Pasai Donibane, how to get there and other information

The original plan for the day was to have lunch in Pasai Donibane (Pasai San Juan in Spanish), and walk around the village after. But all plans went haywire when the decision was made to include La Clásica into our tight schedule. The "morning" (in quotes because our mornings often turn out to be afternoons) was dedicated to El Peine del Viento because 1) it was closer to where we were lodging and 2) I knew if we didn't do it then I might not get the chance, knowing the way we were always late for everything, and I didn't want my first visit to El Peine to be at 21.00 hours or even later, especially if that would be my only visit.

So, on the one hand, I was pleased to have been able to experience Chillida's project, but on the other hand, lunch at Pasai was off, and we had that horrible lunch experience instead. The upside was that I had the best pastel Vasco in town (haha, how could I compare it if that was the only one I had ;) ).

To cut the long story short, we almost didn't make it to Pasai. It was almost 8pm, for goodness sake! I said, sod it. Better to be there for a few hours than not at all. What was the alternative anyway? Walk 40 minutes back to have a shower and out again for dinner in Antiguo? Not an exciting prospect!

Paid the bill, grabbed the box of pasteles Vasco, and I led the way to Okendo Kalea, practically running. I knew there was a bus leaving around 8pm, but we had to find the bus stop. To help you, should you wish to take the same trip, here's some information.

• From San Sebastián, the bus stop is on Okendo Kalea, more or less in front of Hotel María Cristina.
• The number is E08 or E09 (the E08 runs a circular route while the E09 runs from San Pedro to Okendo only). Tell the driver to drop you off at San Pedro. You can see the timetable here.
• Cost is €1.65. The ride is about 15 minutes.
• From the bus stop, it's a short walk to the small jetty.

• Catch the boat (€0.70) for the short ride across the estuary. Get your camera ready. Boat runs till quite late, about 23.00 or 23.30. Check with the boatman.
• Read about Pasai Donibane here and here.

I will show more of Donibane in the next post, but here are some samplers.

Pasai Donibane

Pasai Donibane

Pasai Donibane