Bilbao is an old little town nestled within the mountains. Mountains mountains mountains and then plop - Bilbao in the middle. The main attraction is the Guggenheim museum and I purposely chose the hotel directly across the street for convenience. Certainly not expecting the WOW factor we experienced. Our room faced the museum and had an open shower and a Phillip Stark free standing tub which was all encased in glass so you could shower/tub and have a fantastic view of the museum at night with a bottle of wine. The entire hotel was uber modern and artsy fartsy to the max. But at the same time was wam, cozy and inviting. We immediately hit the streets for some wine/cervesa and some tapas. The food and the language begins to change when you enter Basque territory. Spanish phrases like 'hola' become buenos dais or even hello is acceptable. Spelling is different and many street signs and billboards show spanish AND basque. I can wing my way through spanish but basque has no resemblance of recognizable english words. Stellar pointing skills are a must! Tapas everywhere and it's not like what you see in America. What we call tapas pales in comparison and frankly is an insult to the fine art and taste of these little masterpieces. Plate after plate piled high and extending the entire length of the bar - every plate different and beautifully displayed. Only real life experience can make you understand the real thing but photos will have to do cause there is no justice in further attempting to explain.
We went from bar to bar having a few samples of tapas and beverage. We came upon a young American couple who were traveling with some friends who were from Spain. They were from NY and actually moving to Taiwan after their vacation. Their Spanish friend was hilarious and spoke fairly good english They has obviously been drinking all day and he was concentrating very hard enunciating his words all the while bobbing and weaving to stay upright.
They asked us to stay on with them for more libations but I thought it was better if we went back to the swanky hotel bar where we were only an elevator ride away from being horizontal.
I ordered a Cosmo and Jud ordered a Jack n coke. It's different here when you order a mixed drink. They actually bring (on a tray of course) the glass filled with ice, a bottle of coke and the entire bottle of JD. The glass goes down on the table, the JD is poured............ (I counted to at least 6) then let's top it off with a whiff of coke. All in a giant goblet or lets call this one a challis. 4 of these later it was time for nite nite termite - I think we finished the bottle.
We were at the Guggenheim promptly at 11 am after some much needed coffee and a little pastry and potato tortilla. The building itself is the attraction and the 'art'. The photos will show its majestic form and presence and literally directly across the street from the hotel. The museum is filled with sculptures and abstract paintings. A giant piece of metal standing upright or a blank piece of paper in a frame is a struggle for me to appreciate as 'art' but the world thinks it is so I try and be open minded about it. But frankly, I don't get it.
Check out was not till 3 pm (imagine that!) so we did not get on our way to San Sebastian till later in the day. It's only about a 1.5 hour drive so there was no need to hurry out. The drive to San Seb was interesting.... High mountains, some with huge peaks, twisty highways and lots of tunnels. So far, our driving and finding our destinations has been easy. Today - not so much..... Remember, the language changes so what we printed in Spanish did not match the Basque language and the exits are not in chronological order. 5, 3, 8. - where is 7??? To make a long story short we were lost, no one speaks English, the roads are not marked well, there are more of those damn roundabouts, the traffic lights go red yellow green (go) green yellow red (stop), and don't forget to stop at the pedestrian crossings every 100 feet, we are driving around in circles and all I could remember is just get to the water - we need to be near the ocean. So we get to the ocean and I see the hotel where Amanda and I stayed - Hotel Parma. Thats good. I know we are at least in the right neighborhood. The problem is (and there are a few), we need to get fuel, return the rental car, and our hotel is down in the deep dark bowels of the Old Town. No roads there....it's all walking. We decide to just find a parking garage, find the hotel and deal with the car later and probably just return it the next day. We are both fried and thirsty.
Finding the hotel or pension was easy - we had a good map and I remembered my way around enough to get us pointed in the right direction. Pension Edorta is buried deep in the Old Town section where there are only pedestrian streets and the tapas bars and shops are plentiful. Amanda and I spent most of our time here so it made sense to just stay where the action is. A Pension is similar to a Hostel. But at this place our room and bed are much bigger. Thank God cause we almost killed each other in Madrid in such a small space for several days. I was prepared to change hotels if this room turned out to be as small as the Hostel in Madrid.
Tomorrow we will attempt to return the car but for now it's Friday night in San Sebastian and it's time to get out on the town!
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