Pinchos and Tapas: the Spanish taste

Spanish people love going to tapear, one of the most common activity in Spain and well known all over the world. Just for few euros you can have tapas or pinchos, little portions served with a caña of beer or a glass of wine.

Their name originated from a curious custom. Tapas are so named because they used to literally plug (spanish: tapar) glasses of beer or wine with a piece of bread and a slice of ham. In this way they avoided that dust or flies dropped in the glasses. While pinchos are so named because they are served thrusted (spanish: pinchados) by a stick and are very common in the north of Spain.

But where can we taste some of these little but precious dishes in Salamanca? Follow this short guide to know 5 places to eat well and save money ;)

Getting started from the centre, you can really eat in Plaza Mayor at Café Real, where you can have the Salamanca typical tapas without spend a fortune.

One of the cheapest place is 100 Montaditos, in Calle Concejo nearby Plaza Mayor. On mondays there is a special offer so that you can have everything you want just for 0,50€.

Tiempo de Vinos, in Calle Doctrinos, a short step from Calle Compañia, deserve you stop off here in order to sip an excellent wine combined with tradicional tapas and jamón serrano, a typical kind of Spanish ham. So good!

Turning a corner in Rúa Mayor you can go to Tapas 2.0, whose name says everything. Here tradition and modernity are combined in a successful way. Maybe less cheap than other places in this list, but you should really try it for the quality of its dishes and their original look. 

Lizarran, in Gran Vía, is known for its unusual style. You just have to take a drink and then get something from a variety of just done tapas and pinchos which waiters bring from the kitchen. Then you pay just depending on how many sticks you collected and their dimensions, so you eat whatever you want with a fixed price.

And if you don't still have enough to eat and want to try something good, the Van Dyck area is what you are looking for.

¡Que aproveche!

Ester - student at Tía Tula

Surfing in San Sebastian

Last weekend I decided to take a break from city life in Salamanca to visit the coast and do some surfing in the beautiful Basque region of Spain. I had been up to visit Paddy (the manager) at the stoke travel surf camp in June, and knew  straight away I would be back at least a couple of times whilst spending the summer in Salamanca.

The camp site is just up the hill from the small town of Zarautz (about 10km from San Sebastián) set with beautiful views over the beach and the coastline. The journey into the area is very impressive, with the green rolling hills of the Basque region you get some amazing views from both the bus and the train. 

A typical day consists of surf lessons, skating, table tennis, basketball, tight rope walking, cliff jumping, horse riding, eating good food and partying through the night! So plenty to keep you occupied aside from the main thing of learning how to surf.

If you are looking to visit some of the towns in order to experience Basque costal life, Zarautz is a great place to start! It is a popular tourist destination for both foreigners and Spaniards alike, with its population doubling in the busy summer months. The town is most famous for its 2.8km beach, the longest in the Basque region of Spain. At the end of the 19th century the popularity of Zarautz as a luxury tourist destination grew, with famous people such as Queen Isabella II visiting the town. A number of lavish buildings and mansions were built here around this time, though throughout the 70's and 80's Zaurautz became a more affordable holiday destination, with many of the grand buildings becoming public or being demolished.

Now the town is known worldwide as one of the best surfing destinations, with such a long beach there is plenty of room for surfers, and swell to suit all levels, from beginners to professionals, they even hold a leg of the world surfing championships here. You can find many great restaurants in Zarautz as well, with one of the top chefs in Spain (Karlos Arguiñano) having his own restaurant here.

Just 10km away lies the famous city of San Sebastián (or Donastia in Basque) Despite its relatively small size, San Sebastián is one of the most famous and popular tourist cities in Spain, holding events such as the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and it has been granted the European city of culture for 2016. One of the main attractions of the city is it's coastal location. San Sebastián has one of the best beaches in the region, and is also surrounded by impressive mountains and hills perfect for hiking!

The city is also famous for cultural events, holding the longest running jazz festival in Europe (Jazzaldia) in the last week of July, in which you can find many free concerts at different locations around the city. They also have a contemporary art and film festival called 'Street Zinema' as well as the 'Surfilm Festibal' showing impressive surfing footage, often in the form of shorts.

San Sebastián is perhaps most well known for its gastronomy. It has been said that it is the city with the most Michelin star restaurants per square foot in the world. Being close to the sea the seafood is naturally amazing here, and it is also renowned for having some of the best tapas, or 'pintxos' in the old part of the city.

As well as surfing, San Sebastián also has a top level football team, Real Sociedad, who formed part of the founding members of the top Spanish football division 'La Liga'. Aside from this San Sebastián also hosts the 'Clásica de San Sebastián' cycle race in early August each year, which is part of the world cup circuit.

So if you like the sound of giving surfing a try or experiencing the Basque region of Spain then get yourself up to Zarautz for some surfing and partying! Maybe I'll see you there to try and surf some waves and have a beer on the hill watching the sun set in the evening!