San Sebastian 2006
Day 1
The annual Ryanair pilgrimage began at 3am on the 29th of December and this year’s venue was San Sebastian, via Biarritz. Out (no pun intended) were Barry, Chris, Brian, Sinead and Edel and in were: Terrence, Barbara, Louise, Dee, Ciara, Aileen, Aoife, Lawrence, Caroline, Brigh, Daragh, Hazel, Niamh, Clem, Sarah and Frank.
Of last years group Darren, Ian, Clodagh, Jarlath, Breda, Jim, Derek, Sean, Martine, Veron and Tara managed to put in a repeat performance.
The malaise brought on by the early start was offset somewhat by the buzz of excitement and the sheer numbers ensured the trip took on the apperance of a school tour, without the sex, drugs and drinking (although that probably depends on what school you went to). Sean and Martine had been out doing some reconnisance for the previous few days, while Jarlath and Breda were following on later. The Lee’s had to stay in Ireland working so they could make sure Mr. Flextroic could afford to buy “the big Island”, in fact they were just grateful to get 24 hours off for New Years Eve. In all that left the official travelling party of 23.
"How do I ditch this guy, and have her for myself???" They both thought....
The flight was relativly uneventfull except for the fact that some people managed to pack for a six week vacation despite the trip being only three nights, and it’s not like there was a lot of material in the clothes that were worn. In contrast, other people showed their travel experience by packing light, very light in fact, their entire inventory was:
• passport
• bank card
• clothes on back
After arriving safely in Biarritz and getting the hire cars sorted, the planned convoy never really materialised. The five separate vehicles made their way to San Sebastian via five different routes. A breakdown in the human GPS system interface meant that we took a somewhat circuitous route along the coast. Even though the GPS wasn’t working there was still an annoying voice in the car barking instuctions. We arrived outside the Abba-Londres Hotel alongside another car but a dirty rotten illegal and dangerous manuver later we found ourselves shunted off for another trip around the block, or as Jim calls it “normal driving”. Eventually everybody arrived safe and sound.
"Huh?"
The afternoon entertainment was to walk around and see if we could get a resturant willing to take 25 people. Eventually, we found a chinese establishment and we all met up for dinner. The dinner was cheep and cheerfull and we discovered various new chinese traditions such as presenting the starter after the main course and splitting the main course into seperate meat and rice servings. They offered us some rice wine which I am sure was manufactured from the brown water that rice grows in.
At this stage the effect of the alcohol began to kick in and we were “treated” to people with tea towels on their heads screaming, not exactly riverdance. In terms of alcoholic drinks there were two options beer or spirits. For spirits there were two choices of measure. You could have the single measure which would be equivalent to a half bucket or a double which is the equivalent to a full bucket in Ireland. Mostly we stuck to the half buckets. If you needed a break from the drinking you could switch to the Heineken. Our hosts at the resturant offered us lighters as aparting gift, no doubt aware that our pockets and handbags would soon be emptied of their contents.
The "girls" room
The old town area has a pletora of fine drinking establishments, most about the size of a downstrairs bathroom. So drinking on the street was the order of the day. Luckily the weather obliged and it was shirt sleeves all round.
As mentioned above the locals seemed to have a likeing for handbags and handbag contents. And shur why wouldn’t they, at €400 a dip it’d be well worth your while trying a little hand bag dipping. You might even get a snog at the end of it!! And although it might seem excessive to bring out €400 for a night on the beer when you could leave it in the hotel safe, you never know when you might pass a shop selling the latest Fendi handbag.
On the way home we stopped for a spot of Bingo and then rearranged all the accomidation. It seems Derek was the unlucky one and ended up sleeping on the floor.
Day 2
The second day started quietly enough. Some people ordered breakfast in bed but the more conscientious among us changed their order from cholesterol charged bacon and eggs to the healthy option of fruit and croissants. I am sure this gesture will be appreciated in years to come, or maybe not.
After breakfast the hotel guests were treated to Clodagh’s impression of death-warmed-up. The only flaw in the impression was the plastic bag filled with puke and the gagging. The more cultured of us went to the Guggenheim Museum in Balboa, and one of us actually went into the museum. The others who stayed in San Seb went looking for the local knocking shops, but failed, allegedly. Overall the day was put down productively and the second evening began with a few buckets of gin, vodka, whiskey etc. in the hotel bar and then it was off to the restaurant.
Although the restaurant could seat about a hundred, the staff appeared to be unable to cope with things like food orders and cooking. A reduced menu was offered and the starters included meat with a side order of fat and livers with stuff on top. These were complimented by the main courses which included T-bone steak with salt and without the t-bone and sirloin steak with salt. The fish dish was served with a snot/phlegm sauce. To finish, we had a nice piece of pie with ice-cream and all for the value busting price of €45, (each). (Although we didn’t actually order the desserts and the chips arrived after everybody was finished and there was no veg.) It was fun seeing Lawrence have a fit when he didn’t get his veggies.
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Feeding Time at the Zoo
With the exception of the two ladies who went home to bed after the restaurant, with their hot water bottles and Horlicks, the night time activities concluded in the usual manner with people falling down drunk, getting robbed and jumping from bed to bed
Day 3
New Years Eve was spent walking the town, some of the shops were open and there were excursions to the Cathedral, and the statue on the hill. Some availed of the hair-of-the-dog cure and others spent the day in bed watching movies. Although there was a ban on self interference this was loosely observed. The PPV channels provided an interesting variety of themes including defecating and implement insertion, apparently. Even the Dublin girls got in on the act and ordered “room service”.
In the evening there was an expedition to find food, but most of the group had to make do with “happy meals”. The 7 o’clock start was a challenge for some, and for Darren & Brigh who seem to be operating in a time zone approximately 45 minutes behind everybody else, they managed to miss the first three pints. (Although Brigh made-up for this later in spectacular fashion.)
Jarlath and Breda, who had arrived earlier despite being help up by a bunch of marathon runners, were full of enthusiasm. Jarlath even managed to not fall asleep. Although the current theory is that this was due to the lack of a comfortable place to sleep, which is usually provided by everybody’s jackets which were not required in this climate.
The early start and the generous measures saw our first lightweight depart the scene at 11:15pm, Derek I think it was. Although to be fair he did make an earlier start that the rest of us, December 22nd I think it was. New Years Eve was rung in at 11pm, 12 midnight and 1am, by those who wanted to ring in the Spanish New Year, the Irish New Year and those who don’t know how time zones work. Lawrence also had a minor count-down at 11:30.
Sean's Buddies
Terrence managed to get himself mugged while at the bar and Sean averted a probable kidnapping/rape/murder, in what is believed to be the earliest onset of Stockholm syndrome ever reported.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Syndrome).
Meanwhile, Barbara decided to try and convert the local criminals from their life of crime and Aileen did her usual trick of tormenting Jim. Clem had a Jim Morrison moment and tried to climb up to see San Seb himself, leaving Aoife somewhat in the lurch. At the same time Aoife’s back-up plan was otherwise engaged.
Exhausted, yet satisfied!
The rest of the group got back at various times and in conditions ranging from “merry” to “in need of defibrillation”. Although Brigh did manage to fall outside this classification system as she put on a fantastic display of undressing oneself in the street, falling down and being unable to speak or walk.
Day 4
Day 4 started with a hangover and some emergency packing. The hotel evacuation went smoothly but getting the car back not so. The Spanish custom of taking two hours off in the middle of the day meant that our car was temporarily impounded. Most of the group got back to the Airport in plenty of time for awkward looks, uneasy salutes and slagging Brigh.
Unfortunately, the awkward silence was broken by that bastard rattle that somebody gave Clodagh.
All in all it was a very successful trip, for the pickpockets. And everybody agrees that next year they would do it all again….
Pictures to come!!!!!!!
