Spain with Cindy & Russ

The symbol of the Santiago de Compestello Pilgrimage

The Warnock family in Zamora; Cindy, Denton, and Russ

Marisa and Denton in front of a sign for the Pilgrim Museum

Late night dancing in Santiago de Compostela plaza, and they still got it!
The local group playing was great and in full costumes, Russ even bought their CD.

Russ demonstrating the local way to pour cidre

Fruits at the market, this place had everything.

Chocolate and churros, a typical Spanish breakfast

Food tour; patas bravas and mussels in zesty tomato sauce

Food tour; smoked cod and shot of wheat grass to finish it off (Marisa's favorite!)

the imposing exterior of Santiago de Compostela

Denton, Cindy, and Marisa walk the streets of old town San Sebastian.

We arrived in Spain at the end of May. We spent a few days on our own in Barcelona, then took a bus to Madrid to meet up with Denton's parents; Cindy & Russ on June 3rd. Denton's parents are young-at-heart, generous, and adventurous. It was so nice to see them after 4 months in Asia. Denton's parents had already decided that they wanted to follow the pilgrims of  'The Way' to Santiago de Compostela ( Emilio Esteves created a movie, featuring Martin Sheen in 2011 about the pilgrimage, called The Way.)

We spent 3 days in Madrid, going to the Royal Palace, taking in the Prado museum, wandering piazzas, taking siestas, and looking for the perfect Menu del Dia! We stopped in Pamplona to see where they do the running of the bulls, just weeks before the actual event. In San Sebastian, we spent 4 days exploring the beautiful old city, visiting the two beautiful crescent beaches (unfortunately too cold for a swim during our visit), learning about the unique basque culture, and of course indulging in the most amazing pintxos (basque tapas)! We had two quick overnights in Oviedo and Lugo where we explored old streets, churches, and walked the exterior of the old city wall. Next was Santiago de Compostela which is the final destination for all pilgrims following the Camino de Santiago (or 'Way of St. James' in English). The church and old town were amazing to see full of happy pilgrims, just finishing with their month long journey. We had one last stop in the town of Zamora which had a very cool old castle, wall, and town to explore for one night on our way back to Madrid to complete our trip. 

As you can tell from the pictures above, one of the highlights of our trip was the amazing Spanish and Basque food! We did an evening pintxos tour with Eli from the San Sebastian Food Co. Cindy's co-worker had done a similar tour in Madrid, but it was full, so they found a tour in San Sebastian and we LOVED it! Apparently, everyone loves it because their reviews on TripAdvisors are incredible! Our guide, Eli, was fun, informative, and interesting. She told us about the history of San Sebastian as well as Basque influence in the region. She took us to the local spots and showed us how to order the best pintxos at the best places. Yum!

We had a great time traveling with Denton's parents and the two weeks just flew by. We were sad to see them go since it was so nice to have a whole itinerary planned out for us, accommodation in nice hotels, and of course fun travel companions! On June 16th Russ and Cindy flew home to Sacramento, while Denton and Marisa headed to the south of France to spend a week with her family.