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Challis Pascucci
Avd. Iparraguirre N°36 4°C
Leioa Bizkaia C.P. 48940 
SPAIN

the beautiful San Sebastian!

last weekend we didn't have a game or practice, but most importantly it was sam's birthday weekend ...so we took a little trip to a near city called San Sebastain. it is a really popular tourist city, many people from all over go to visit. at the first of the week we booked the bus ticket, and booked the room at the hostel. yes i know you hear the hostel and it sounds scary but it wasn't too bad! hostels are really popular for travelers that are traveling all over europe. we took the bus saturday mid morning to start our adventurer! 

on the bus. we didn't fit very well, our knees were hitting the seat in front of us. and sam had a little old lady that would look back when sam made an adjustment lol. and... the roof window  would open and close off and on, then finally it just stayed open but it was freezing, it took 40 min of the 60 min bus ride for someone who speaks spanish to ask the bus driver to close the window... everyone was sooooo cold...it was pretty funny. 

view from the bus.

we got our map of the area from here.

trying to find the hostel.. i needed to get IN the map so we could find our way! lol (friends) 

we finally found the hostel after having a nice man help us out a little... he help in spanish but we some what understood what he was saying. :) the hostel was right in the middle of the area, very close to the restaurants and of course the beautiful water!

in front of the hostel sign... in the lobby 

sam and i getting the keys to the room

the very simple room we slept in for saturday night... with a nice view

the only picture hanging in the room..lol

the common area

more places to hang out and with a tv

free wifi! with about 6 new net books

after we got checked into the hostel and dropped our bags off. we went to find a place for lunch, some ice cream and to see the wonderful beach! we also went to many of the shops, and went to all the churches, which are amazing buildings!

lunch on saturday, it was very good and basically like a grilled cheese but super fresh!

in the center of the town

sooo blue! :)

on top of the world!... or something like that

view from the top of the mountain that we hiked.. i can't get over how blue and clear the water is!

view from the mountain again... the is the surfing beach

surfing beach up close! so many surfers but not very many waves that day

sunset on the beach

one of the churches

the water was pretty cold!

love love this church.. it was my favorite 

sunday spanish lunch!

on sunday we had lunch with Enrique (sam's friend here in spain) and his family, it was a real treat! we had pasta, fish, and a bow tie pastry. the pasta was just fresh from Italy, very very tasty! and i don't like fish, but i did try it. all of Enrique's family speaks spanish, english and french... even a few of the children. it was nice to hear more than one person speak english. the whole family was extremely nice and welcoming to sam and i. the lunch was at Enrique's parents house that is right on the water and has a beautiful view.

serving the pasta

 

my pasta and bread... it was very yummy!

the fish... at least i tried it. but im my dads daughter! :)

view from the house! so beautiful :) 

the "kids table"

they couldn't believe how BIG the bow tie was...

this is why its called a bow tie pastry... looks like one lol

sam and i 

pastry

view from the dinning room table

Enrique & his wife

playing with an app on the phone

third game

we had the third game of the season on saturday, it was home. we lost by 9 points and played a good team...much better than last week. i honestly think that we should have won, they were very beatable. i think that i'm starting to play a little better and get the hang of the euro way of playing. it will be a long week of basketball this week... because we don't have a game this weekend coming up. but on the other hand we need sometime to improve as a team!

IKEA in SPAIN

today was the big trip to ikea! i didn't want to get too many things, considering i will just be here until april. its nice to have my room a little personalized. the ikea was just like the states :) 

there it is... before we did the damage :)

they have so many things things! so to make sure that i didn't get carried away i had to set a budget..i did well and stayed under. after we had lunch in the ikea restaurant... but first we had to put our things in a locker...

we managed to figure out how they worked lol

the lunch at ikea was tasty and was just like at home, and they had ice for your drinks...never thought that something so small we make such a big difference. 

coke, pasta, meatballs, mashed potatoes, & yummy fudge brownie

the bags after the damage was done at ikea...but well worth it! we had good time and a little taste of home at the same time.

random pictures from the afternoon...

baby toilet in ikea... so weird lol

it's hard to see but that's a burger king...i didn't even like burger king! but it was cool to see it. 

and the final project of my room in spain is complete...

road win in Tarragona, Spain

the long trip is over, and we came out with a win. good thing because it was a long day. the team that we played wasn't very good. i played kind of nervous because of the stitches in my lip, i just didn't want it to get busted again! for those who don't know, on friday night at practice i got elbowed in my lip. it was the worst i have ever got hit in the lip. went to the doctor with someone from the team who doesn't speak english, and the doctor didn't speak english either. seriously i was pretty freaked out! he put in 2 stitches with nothing to numb it. i should get them out on monday or tuesday. thank goodness it wasn't something worse. 

while driving on the bus.

more country side.

outside of the gym we played at in Tarragona. 

no we didn't play here! lol this was across the street from the gym that we were playing in.
there are outside basketball courts and  soccer fields everywhere.

now this is the beauty that we played in! :) and warmed up to SPICE GIRLS!

old school basketball hoop....

my teammates new puppy that was at the game! so cute.