Un día precioso en Bilbao

Yesterday (Saturday), I got the opportunity to go into the city of Bilbao and experience the town. From where I am living, it is about a ten or fifteen minute car ride to get to the center of the city. Jon drove me in because he had to take Gonzalo to speech. He dropped me off with Ana's sister, Miren (how you would say Maria en Euskera- the native Basque language). Miren lives in the city and volunteered to show me around. She is learning some English, but we spent the whole day talking in Spanish! It was a lot of fun! We did a lot of walking, and she kept asking if I wanted to take the new tram, but I said I wanted to walk so we could see more!

The city was so neat. We got to walk past the Guggenheim and see a few of the outdoor pieces of art. One of them was a giant puppy made of flowers. This thing was huge! There was also a giant spider and a few other things outside. I opted not to go on the tram so we would be able to see more of the city.

We walked around a University, through the casco antiguo (oldest part of the city), past theaters, down El Gran Via (the grand way- main/biggest road downtown, most expensive, too, for shopping and living), and past some government buildings. We made a big circle around the city and saw most of it. I loved all of the old buildings and thought the architecture was incredible.

In the casco antiguo, Miren and I stopped for some pinchos- small appetizer/sandwiches at the different tapas/bars. Every little place you walked past had plates and plates of these pinchos sitting on the bar. They all varied, and some looked pretty disgusting to me, but it was a neat system. You go in, grab the pincho(s) that you want, maybe order a drink, enjoy, tell the bartender what you had, pay, and then go on to la próxima tapa (the next place to get pinchos). Miren and I did this once and kept walking. We then found a place to sit at an outdoor cafe and had a Coke. While sitting there, two of her friends met up with us- Vanessa, a friend from her gym, and Dillon, a guy from California who lives in Bilbao and is working as an English teacher.

We sat and chatted for a little while, and then we went to a few different tapas for mas pinchos. I was slightly overwhelmed because more people were out, as it was later in the afternoon at this point, and the places were all packed. There was so much to choose from, and I didn't really know what any of it was. I had a few pinchos (one with egg, bacon, pepper, and mushroom, and one with tortilla de patata) and a sweet apple/grape juice-like drink, mosto. Overall, it was a fun afternoon. I was glad to see some of Bilbao, experience a little of the culture, and practice my Spanish a lot! Now I just need to go back and actually visit some of the places we saw/passed.

Last night was Guille's birthday party, and it was quite the to-do. There were a lot of people, a lot of fancy food, and tons of gifts. Today, Ana's parents are going to be coming over for a big meal. I went down to the kitchen for breakfast this morning, and there was this big tub sitting on the counter. Jon pointed to it and told me not to worry about it... it was filled with some liquid and tons of some kind of raw meat. I guess I just saw what's for dinner...


The flower dog at the Guggenheim

Guggenheim

Guggenheim

The city over the bridge

Spider at the Guggenheim

Government building for the Basque Country

Dentro la plaza de la ciudad (inside the plaza of Bilbao)

A street in the casco antiguo... just for walking, no cars allowed

Government building for Spain

Teatro Arriaga