute to his wife, Susie. The video showed her with her back to the camera on Brighton beach, near where their son Arthur died in 2015. 

Here, as on the record, Cave articulated their family’s love in unvarnished, human terms. As Deanna began, Cave ambled right down into the crowd and brought scores of them back up on stage for the closing performance of Stagger Lee.
Earlier on, St Vincent, aka Annie Clark, charmed the festival with her warped take on fuzzy rock and electronic pop. 

When she was in London last year her band was notably absent, but they were back last night. While Clark has more than enough charisma to command a stage, the band allowed her to be more ambitious, freed from the restraints of the album as she worked her way through a series of neon-coloured guitars. 

On the main stage before Cave, Patti Smith played a stridently political set, rousing the crowd with declarations about people power and a dearth of good world leaders.
But the night belonged to Cave.  In Jubilee Street he sang, “I am transforming/I am vibrating/I am glowing/I am flying/Look at me now.” And he truly was.