The Nelsons

Yesterday, I ran a small load of laundry for the boys and set up the drying rack outside. I carefully placed all the clothes on the rack, hoping for success. Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, it was raining. Gabe brought the clothes in and ran them through a spin cycle since they were soaked. I gave it another shot and placed the clothes on the drying rack inside. Now, let's hope for the best!  Capbreton market today! It was my first time seeing a sausage in the shape of a bun, and there were so many sausage vendors that I wanted to try them all. The rain didn't stop the market vendors or the shoppers. One highlight of the market was the real espresso machine at Café Volt right at the entrance. Of course, we had to have a noisette.

As we walked through the market, we found a wide variety of goods, from spices and flowers to prepared food. There were even stalls selling large paellas. I was imagining buying some fresh fish or oysters along with some veggies for Gabe to prepare dinner at home. What caught my attention was that the oysters were displayed in bins rather than on ice, and there was a long line of people waiting to get their hands on them.

On a different note, today was the start of the Tour de France, and I'm hoping to figure out how to go see the riders pass through Bayonne on Monday. It would be such a cool experience to witness the race up close. Once we crossed the Spanish border, our phones had no connection. They must have set our phones up incorrectly, I don’t know. But we will need to find a place with Wi-Fi so we can connect with Josh and his family. Apart from the market, we spent the day in San Sebastian with the Nelson family. It felt like no time had passed even though it is the first time to see each other in 6 years (we also said a quick hello to Asier). Our first stop was the "Parte Vieja." Lunchtime called for some Pintxos! It's like stepping into a time capsule when we revisit this place, except now they've made a small change in the pintxo bars. Instead of littering the floor with napkins and toothpicks, they've added receptacles for them. Nevertheless, the food tastes just as amazing as it did before. Also the pintxos are now covered with a plexi sneeze guard rather than the old days where you just grabbed your pintxo. Must be a Covid thing. After, we took a stroll along La Concha we enjoyed the warm air and cool breeze. It was such a fun and memorable day, and I can't wait to explore more. The kids had an absolute blast bonding over a battle of War! The game not only broke the ice and laughter echoed through the room. It was the perfect way to bring everyone together! At the end of the night, or rather, the sunset hour (which apparently happens at 10pm) we stumbled upon our last pintxo bar. Right above the bar, there was this area where a bunch of kids were engaged in a game of futbol on a cement surface. Taiwa, Luke, Ren, Charlie, and Niko sat on the side, which was basically an ancient stone structure resembling a mini stadium perched on the mountainside. Ren mustered up the courage to ask if he could join in. These kids could really play! As we were watching, the ball came flying toward Ren, who happened to be the goalie. With lightning reflexes, he leaped into action, determined to save the goal, but gravity had other plans. Crash! He crash-landed on the unforgiving cement, belly-first. Ouch! I'm pretty sure his knees and hands got a few scratches in the process. But hey, that didn't stop him! What a champ! As much as we didn't want to bid farewell to this soccer showdown, exhaustion finally caught up with us, and we were all craving some well-deserved sleep. So we hopped back into our vehicle to Capbreton and the Nelsons returned to their apartment in Gros. I hope we come back tomorrow to see the Tour de France finish line!!!