Bring your best cool-guy attitude as you attend this year's San Sebastián International Film Festival, which runs September 18-27. Feature films from around Europe and the world will be on view, including "Frozen River," the winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize directed by American Courtney Hunt.
The seaside town has plenty to offer besides the films, too, including cool architecture, pintxos and the chance to mingle with the stars. Say hi to jury chair Jonathan Demme for us!]]>
In any event, Kate Beckinsale, her lucky husband, and the rest of the filmpressarios are currently enjoying the San Sebastián Film Festival, which runs through Saturday September 30. In this episode, we decided to take a closer look at the Basque town known as Donostia:
Where To Stay:
Villa Soro 25 room Villa Soro is a five minute walk from Zurriola beach, and close enough for a Guggenheim Bilbao day trip, but a bit of a trek (20 minutes) to the center of town, which makes it a quiet hotel. As per usual, we always look to stay a bit outside of town when you are visiting during festival times, especially if you are looking for a bit of quiet.
Where To Eat:
This town likes their sea urchins raw and their portions small--to save room for plenty of booze--fair enough. It is important to not, while the food here is all about tapas, tapas aren't tapas in San Sebastián, they are pintxos, the Basque word for tapas--got it? For a good intro to these tiny, tasty pintxos, try La Cuchara de San Telmo (@ Calle 31 de Agosto, 28) in the towns Old Quarter.
Where To Get Drunk:
Here's the deal--if you do it the Basque way you will end up on an all night txikiteo, walking from pintxos bar to bar nibbling on spider crab and mini-croissants and sampling plenty of alcohol at each bar. Bar Ganbara (San Jerónimo, 21), which specializes in mushroom pintxos, is another well-known place to nibble and booze, but the key is sample as much as you can.]]>