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Published: November 13th 2016
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Basque Country, Spain 2016
Minsk to Frankfurt, 5 hour layover, airport dinner of sausages and beer
Arrive in Bilbao near midnight, last bus to downtown
disembark near Guggenheim Museum
beautiful warm night for a walk to the hotel – about 70 degrees F
only we took a wrong turn from the circular Plaza Mayu
long, but interesting walk – finally found a taxi to the hotel
Sunday – up early (our hotel host says Americans and Germans are always the earliest)
coffee and pintxos for breakfast – pintxos are small tasty snacks served all day long
then a walk along the river promenade, many people strolling, jogging
then the Guggenheim Bilbao came into view
amazing geometric shapes appear, mama spider sculpture, fog installation
the architecture compliments the modern art inside
most striking are Richard Serra’s huge rolled steel installations,
walking through maze like leaning walls that leave you disoriented
Outside a huge fun run is concluding with hundreds in pink race shirts.
Puppy was being replanted – he was covered so we could not see him.
It usually takes 9 days to
replant – maybe next Saturday on our way home.
A tour of Bilbao by tram and then into the old town to find wine and food
we waded up to the bar to check out the plates of pintxos, ordered wine
spoke to a local and asked about the Elko, Nevada Basque Star Hotel cocktail Picon Punch
He didn’t know the liquor to make this drink but said most were too sweet for him.
We didn’t know it at the time, but he bought our first glass of wine in Bilbao.
The first of many friendly Basques
The bartender was making an interesting house drink in an unusual way –
it turned out to be a martini
poured over an over from a height above his head into another cup at waist level
Home to nap then out for an evening of bar hopping to find amazing pintxos and wine.
Monday – breakfast at old town bakery,
walk through La Rivera market – lots of meat, sausage, chorizo
metro 20 minutes to Bilbao port communities of Getxo and Portugalet
connected by the Vizcaya Bridge,
inspired by the Eiffel Tower
130 years old – walked across the top and rode the hanging transport car back
Walked a section of the Camino de Santiago (and a small ride on a moving sidewalk!)
Strolled along the beach promenade, stopping for a glass of wine and journaling.
Wandered up steep steps to the old fishing village –
wine and pintxos on a sunny terrace surrounded by quaint white houses
with red and green window trim and window flower boxes
shop for some wine and metro back to Bilbao, and a nap
out to Casa Rufo – very Basque food of oxtail stew and sirloin steak, wine, french fries,
green chilies, smoked duck sliced thin, curd, chocolate truffles and cafe con leche
reservations a must – we were lucky enough to be squeezed next to the busy kitchen
Finally, a walk to Alhondiga to see the unique pillars on the ground level.
Tuesday – a brief breakfast and wander around old town, pack, and tram to the bus station
for 1.25 hour trip to Donosta (San Sebastion)
I tried to speak to an
Frank Gehry's design
Guggenheim Bilbao modern art museum
other Guggenheims in NYC and Venice elderly lady in the bus line, but she only speaks Euskera
We managed a small conversation with our mutual pocito espanol
San Sebastion is a beautiful little city right on the Bay of Biscay
A lovely shell shaped beach on one side of old town protected by a bay
and a wilder surfing beach on the other side of old town adjacent to Gros
An interesting visit to the Basque history Museum of San Telmo in an old convent
Much wandering around old town looking for good pintxos and wine
Found La Cuchara de San Telmo for fantastic plates of octopus and clams
Up early on Wednesday for our much anticipated guided tour
to the Rioja wine region about 2 hours away
Agustin of Gorilla Tours was our guide to the region and two wineries
in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa.
The climate much drier here than on the coast
coffe in a small village
We toured Muga and Luis Cañas wineries with tastings
Muga had their own cooper to make barrels
white wines - mostly viura grapes
red wines -
tempranillo -
3 types of reds - crianza, reserva and gran reserva depending on age
and then a lunch at a local restaurant and ordered the lunch special
Dinner back in San Sebastian at the delicious La Fabrica
Thursday found us again with Agustin. He took us for a 5 kilometer hike
through the pine trees along the coast near Hondarribia
Afterwards, we visited a winery making the regional Txakoli wine
Believe it or not, we were ready to set wine aside
In Gros we found a microbrew pub and a Russian style take out beer store
Kanabikana sells craft beer in three sizes of bottles poured directly from the keg
They had a yummy grapefruit IPA –
we took ours in a paper sack and drank it while watching the surfers
Next stop was the Mala Gisala microbrew pub to try some of their beers
Friday – This was our bicycling day
We rented bicycles and rode for several hours along the coast and through the city
We passed three large outdoor metal sculptures by three Basque artists
The most famous are Chillida’s Peine del Viento installations hanging over the ocean
We stopped by Solbes deli and they made us fresh delicious sandwiches
a jar of pickled peppers, and a bottle of wine wrapped up our picnic lunch
which we ate in the shelter of a large rock
Another trip to the microbrew pub after dropping off the bikes
Tasty gelato on the way back to the hotel
Saturday was a travel day back to Bilbao
We went back to the Guggenheim and Puppy was now unveiled
he was sporting cool weather pansies for the winter season
Our last Basque dinner was at the traditional Rio-Oja
We had the awesome squid in its own ink and baked lamb
On Sunday we flew home with a short layover in Frankfurt
45 minutes was scheduled, but the connecting flight was delayed
so we and our luggage made it with no problem
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