San Sebastian, Part 2 - 9/2/10

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain - Today was an off day for the Pioneers, and it was much needed.

Now, nobody is looking for sympathy, but when you put 30-some people together for two weeks and place them in a very enclosed space, like a bus (more than 1,050 miles at an average of roughly 50 miles per hour so far), for much of that time, it's good to have the option to just hang out and relax every once in a while.

Everyone was given options for activities today, but most people, including all of the players, opted to return to downtown instead of driving a few hours to a museum.

There has been one major difference in San Sebastian than any other town we visited. From the first night we arrived, when the players walked through town, people would turn and just stare at them.

It's safe to say that the players may be a little tapa'ed out, so most of them went to a burger place downtown for lunch today. In fact, they liked it so much that they went back for dinner.

One problem: the restaurant offered no side items. Including fries. So, knowing they couldn't eat a burger without fries, the players used their problem-solving skills by walking to McDonald's and ordering fries to take back to Disco Burgers.

It seems the restaurant's proprietors were less than thrilled with the players' solution, so everyone went from dining in to taking out in a matter of minutes.

The good news was that the burgers still tasted just fine.

Lost in Translation: Not surprisingly, without anyone in the travel party that speaks Spanish fluently, there have been some comical moments with communication. They generally involve creative charades.

Trainer Pat Hoxsey went into a pharmacy and asked for hydrocortisone cream for one of the players. The conversation went something like this:

Pat: Do you have any hydrocortisone cream?

Pharmacist: Crema? To shave?

Pat: No. Hydrocortisone cream for a rash (while acting like he was rubbing lotion on his forearm).

Pharmacist: Um. For arm?

Pat: No. For a rash.

Finally, Pat grabbed a pen and wrote it down.

Pharmacist: Oh, hee-dro-quart-ee-so-na.

Pat: Sí.

We also enjoyed watching Blake Foeman try to order whipped cream for his cappuccino today. Somehow he acted out "whipped cream" with very little trouble.

Scoop Shot: Barcelona and San Sebastian have an extraordinary number of gelato places, all of which seem to be busy all the time.

That could be because the Pioneers are in town, as most everybody in the travel party has enjoyed his fair share.

There seems to be an unofficial contest to see who can eat the most. The frontrunners at this point appear to be Justin Coughlin and A.J. Kuhle. Allegedly, neither has been seen in Spain without a gelato cone in his hand.