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.