Pension Arias Bilbao

... when we grow up, we want to be like that...!!) (ha, only kidding..)

Signing off for now, thank you for all of you who have taken the time to read our blog,,, hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed reflecting and writing it.

Ciao for now.. Til Bali.......

Annabelle & Lym

... few pinchos and glasses of wine. It is the favorite pastime of Bilbaoans on a Friday night. In fact, it’s 10pm and they action is just starting….but we’re settling in for bed. We’ve just been blown away by the food this time around. In the past our gastronomic experience was less than stellar. I think we just hadn’t gone to the right places. The feature tonight was a duck ...

We drove from Madrid, got a bit lost trying to find Lurdea. We thought it is a name of a village but it is not it is just the name of the Hotel/Casa Rural.

The place is amazing. Located in the hills above Bermeo, with magnificent view of the ocean. It is clean (like really clean) and has the air of a relaxing boutique hotel.

Bilbao, the capital of Viscaya in the county, with the nice weather and climate that is milder than in most other parts of the peninsula, rarely falling below freezing in winter or rising above 35 degree C in summer.

One of the best features of this place is the collection of Museums that exhibit the artifacts that well ...

... So I went across the street to wait in the meeting spot for everyone to comeback so we could go eat. They came back like 20-30 Min's later. We ate in a cool restaurant. I had a good salad, except i feel like an entire container of salt was in it. Then had a leg and Thigh with french fries, and a wild Orange glaze. For dessert a really good cake, with berries. Wandered around for a while, shopped. I found really good deals on Jewelry. I got 7 ...

... the tube to head to camping Soplena. After the blow out in Ibiza we thought we'd keep it cheap and camp. The plan was to spend a few days here, then head to San Sebastien and then into France.

Camping Sopelana - DONT STAY HERE! Although the beach it is is AMAZING and beautiful, the campsite here is not. It's dirty, dirty, dirty and really ...

... attendants reminded me of ones I've seen on Spanish airlines before, if you know what I mean! Sat next to a retired Holland couple that now calls Calgary home (Simon and Wilhelmina). Simon used to work for Shell and he told me how Shell's previous policy was to hire only people that graduated at the top of their classes. He would be sad to know that they've now lowered their standards to include engineering hacks like me! It feels a little ...

... which starts next Wednesday). Anyway, I digress. We walked to the business district to find the Tourist Information office, where we picked up some maps. Then we made our way to "Old Town Bilbao" which reminded me a lot of Venice - narrow streets lined with shops on the lower floor and living quarters above. We found the market where all the locals buy their fresh meat and produce daily, but we held back from splurging on cow tongue, the lining of a sheep´s ...

... and many others. he is probably one of my favorite architects. it turned out that of all the places to stay in Bilbao, Jeff and Cayla were staying at the same hotel Taylore and i were so the 4 of us went back to the hotel to relax a little bit before hitting the town. in Spain, almost everyone has siesta everyday anywhere from 1 or 2 in the afternoon till 4-7 P.M. so even if we had wanted to go someplace in the afternoon, most places are closed ...