Basque Country... me encanta.

Northern Spain was at the top of my list of places I wanted to visit in Spain. My trusty Rick Steve’s Spain book informed me that San Sebastian was a picturesque beach town and a wonderful place to relax, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was a must-see. I absolutely agree. (Rick Steves is my homeboy)
Eight of us ladies from Cal Poly took a bus Friday afternoon from Valladolid to Bilbao, arriving at night. We took a tram across town to our hostel, and I was loving everything I saw right away. The tram was a great way to see the city; it followed along the river through the heart of Bilbao, right by the Guggenheim, train station, cathedral, and other old and very official looking buildings. We checked into our hostel, that was in reality a cheap hotel, (exposed piping, janky hallways, but remodeled bathrooms so I didn’t care) and the group of us ordered pizza and had an impromptu girly slumber party. It was really nice to catch up with a lot of the girls, it sounds silly to say that we don’t see each other much but it’s true! We can’t chat during lectures, and since moving to Valladolid, we’re spread all over the city (some of us over a half-hour walk from each other) and not all packed into the same hotel like we were in Madrid. We ordered from Pizza Hut (no judging) and it was delivered in Domino’s Pizza boxes. Interesante. All I can say is, American pizza only exists in America.What we ate wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good old American pizza. Friends back home, next time you have Woodstocks pizza in SLO or Northridge pizza in GV, appreciate it. Just for me.
The next morning we woke up bright and early (kinda) and went straight to the Guggenheim, walking back along the river through town. It was supposed to rain the whole weekend, but the sky was beautiful and clear, and the weather mild. It was so nice to not have to bundle up to go outside! (Valladolid is freeeeeeeezing cold) We drank cafe con leche (latte) and munched on pan de fruta (kinda like banana bread... mine tasted like a donut. No joke.) and tortilla espanola (potato omelet that I’m addicted to) outside of the Guggenheim.... so delicious!
We got to see most of the building as we walked around it and up the stairs to the entrance, where we were greeted by a gigantic chia-pet. It’s name is Puppy, and it’s a work of art by James Koonz (I think that’s his name...), and it’s a giant puppy covered in flowers, like the most humongous and adorable Rose Parade float you’ve ever seen.
I could have spent hours just admiring the building alone, much less all the art inside it. There are no 90º angles anywhere; the floor is the only straight line in the building, which makes this psychedelic web of metal, glass and sandstone ( I think). There’s a light, airy feeling inside, I felt less grounded and crowded by all the open space and curved walls. We explored the exhibits on all three floors, and had our fill of modern art for quite some time. The second floor had an exhibit about Frank Lloyd Wright which was cool to see, and the top floor (my fave, and didn’t know it would be there) was a showcase of art from the Guggenheim Museum in New York. I came face-to -face with Manet, Van Gogh, and Jackson Pollack, just to name a few. The art historian in me was quite content :)
That afternoon, we walked to the Old Town to find lunch and explore. We found a random rock concert in a retail store (no idea what the deal was, but they sounded good! And sang in English. Go figure), did a little shopping, saw the cathedral, and..... ATE MEXICAN FOOD. This doesn’t seem like a big of a deal, but after a solid month with not a single tortilla or anything resembling picante salsa, we were so pumped. We got plates of tacos and burritos, which turned out to be appetizer-sized, but we didn’t care, and just ordered a second round, dousing everything in guac and salsa. I’ve never enjoyed the burning sensation of spicy food in my mouth so much. It was fabulous. And to top it off, we had imported Pacificos, instead of the staple Spanish beer called Mahou (think Bud Light. Not that great, no idea why Spaniards drink the stuff by choice). After filling our bellies with tacos, we were on an emotional high for the rest of the day, and the big group of us took a 100-year old tram up the mountain for a view of the whole city, which was fantastic! It started to sprinkle right before we left, but we got some amazing pictures of the view, and us of course. :)
For dinner, the pelirojas (means redheads, and refers to Julie, Erica and myself) bought brie cheese (YUM), bread and wine and shared it while watching a Spanish futbol game - aren’t we assimilating so well?! Later on we enjoyed a night out and found a bar that played just rock music - mostly American, to my delight. Nothing like rocking out to Pat Benetar in a crowded bar of Spaniards, getting beer spilled all over your shoes. Believe it or not, that night I practiced the most Spanish at the bar than any other time in the last 6 weeks - us redheaded American girls were bombarded with Spaniards (Basques, to be correct), guys and girls, wanting to know where we were from, why we were there, if we liked Arnold, if we listened to this kind of music, why weren’t we smoking cigarettes... it was insanity. Sadly, we discovered towards the end of the night that Erica’s camera and phone were stolen out of her purse. Not fun at all, but at least it wasn’t something irreplaceable.
The next morning we were back on another bus to San Sebastian for the day. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with yet another coastal city. We walked by the most perfect beach I’ve ever seen (being a California native I think that says something), complete with a boardwalk, seafood restaurants, a carousel, and amazing helado! (Helado means ice cream, and it’s a highly used word in my spanish vocabulary) Sadly, our time in the Basque Country was cut short - we had to make an afternoon bus back to Valladolid since it was the only bus available that day. I could’ve spent much more time exploring both Bilbao and San Sebastian, but it was a wonderful weekend adventure!
Still to come: weekend trip to Granada and Sevilla, how I did on midterms (fam, be proud), and the weirdest hair-dos I’ve ever seen in my life.