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The Ultimate Bar Crawl, Part 1

I may have mentioned before that Donostia-San Sebastián has, according to various travel guides, the highest density of bars in the world. For no other reason than that I have the time, I've decided to catalog these places. My goal is visit every bar in town. It may not be possible, sort of like counting to a million, but nobody can say that I've ever backed down from a bar-related challenge. Last night I met some friends at the Paulaner München cervecería, so I'll start with that one.

The Paulaner may be the only German-themed bar in town. It's in the Parte Vieja or Old Part on Calle San Vicente, opposite the gothic Iglesia San Vicente, which you see in the shot below. The owner of this place is one of those big, jolly Basques who could moonlight as Santa Claus, if they had that myth here. He called the girls I was with "guapas," which means he's probably thinking about them even now. His bar is obviously named for the German beer, and I guess if they gave me all the branded gear in my bar I'd name it after them too.

The Paulaner is moderately local—the times I've been there my friends and I seemed to be the only tourists, but it isn't an intimidating place by any means, like many locals-frequented places can be. There's music, but not very loud music, a tray of snacks, but no bona fide pintxos, and only one television, which means this is a place where you converse. The clientele are late-twenties and up, normally. In the winter it's rarely crowded, but during the summer they set up their outdoor tables and with that view of the church it suddenly becomes one of the better outdoor spots in town, a good place to meet up early before heading out into the night. I rate it as take-a-pass during the off-season, and must-visit during the summer. Here's their website.

Labels: bars, Donostia-San Sebastian

posted by Egan Ehlers @ 10:07 AM