October 1st, Saturday
Today is the day - I told myself I'd do the bath. People actually have a choice on either getting wet from the knees or the entire body. I was scared for whatever was going to happen but I vowed to do wet my whole body. Kwi and I woke up early just so we could first go to the market first then head to the grotto after. We didn't pass by the market since we figured 6 in the morning was way too early to go there. We went straight to the grotto. While walking I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I did not know what to expect, I did not know how to deal with my anxiety. All I know was that I wanted to do, for God, for myself and to those who want to do but have no opportunity to do so. At first, I thought I would be completely naked and bathed in the spring. But after some research, I found out that the volunteer ladies let you remove your clothes first before getting inside. So I wasn't so worried about the cold anymore (you know how people can feel colder when they're wearing damp clothing).
We got to the grotto at around 8 and I just wanted to say a little prayer first and attend the mass but then I saw a swarm of ladies briskly walking towards the bath station. I had to make a move and follow them! I got there an there were at least 5 rows of middle-aged to old-aged women in front of me (there was a Spanish pilgrimage happening that week by the way). I didn't know if I would make it. Kwi just told me to meet her after the bath. And we had to leave the sanctuary by 10:30 in order to make it to our train (the bath station starts at 9 so I just had 1.5 hours left!). I wanted to back out cause there was too much women in front of me. But then again, I really literally lifting everything to Him. I told Him that if I'm really meant to take a bath then He will let it happen...
And I was able to do it! I was done by 10. Just a quick sharing: before the bath, everything was a blur. I didn't understand what was going on because there was a prayer vigil outside the bath stations. They were all speaking in Spanish and all I could do was to pray in English. It was so cold that day that I was really shivering so much! But I sacrificed the cold in order to go through with the process. I teared up before entering the station because I felt so privileged to have been given this opportunity so many people are dying to do. I think I was the youngest lady out of all the people that day.. I really felt so much at peace after the bath. It's something I think people should do when they come to France :) <3 My appreciation for Mother Mary has been tripled because of this experience :)
After that, I really felt super hungry. So while walking, I was craving for a croissant! This isn't the typical Ina (Ina stays away from carbs as much as possible). But here in France, everything has carbs!
I got a croissant in the nearest bakeshop. The sad part was that it wasn't hot anymore! :( Nor did I smell butter oozing out of the store. Oh well, pretty good enough croissant. Oh but would you look at that? The bakeshop is named Noel. Hihi
We headed for the market to check out if they had the red plums Kwi and I love.
Sadly, it was all fruit they were selling :(
We were so hungry looking at the ready made food on sale! It was like a feast in this market.
Kwi got ribs for lunch, and I...
got flan! >:) While here in France, I'm on the quest to look for the place to get crepe, croissant, pain aux chocolat, flan nature and so much more! This one I tried is the best flan so far :) It's light and not so sweet. Just the way I like it.
We went to the station before 11 just to find out that our train is 30 minutes delayed :| So while waiting, we got bored. We saw that Twix had a special offer. They were selling two bars for the price of one! I quickly agreed because I haven't had Twix in so loooong!
Then we found out when we got to San Sebastian that we got ripped! Haha
We were stuck eating lunch in the waiting area of the train station.
When we got down Bayonne, we had to go to the Euskotren in order to reach San Sebastian.
Trivia: the other name for San Sebastian is Donostia.
We got down and there was no information center around. We were lost. Yes, very lost. Until I saw the municipal hall where a policeman helped us and handed us maps! :)
To be honest, I have never heard of San Sebastian before. Kwi said this place is supposed to be famous for the beaches it has.
After an hour or so, we finally got to the street of our hostel!
...Well not really hostel cause Jaime regards it as a house. So we were practically couch surfing I guess? Jaime is actually so funny and nice! The second I saw him, he super reminded me of Austin Powers Gold Digger! He's the hairiest Spanish man I've seen and he was in tight trucks when he picked us up. Hahaha. He can't really speak English but I was amazed that he can speak French. I guess the reason behind that is cause San Sebastian is in between Spain and France.
Uh yeah, I was shocked with this. But apparently using the boxes were "safe". I didn't attempt to use any of them anymore. Haha
It's my first time to see a triple decker! I bet the third person would get so scared so sleep in such a high place.
Here's another funny sign by Jaime! Haha
The only thing I didn't like was that we had no WiFi :( So it was a good thing I did all the preliminary research back in Lille. He did give us a consolation prize - croissant and chocolate.
The view from outside the casa.
After chitchatting with Jaime, we agreed to go to Lidl first to check out the food and other things we need to get. If you didn't read my past blog entries, Lidl is my favorite supermarket here in Europe because of the price difference it has with other supermarkets. It's way way cheaper than Carrefour.
We got to this mall and quickly went to the underground because that was where Lidl was located.
I had to do a quick stop in Sanrio because it was my first time to see this in Europe! I got my planner for next year!!! Yey! Just to remind myself how I love Spain in general :) The planner is so cute cause the days and the months are all in Spanish :)
And here is where we shopped so much. We hoarded everything we could bring back to Lille. Digestive cookies, wassa, ham, etc. We wanted to make sure that we won't need to go to the grocery so much anymore! Both Kwi and I were so delighted with the Digestive cookies :) I don't know but they're just so addictive!
Ah yes, moules. We just had to try canned mussels!
The one thing I don't like in Spain and the whole of Europe is that the shops close so early! MOST of the shops are close during Sundays which sucks because I'm used to going to the mall and checking out stuff during that day. We were looking for Pull and Bear but we couldn't find it :( We couldn't check out the sale of the other shops because they were closing already.
We were supposed to look for one of the restaurants I researched but it was getting too dark that we were scared the restaurants would close as well. We saw that Iratxo was really crowded so we entered.
We were too stuff last night (our dinner in Lourdes) that we told ourselves that we'd just eat light. We just ordered their house salad.
But we just had to order two sweet things! Their flan and
their chocolate volcano! I like how both deserts weren't so sweet. I most especially liked the ganache! :) It reminded of Ellie, my awesome cousin who bakes really well :)
We were walking back home and I saw this and reminded me of Santi, one of my close friends back in Manila! Hi Santi! :)
xx
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