The Best Concierge in the World

I just interviewed Frank Laino. Not only is he the Head Concierge at the Stafford, but he's been voted "The Best Concierge in the World" by Virtuoso for the past five years! How cool is that?! Not only does he give me tips on what to see and do in London and how to best do it, he gets me and John (and our friend's Jeff and Kelly) reservations for TONIGHT into the hottest restaurant in London: Heston Blumenthal's "Dinner." I can't believe it! The wait list is usually three months. Running up to the Suite now to get ready...

* Check out my full interview here:http://bit.ly/o7kKFZ

The Stafford. Our Residence Whilst in London.

The Stafford London is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

THIS is what luxury is all about--old school, high-brow luxury. We have just arrived in our Mews Suite--which is an apartment with two bathrooms, a library and living room, a grand master bedroom, and gigantic master bathroom. The shower is bigger than our 6x6 compartamento on the train. Really. And oh yes,  I will be using that soaking tub!

I've never been to London. I want to explore. But right now, I have no desire to leave this room...

We're Staying at the Stafford. Where?

We've taken the train from Stansted into London's Liverpool station. Being the adventure travellers we are, we decide during this 45 minute ride we're gonna take the Underground from the station to the hotel. It can't be that difficult, right?

For the first time since the "morning suitcase ritual" on the train, I lose it. After asking 3 people at the Liverpool Train Station the best way to arrive at our hotel, The Stafford, we still have no idea. (I'm tired, and I'm hungry.)

First, we're in London: We are all speaking ENGLISH. Second, The Stafford is the most luxurious hotel in London (if not all of Europe), and Third, Kate's family just stayed there for the Royal Wedding. How can you not know The Stafford?!

I announce, "we're taking a taxi!" And off to the taxi stand we go. The driver knows exactly where the Stafford is (although he does look a bit curious as to why the two of us are staying there...)

Difficult Jet

Bilbao is a great base city in which to explore other European cities. There are inexpensive flights on EasyJet out of BIO. But a word of caution if you've never flown DifficultJet: We may have only paid $50USD for our flight to London (which lands at Stansted--an hour outside of London) but since we were each checking a bag--we added about $40USD/each. Plus, since we'd been in Europe for awhile (and I'm a female!) said pieces of luggage were over 20kg/each and we paid 12 Euros for every kilo we were over. (Yes, I about dropped over when the agent said, "You are 8 kilos over. That will be 96 Euros.") Our $50 USD flights from BIO to STN ended up costing nearly $300 USD (yes, that is EACH!) My advice, take British Airways.

Berets (pronounced like ferets)

It's our last day on the train! We toured the famous La Encartada Beret Factory Museum and bought matching chocolate-colored berets. These will be part of our official Nut Brown Hare Club uniform. Berets (Vanessa the tour guide pronounces it like "ferets") are originally from Northern Spain (not France!) We were fed the bean soup they used to make for the workers over a hundred years ago. We have quite arrived!

Tonight, we can sleep in a proper bed...and together! Yeah!

Disclaimer: We have survived three nights and four days in a 6x6 room. What a testament!

Chupito!

The Basque equivalent to grappa (or port) is called Orujo. It’s a spirit distilled from wine and flavoured with special herbs or coffee.

It's served in a "chupito"--a small shot-like glass and is referred to simply as a "chupito." The "blanco" smelled and tasted like paint thinner, the "cafe" was similar to a kahula-flavor, and the "herbal" reminded me of Anisette.

Teamwork

Our large suitcases barely fit under the bottom bunk, and to access them, we have to fanangle them about...which means this morning he had to lay in his bottom bunk with his suitcase on top of him, while holding the lid of my suitcase open on the floor as I rooted through for my outfit of the day.

As I was showering the train rounded a bend and I went flying out of the shower and across the bathroom--the whole 6 feet--and landed in the toilet. As he lay in the bottom bunk with no where else to go--witnesses the entire thing. (I think this is how I may have sprained my finger.)

Compartamento #41

After the initial shock of boarding the train, realizing we were the only Americans, and the only people under 70, we were lead to our living quarters. For the next three nights and four days, Compartamento #41 would be our home. (Note: photo does not do justice.)

Enter shock part two: The living quarters on the train are 6x6, (John is 6'4"). The two single bunk beds were going to allow for no intimacy--heck, we weren't even sure if John could fit on the bunk to sleep!

This calls for alcohol. Where is the bar on this train?!

Our LUXURY (ummm) awaits!

We were so excited for our "main event" part of the trip as we named it. Around 3pm we boarded the El Espresso de la Robla: an "Orient-Express-like" sleeping train operated by the local FEVE that was going to take us on a four day/three night journey into the true heart of Basque country.

Well....things aren't always what they appear. Being under 70, we found ourselves as the only "dark hairs" on the train. An observation we made straight away. We had no idea we'd be "realizing" caves, churches, aqueducts--all in cities that we've never heard of, our friends have never heard of, that are not in any guide books, and not even noted on maps. This was the real, local deep-dive, folks.

A Not So Beautiful Day for the Incline

We had a few hours before our luxury train across Basque country Spain departed, so we took the Artxanda Funicular up to the top of Bilbao for what we were hoping were amazing views of the entire city....but it was super cloudy and not such the best idea that day! Oh well...time to board the train!

Our claim to fame with the Guggenheim

We stayed at the hotel that the famed architect Frank Gehry stayed when he first had his vision for the Guggenheim! Hotel Lopez de Haro is where it all started. In fact the first rough sketch of the Guggenheim was made on the bedside stationery.

Can we just stay in San Sebastian forever, please!

We definitely loved San Sebastian! Best idea for a day trip. We were both so excited that the San Sebastian International Film Festival was happening during our visit! The 50 minute bus ride was pleasant and easy. We wandered into a wine store called Luka's and was surprised to hear perfect English! Ben, a surfer from San Diego, poured us a few awesome wines and gave us the lay-of-the-land. I felt right at home in this seaside resort town. La Concha Beach is the place to sunbathe and the walking path along the waterfront allows for great views. A great place to stop for a beer by the water is a small bar called Akerbeltz. We enjoy the local brew, Estrella, and was invited to do shots with the bartender! We asked for the "local" liquor of orujo --they laughed at us and gave us tequila. The best pintxos ever were found at Ganbara. The restaurant is known for it's amazing dinners, but that would require us waiting until at least 9pm when restaurants open. (Note: our bus back to Bilbao was at 8pm. Needless to say, we missed it! We were able to get the very last bus back to Bilbao at 10pm, but would have stayed the night in a heart beat had we'd been able to find a hotel!)

Shopping in Bilboa

We've been in Spain for a few days now, and I haven't done a bit of shopping! I declared that today we are shopping! I'm in search of a cool spanish leather purse and that he should help me select:) He less than excitedly agreed. After visiting a few stores on The Ercilla Street (it's lined with shops!), I found "the" purse at Salvador Bachiller! I also snagged a sweater at the Spanish store, Sfera...it's a light weight sweater in the "dippy egg orange" color. And in the end, the shopping day was a HUGE success, because we found a store called, Nice Things! where we bought little rabbit pins and started our secret bunny club:)

Churros con chocolato!

The hot chocolate in Spain is rather thick--almost like pudding. A great place to try this yummy dessert is Avemay Cafe.

No more Pintxos!

Throw all ideas of what you think Spain is like, out the window. You've arrived in Basque Country! No tourists. No flamenco dancing. No sangria. The wine list is simple, "red or white." And the local white wine is "txakoli". And if you think "tapas" is a type of restaurant--think again. "Tapa" means "cover" and it's a way of serving the food. And they don't even use the word "tapa"....in Basque country it's "pintxos". (The "tx is pronounced like "ch") And after eating these "pintos" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days, you may never want to see a pintxos again! And if you're a fan of fried eggs, you'll be happy to know they are quite popular at breakfast time and you'll notice straight away that the yolks are very orange.

Bilbao here we come!

In the heart of Basque country is Bilbao: the home of the Guggenheim. In this modern, working city there are few tourists. (Which means no English.) Bilbao is small enough to explore on foot in one day, and easily navigable. Even John and I, who both have NO sense of direction, found our way easily...

We tackled the old city (referred to as the casca vieja) where we wandered through narrow cobblestone streets, grabbed pintxos and a beer at a Berton (more or less a pintxos chain). I really enjoyed photographing the Zubizuri Bridge (which means "white bridge" in Basque). Of course, no visit to Bilbao would be complete without a visit to the Guggenheim. Even if you're not a museum person, the place is cool. There is just as much cool art outside, as there is inside. We snapped up some pics of Puppy and took some "illegal" pics inside of the Serra exhibit.