Last Sunday, we experienced our first Spanish Catholic Mass hitting the 9 am Service at the Cathedral de San Martin which is right next to our apartment. Literally, right next to our apartment building; we hear the church bells every hour and so there is absolutely no excuse not to make it to church on time. We made it out the door with 2 minutes to spare, but were suprised to find the Mass already started when we arrived. There were no missals, which frustrated the kids, but thankfully the post-Vatican II Mass is the same all over the globe. The only unpredictable part of the ritual was the lack of any line or organization for communion; parishoners just go up to the front of the church and without any order, make their way up to a eucharistic minister or priest to get communion. Katherine was pleasantly surprised at the "delicious" hosts that they served. I agree, much tastier and more substantial than the American body of Christ:).
We spent Sunday afternoon with the whole family going on a nice hike up to Monte Urgull, a populous hiking trail on the east side of the bay that is adjacent to the old town of San Sebastian (endless pintxos bars). It was a serious hike for the kids who were not too enchanted with this venture until we got to the top and there was an old monastery with a still functional chapel and a few tunnels to explore. We were asked to leave the chapel for an afternoon Mass.

We are now into our second week of camp for the kids and language classes for Nick and me. Andrew spent Monday afternoon in his first surfing lesson and loved it. Surfing is super popular here; waves are very similar to Second Beach (Sachuest Beach) where I grew up "body surfing" as a kid in RI. Except, the water is an amazing aqua color and very clear; very unlike the beaches in RI. The water temperature is about the same; ie, not bath water, and the kids do wear wet suits, but no life jackets, no liability forms to fill out, and no instructions as to where to find the class on the beach, etc.
While Andrew was enjoying the surf, Nick and I were completing an amazing hike after our class that took us to a seaside town east of San Sebastian called Pasaia. We trekked on the streets on our way there passing through a very industrial part of town and after 7 miles, came to the quaint fishing village where we took a 70 cent quick boat ride across the river to the charming village where we had a "menu figo, " fixed lunch that included a glass of vino, ensalata, anchovie appetizer and segundo course of fish followed by postre and cafe. After soaking in the sun and good food, we got directions to hit the seaside trail along the coast, part of the Camina de Santiago, which had us climbing a pretty arduous path with amazing sea views. The terrain was beautiful with wild hydrangeas dotting the forest which I just loved and wished I had a pair of scissors. The hike was pretty intense and having a deadline to get back to pick up Andrew at the beach, we definitely burned off the calories of our almuerzo (lunch). We hiked a total of 15 miles that day- a record for my Apple Watch:).