Pintxos

San Sebastian in the Basque Country (known locally as "Donostia") is the home of the "pintxo," a richer, larger, more expensive version of the ubiquitous Spanish "tapa." Every bar we wandered into (no small number) featured dozens of house specialties, ranging from black ham on fresh bread to sardine-olive-pickle appetizers to tortillas de bacalao – a scrumptious cod omelet. When paired with local beverages like txacoli (an effervescent white wine) or sidra (a light alcoholic apple cider) the days in Donostia pass like gastronomic dreams.