Family Summer Vacation | Biarritz & San Sebastián

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This photo story is looong overdue. Considering the circumstances with our baby boy Leo arriving 3 months early I've sure had other things on my plate. During the holidays however, I've finally had some time to cuddle with Leo everyday and go through the images from our summer vacation.

We'd talked about going away together for so long time so we were all so excited for this vacay. Also, this was the first time that we'd go on a family trip, so what better place to have as a destination if not for Biarritz! If you've read my posts in the past you'd know that wifey and I are well travelled and have put in many miles together. Biarritz and San Sebastián (and Barcelona of course) are the destination that we keep coming back to. These places are kind of like our away-from-home homes :)

Since we wanted to live together, we rented a house through our friend Sophia at Biarritz Living. They provide stylish, comfortable holiday homes with character in Biarritz’s best neighbourhoods, so make sure to check them out if you're ever going there. Then for a week we just hung out and enjoyed what the Basque country has to offer; awesome vistas, beautiful beaches, world class surfing, great food & service, super friendly locals and breath taking sunsets. 

Since we were in the Basque Country we also made sure to clear a couple of night for a visit to San Sebastián. As always we love this combo, so great that these two wonderful cities are just 1 hour apart. Also lovely meeting up with my amigo Ikeya and his friend Jon. Thanx guys so much for showing us the gems of your remarkable city. We had the night of a lifetime; muchas gracias chicos, fue una pasada. Jamás lo vamos a olvidar!!

Biarritz

Donostia | San SebastiÁn

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País Vasco Revisado | San Sebastián

I'm gonna start trying out a couple new things in the approach to my story telling. One of them things is a new workflow which hopefully will enable me to spend less time editing and more time sharing my visual stories...and to post more frequently.

When I hopefully get my head around this new photographic voyage I've embarked on I'll make sure to let you guys know. I think it deserves it's own space and time in the dimension of my consciousness which is scribbled down on this digital diary. Until that day let's continue our summer vacation photo-story. Next stop San Sebastián or as it's called by the locals; Donostia. 

If you haven't been yet, then what the heck are you waiting for? It's awesome. The food's amazing. The people are super friendly. As the Spanish would say: "Es maravilloso. Es super guay. Es una pasada tío!!".

Over and out! 

P.S if you missed my previous photo-story about this marvelous place make sure to check it out right here. 

La Rumba de Barcelona

Now that we’ve got yet another Christmas and New Year in the back mirror and out our systems I’d like to continue where I left off. Where were we though? Oh yeah right, we’d just left Lofoten and were headed to Barcelona the day after.
 
You know, maybe I’m biased in this matter, but Barcelona is a great freakin’ city. I’d even venture saying that it’s one of Europe’s best ones, like in any comparison..EVER. It depends on your preferences of course but we’re not here to talk about you now are we??

I said I’m biased before because Spain is kinda my third home – with Iran and Sweden being number uno and dos in hat little reference there. Anyhoot, I lived in Spain for about 3 years, of which I spent over a year in Barcelona. But it’s not for nothin’ that this city top’s at least one list of “The best European destinations” or some such ever year, every year people, on a lot of lists of a lot of magazines and tourist guides.

I mean what there not to like!? You’ve got the mild Mediterranean climate, great shopping, amazing club scene, outstanding restaurants and taperías, awesome ice cream, hell of an arts and culture scene, a world leading football team, kilometer-long beaches close to the city center, aaand the list goes on…

As my man Donnie Brasco would say “Fucking forget about it!!”.

"Forget about it" is like, if you agree with someone, you know, like "Raquel Welch is one great piece of ass, forget about it." But then, if you disagree, like "A Lincoln is better than a Cadillac? Forget about it!" you know? But then, it's also like if something's the greatest thing in the world, like minga those peppers, "forget about it." But it's also like saying "Go to hell!" too. Like, you know, like "Hey Paulie, you got a one inch pecker!" and Paulie says "Forget about it!" And then, sometimes it just means forget about it."  
– Donnie Brasco

Speaking of all good things, if I had only one day in this marvelous city, I’d do as my wife and I do every time we’re in town and make sure to visit our favourite neighborhood Born and go have dinner at our favourite restaurant Casa Lolea.

This place isn’t like any other restaurant we’ve been to, and trust me we’ve been to a lot of “restaurantes”. The staff is AMAZING, the food AMAZEBALLS and their own produced sangría is out of this world. If you’re ever in town, you HAVE to go there and try it. You’ll come out happier that you’ve been in a long time, I guaranty that and many laughs!

"Spain has always been a country with a passion for joyful conversations and encounters. Combine this story with our simple locale and a lot of ambiance where many small plates of amazing food and sangría serve to invite your senses to a nightlong fiesta. Welcome to Casa Lolea!"
– casalolea.com

¡Hasta la proxima!

The Getaway Trip With 2 Cherries on Top | Barcelona

Our summer tour in Biarritz, San Sebastián & Bilbao was coming to an end and it was time for us to head back to Stockholm.

During our last day in Bilbao, my wifey was doing what she does best while I was chilling on the armchair. That is texting her sister on WhatsApp, checking the weather forecast back home, asking me what she should wear to the upcoming wedding party while singing along to Adele on Spotify...Suddenly the singing stops, her face turns all disappointed and she’s like “Vad faaan?!?” (In English that would be something like “Oh Nooo!?!”).

It turns out that the weather back home was looking more like autumn during the coming last weeks of our vacation. So we did what any Swede probably was doing in that same moment; we started looking for a flight to somewhere more sunlit.

We decided to come back to Spain again, but this time to a location that we’d visited on several occasions before. A flight ticket to Barcelona was our way out of the grayish & rainy abyss that awaited us in Sweden.

We flew home on a Thursday, did a whole lot of laundry, repacked the suitcases, headed off to the wedding in Uppsala on Saturday and off to the airport on Sunday. And before we knew it, the sun was shining on our faces again while laying on our beach towels on the lovely Barceloneta and mannerly declining the “Cooca Coola, Fanta, Cerveeeza?!?” offer’s.

Also, it turned out that our friends Raber & Sara decided to go to Barcelona just a couple of days after our arrival. We had couple of awesome days together enjoying the nice weather on the beach, strolling around the city and of course wining & dining at our favourite restaurants in El Born and Rival.

I gotta say that having the company of the Shoshtari-Goniband-Amin’s really was the cherry on top for our getaway summer vacation. Thank you guys, it was a blast!!

The Art Of Pintxos | San Sebastián

On the bus ride from Biarritz to our next destination both my wife and I were so amazed by this place that we felt anything else would fade in comparison. Biarritz had definitely raised the bar.

However, our next destination San Sebastián did not disappoint at all!

 It is said that it’s impossible to lay eyes on San Sebastián and not fall madly in love. This is indeed true, especially if you are as serious an eater as we are.

San Sebastián is cool, charming and well-mannered by day, graceful and flirtatious by night.

It’s a city that loves to indulge and has a food culture that’s unmatched anywhere else in Spain. There’s a reason why Donostia as it’s called in Basque frequently tops lists of the world's best places to eat.

In this region of Spain, the chefs have created their own cheeky version of tapas. They call it pintxos and this cheerful little morsel of Basque cuisine has been refined to an art form. The perfect pintxo should have exquisite taste, texture and appearance and it should be savoured in two elegant bites.

But just as good as the food, is the summer fun in the sun. For its setting, form and attitude, Playa de la Concha is the equal of any city beach in Europe. Then there’s Playa de la Zurriola, with its surfers and sultry beach-goers.

As the sun sets after yet another gentle summer’s day, you’ll find yourself jostling next to locals and tourists alike outside of bar Nestor.

Whilst enjoying the starter; a simple yet marvelous plate of Pimientos Verdes, you can’t wait to taste that first bite of the chuletón that’s prepared to perfection. You take a sip of that heavenly Ribera del Duero and realize that, yes, you too are in love with San Sebastián.