730 days: Sunny Spain

So managed to get things sorted and catch up with Phill and cousin Fi in the north of Spain end of July. At a place called Bilbao, situated slightly west of San Sebastian. Flying in was full of green peaked hills that stretched forever. The town is nestled in a valley across a river. Meet up with the team at the airport (each of us coming from different spots around Europe) and spent Friday checking out the city. Found some amazing pastries and gelato, in amongst some interesting architecture mixed between old and new, and a smattering of art pieces. Cooked up a mean feed at the hostel for dinner and caught our breath from the early start.

Saturday we hired a car and drove out to the coast, and along the coastal road towards San Sebastian. Along the way are lovely ‘towns’ which were rather large! Beautiful golden beaches and blue blue sea. We stopped at a point where the coast forms a natural bridge out to a church on a precipice. Down a steep hill and then up another 250stairs! It was worth the hike to see the cute wee church and amazing views down the coastline.

We reached San Sebastian in the evening, and Phill’s phone with our only navigation decided to die just as we entered the city! After some driving in circles we managed to locate a free car park and headed into the centre. There was a much different feel here, very vibrant and alive, filled with busy bars and restaurants. We headed to a local bar in the old town for some ‘pintoux’ the Basque equivalent of Tapas, which were amazing! Also tried the local Sidre (cider) which was tangy and quite sour, got a bit of a shock taking my first sip! It’s poured at arm’s length to aerate the cider so I’m told.

Sunday took us west along the coast; stopping at a local village we found a local market. Enjoyed some more pintoux for lunch and sampled the beautiful local fresh fruit. Then weather packed it in, so we headed back to Bilbao to the famous Guggenheim (or googleyheim according to Phill) museum to get our art on. The museum is an incredible building made of titanium tiles in all sorts of curves, interspersed with glass panels. Some very interesting and thought provoking displays, but some a little too farfetched for me..

Sunday night was fairly quiet in the town but found a great place for pizza and paella. Soo good. Fi and Phill caught early flights out on Monday, while I planned to wander the shops before my afternoon flight. The city however had other ideas! As I didn’t realize it was a public holiday and everything was closed! It was steadily raining, so didn’t quite work out to plan. Ah well!

Arrived home to some beautiful weather (Murphy’s Law!), and saw an amazing view of London City as we flew in. Brilliant weekend. Next up local cider festival in Cheltenham, and Fi visiting the Uk in August – fun times!