After many years of travelling you develop a sixth 'spidey' sense for sniffing out the city bus station. I arrive in plenty of time to catch the connecting bus from Bilbao to San Sebastian, however the TV display is very helpfully not showing my bus number nor gate. 30 minutes later (after nearly boarding the wrong bus) I'm on the way through the leafy mountains, along the coast to San Sebastian.
The woman sat next to me spends most of the 2 hour journey screeching Spanish into her mobile phone - I entertain the idea of snatching it from her, smashing the emergency glass, and tossing it out wildly along the highway - however, I enjoy the blissful state of zen I get from wifi free bus journeys and don't fancy spending the night in a cell, as opposed to a comfy hostel bed.
I'm sat outside this cute little cafe around the corner from the hostel with my cappuccino (attempting to read my book for the billionth time). Out of the corner of my beady eye, I spot a girl with a backpack trying to gain entry to the hostel courtyard. My inner knight in shining armour scoots over to scan my keycard to help her gain access.
'Hey I know you' comes a cheerful voice behind me...
WTAF? Ayenna and I had met about a month previously in Malaga, Andalusia at the hostel we were both staying at.. yes the fateful night of Molijtros ( a litre of mojito for 5 EUE aieeeeeeee).. well that's another story altogether!
Ayenna joins me for a tasty brunch at the cafe and brings me up to date with her travels through Spain and Portugal, whilst we discuss the severity of the molijrto hangovers and regail ourselves with the photographic evidence.
The evening is spent drinking copious amounts of wine and crafting a delicious mushroom pesto risotto to share at the hostel kitchen (using microwave rice, mushrooms, spinach and pesto).
In my many years of travel it never fails to amaze me how a hearty meal and alcohol are the basis for building lifelong friendships. And like the Pied Piper, I round up all the stray travellers for an impromptu trip to the supermarket and some drinks for the beach.
We are a lively bunch of Americans, Aussies, Germans, a Dutch girl and some fellow Brits.
The evening descends into the usual drinking games, to the background of a mini speaker: the sharing of travel stories and even some breakdancing (not me don't worry). As the laughter echoes out underneath the promenade, the sun sets beautifully behind 'Jesus Mountain' as it has become affectionately known.
After all the booze has dried up we head into town and to my new favourite watering spot - 'The Hole' - there's pool tables, table football and all manner of disgusting shot combinations and 2 EUR pints aeieeeeee.
After much merriment the group heads home.. Well.. if you factor in holding back the hair of our new American friend who may or may not have taken too much ketamine.. there's always one isn't there!
The following day our new friend Ben treats Ayenna and I to a coffee on the breach (he's from a traveler family and does astrology readings) - you can check out my reading below - I'll leave you to gage how accurate you think it might be.
I really feel the pictures don't do the San Sebastian sunset's enough justice 📸
Reunited with Ayenna 📸 - I love how small the world is
