For me, food is a big part of any trip abroad. Besides eating in a variety of restaurants, I often make it a point to sign up for a food tour while in a new destination. In Spain, we chose Devour Tours, which we hired in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and San Sebastián. The company started in 2012 and makes it a mission to support local businesses, taking guests to authentic family-run eateries rather than typical tourist traps.

The focus of our tour in San Sebastián was pintxos, the Basque version of tapas. The word itself means “skewer,” and in fact the dishes, typically stacked on top of a piece of bread, are held in place with a wooden toothpick. Traditionally, you enjoy one or two pintxos at a bar and move on to the next location that specializes in a different kind.

Joining the Ultimate San Sebastian Pintxo & Wine Tour one evening, we found ourselves with a group of eight, plus our English-speaking guide, the charming Ania Wielechowska. Before we got started, she taught us how to pronounce a few words in the Basque language so we could be polite customers. (“Thanks,” for instance, is spelled “eskerrik asko,” which is easy for Americans to say because it sounds like “a scary Costco.”)