I left the magic of Morocco with 5 days to kill before meeting friends in Portugal, and boarded a flight to Madrid. I chose Madrid because Google Flights said it was the cheapest ticket that would take me back to Europe (and even close to Portugal, as a bonus!) Plus I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Spain the last time I was there and knew there was so much more of it to explore. So far I’d ride a Vespa on the mountains north of Madrid, and toured Barcelona, Mallorca, and Granada. This time I decided to head north, with my ultimate destination the glistening waters of San Sebastián. It’s about a five hour train ride from Madrid to San Sebastián so I decided to break it up a bit and explore somewhere in between. I chose a town called Zaragoza, because a waiter in Venice had been there and liked it. Really that is the only reason but it seemed like a good enough one as any! It was a bonus that lodging was extremely cost-efficient in Zaragoza and I got a hotel that was right next to the train station for only 50 euro. The hotel also met my newly established requirement of having white bedding (a new requirement since the Marseilles bed bug incident at least). 
I arrived and ventured out to a restaurant that was raved about on Trip Advisor, despite the reviews saying you need a rezzie and I had not planned ahead enough to procure one (shocking, I know). Miraculously there was a lovely table that was reserved for 11pm but since I was there at the early Spanish dinner hour of 9pm, I was able to snag it for an early bird special. It was a lovely meal and the wait staff was super-friendly and even gave me some special tastings. 
Side note: These have been very pleasant perks of solo dining- being able to score tables for one sans reservation and having some great interactions with restaurant staff who seem extra helpful and chatty. At one restaurant in Marseille the owner sat down with me for a while!
The next day I took off to see the city…and over ten miles of walking later, see it I did. My day started with a good old fashioned protest, as the elections for Catalonia’s independence from Spain was that day. I had heard about this is Barcelona where the Cantalonian flag was proudly displayed on balconies through the city. Zaragoza, however, is not in Cantalonia and is not so fond of a portion of their country separating. Thankfully this was a very peaceful and prideful protest (this was also before I knew there had been violence in other parts of the country). 
With a protest under my belt, I ventured on to the Aljaheria Palace, where everything was in Spanish (including the free tour) so I didn’t learn much about it but enjoyed seeing it nevertheless. I mean who doesn’t like a good palace? 
I then explored the La Magdalena cathedral and went to the top of the bell tower for aerial views of the city. 
After much more exploring and a delicious lunch I went back to my hotel to relax for a bit before heading back out for dinner. 
Well, once I sat down there was no getting up again and I ended up having room service (which they said was “no charge” when they delivered it- Zaragoza was turning out to be the opposite of Marseille as far as luck was concerned!). My evening activity was Face-timing with my brother and his family and I swear my nieces and nephews look older in just a month.
The next day when I checked out, the young lady at the front desk asked where I was headed next and she said San Sebastián is one of her favorite places but too bad it was raining there. This did not compute because the Apple weather app had a full sun ☀️ (not even one cloud) for the entire day. I incorrectly assumed that she was mistaken, not the app (you’d think after all the issues I’ve had with Apple this trip I wouldn’t be giving their app the benefit of the doubt!). I arrived in rainy San Sebastián, and was told by the hotel that it might be sunny the day after tomorrow but rain until then. The weather app had blazing sun for all three days I was there. One guess on which forecast was correct…
So, I grabbed my rain jacket and made the best of the weather by touring the city on foot. I hiked up to a castle on a hill overlooking the city with spectacular (albeit rainy) views. 
I also checked out a few churches, including the main cathedral and learned about Basque history at the San Telmo museum. Unfortinetly many of the displays weren’t translated to English but I got the gist, I think. Speaking of language, while Spanish is obviously the primary language, I learned that about 35% of San Sebastián residents speak Basque and, being very close to France, there’s also a large French speaking population. So, English was usually fourth on the list of languages to be translated. And, I realized that despite taking Spanish to the required “literature level” in college, I know exactly enough to be dangerous. Meaning I can stumble my way through basic dialogue, so people think I actually know the language and respond accordingly- leaving me with absolutely no idea what they said. To avoid that I started just speaking in bad enough Spanish that it was clear an English response would be appreciated.
Also of note, in San Sebastián is the food scene- most places serve a variety of “pinxtos” which are a variety of tapas-like snacks that are on display in their counter. 
At first I was concerned how long they had been sitting there but then realized they replenish them pretty frequently and you can also order off the menu for items not displayed or a fresh batch. This was a really fun way to sample a variety of their seafood heavy dishes. I even got into the various ways they serve sardines!
The next day I awoke to my promised sunshiney day! 
I motored my way to the surf shop, excited to reunite with my new favorite sport. Given that the waves were just a liiiitttle bit bigger than in Morocco I figured another lesson was a good idea. Unfortunately the timing of my lesson was when the tide was almost high and there were currents rushing in every which direction. My instructor, Griffin, was not deterred by this and we started with a little refresher on the beach. Interestingly Griffin recommended a completely different way of standing up on the board than the instructors had in Morocco, and had me lay in the board and push myself up so my bad was arched, like the cobra yoga position, and then from there swing my foot around to stand up. This presented a challenge in that my back did not seem to want to bend in that direction. Having had lower back issues in the past I was wary and shared this with Griffin who said it would be easier when in the water. I wasn’t convinced but I figured Griffin knew best and I ventured out to give it a go. I managed to stand up once using Griffin’s “new and improved” method, and given the high tide my surf in was more of a drop into the sand than a graceful coast. I felt a twinge in my back and then a tightness that put off little alarm bells in my head. Everything in me wanted to go back out and keep surfing but in a responsible big girl moment I listened to the little voice saying “this is not a good idea.” Griffin at that point acknowledged that maybe in the future I should stick with the original method I learned in Morocco. Thanks Griff. And, thanks to a very talented massage therapist (who I stiffly meandered to immediately after leaving the surf shop) my back felt a lot better the next day and there seems to be no long-term threat to my future surfing career. All in all my relationship with Surfing has hit a blip but, let’s be honest, our first few dates in Morocco were a little too fairytale for a real relationship. I feel like we’re on a good path now and I can’t wait to get together again!
I was treated to a beautiful sunset my last night in San Sebastián and it was almost like the rain never happened.
Next stop…Christopher Columbus’s homeland!