Barcelo Hotel Avenida Bilbao

... pincho that Paul had and a (believe it or not) anchovy/cod concoction on bread that I had. I’ve really been venturing out on the fish thing this trip. I even had cod for lunch!!

Tomorrow we leave Bilbao for a hotel a bit in from the coast into the Picos de Europa, a beautiful, mountainous area. We should be in by late afternoon. Look for photos of the coast and the mountains next.

Cheers!

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 ...

Theres one reason why most tourists come here. The Guggenheim Museum. And unlike most museums they come to see the building itself rather than the contents. The Frank Gehry designed building is well worth it too, an extraordinary sculpture of a building that truly is world class piece of art itself. I like it, but I wasn't too impressed by many of the contents. I liked the impressionist and the expressionist ...

... more than any other city in the world. The reinvention goes on - the market has been largely demolished and is being rebuilt in the original style. So that blew that idea for a wet Monday morning ! The small bit that ...

... to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, features both permanent and visiting exhibits featuring works of both Spanidh and international artists. The exhibition of the museum itself change often, it is frequently hosts thematic exhibition from other countries and other culture. The permanent collections of the museums are 20th century arts ...

Urghh long, long bus journey from Valencia. Sleeping tablets helped, but what didn't were the rude Spanish couple behind us who persisted on banging on the back of our seats all journey. They seemed angry that we were using the recline function which we had paid, and were entitled to use...

Anyway, arrive at about 8 or something where we got ...

... in the morning. We can get it at school, but if you go into a cafe and ask someone for "cafe con leche para llevar" (coffee with milk, to go)--they often stare at you and tell you they basically don´t have "to go" cups. It is so much different than home. Shorts are also a no-no. However, I thankfully knew this before coming. People will stare you down---but flip-flops are also not very popular. We get a lot of looks ...

Once I had checked in I headed to San Mamés to get my ticket for the game as well as have a tour round the stadium. The tour consisted of looking in the director's box, the press room and going into the stadium at pitch level, right by the dugouts. The tour lasted about 40 minutes and once it was finished I waited about 15-20 minutes until the ticket office opened and I got my ticket. My was in ...