San Sebastian: Brexta Market, Aitor Lasa, and Galpasoro

We love exploring public markets whenever we travel. We were just a block away from Brexta Public Market, so we were obviously going to pay them a visit. Along the side of the two large market buildings have been turned into a shopping center......

There's a nice produce "market" set-up alongside the buildings.

And heading down below the shopping center.....

You'll find a wonderful meat and fish market, with tons of stalls. The selection is quite amazing, especially the various charcuterie, cheese, and cuts of meat. You could literally spend and hour or more just wandering around. There are prepared food stalls and vendors selling all sorts of Basque food items.

We soon left the market however, as the Missus wanted to check out places out side of the Old Town. So we headed out. Past the statue of the Drummer and the Plaque with the lyrics to La Marcha de San Sebastian, which I was told is San Sebastian's City Anthem. Each January 20th marks Tamboradda in the city. From midnight on the 19th to midnight on the 20th drums pound constantly and there's....well, a party of course, which lasts (gasp) 24 hours! It must be quite and event.

   As we expected; San Sebastian Centro is different from the Old Town. But, there was still an old world charm; just with more coffee shops, and some nice, upscale, shopping.  We enjoyed just meandering up Calle de Urbieta, first taking a short break for a cup of coffee.  Before arriving at the impressive Catedral del Buen Pastor de San Sebastián (Cathedral of the Good Shepherd). The Basilica of Santa Maria del Coro lies almost directly across from the Cathedral. It is said that you can even see the doors of the Cathedral from the stairs of the Basilica.

We took a walk inside the massive cathedral which was rather austere. It was very quiet in contrast to the busy traffic on the street outside.

Leaving the cathedral, we headed back to the Old Town. Of course the subject of lunch came out. We were getting hungry and it was still early. So we decided to self cater. I'd read about a market named Aitor Lasa right across the street from Brexta Market.

The rather tiny little market stocked a nice variety of cheese and charcuterie.

And we ended up purchasing some cheese, head cheese, eggs, and chorizo.

While paying for our groceries, we noticed some beautiful mushrooms. One especially caught my eye since I'd never seen it before.

The mushrooms are displayed in the top right of the photo above. I was told they were "cepes"......fresh porcinis! How could I not get a few? With all of this, bread was a must, so we asked the woman working the produce. At first she tried to sell us the bread stocked at the store. But soon enough, she wrote down the name of a place and drew a dot on my nap.

We loved the folks working here.

Aitor Lasa
Aldamar Kalea 12
San Sebastian, Spain

Next we decided to head back down the stairs of Brexta Market and head for a stand that had caught our attention during our earlier visit.

The gentleman behind the counter was so friendly, handing out samples to everyone. We had decided to taste some of the olive oils for sale and decided to get a very nice Arbequina Olive Oil; mildly grassy with a nice pepperiness to it. We also got some olives; sin sel....light on the salt. The olive was perfect; we finished the last of it in Bordeaux right before flying back to Madrid.

We also headed off to the fish market portion of the market which we had skipped earlier.

We loved the displays....some of them seemed artistic and somewhat whimsical to us. What do you think?

We then headed back upstairs and off to getting some bread.

The shop was located right on Calle Mayor. We'd passed it a couple of times, but never even noticed it. There was no missing it on this morning. Check out the line!

So we stood in line and eventually got our bread. It was quite good; perhaps not on the level of what we had in Bordeaux, but it sure did well for lunch.

Galparsoro Okindegia
Calle Mayor 6
San Sebastian, Spain

And while the kitchen wasn't too well stocked; luckily I had the olive oil. There was salt, pepper, and also some red wine vinegar. Still, this was so good! The Missus still mentions the earthy, yet mellow flavor of these. It turned out to be a nice, simple spread. Quick with minimal prep and clean-up.

After I cleaned up, it was time for a short nap......

Comments

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Gotta love the fish displays. And fresh porcinis and the breads and ...

I usually don't think of Spain and Gothic Cathedrals, but that one is striking.

Thanks for sharing.

[Kirk]

You gotta get to Barcelona one of these days Ed....your head will be on a swivel! We really loved those displays.....and those porcinis...man....

[Nhbilly]

Last picture is so simple so yummy. That's how I roll with the wife.

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - Sometimes simple is best!