Gurea Hostal Bilbao

... distance I can make out the Pyrenees. And just on the other side, we’ll be coming in to Bilbao. Not sure if preparing myself mentally and moving my watch to Spain-time did it, but I’m feeling quite refreshed right now despite the fact that I didn’t sleep much on the flight over the ocean. The cabin is being prepped for landing so I’m quitting now, but I’ll pick up once we ...

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.

... for thousands of year the history of the City and Spain As a whole.

Guggenheim Museum
Museo de Bellas Artes
Basque Museum
La Ría Maritime Museum
Museo Taurino (Bullfighting Museum)
Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro (Museum of Sacred Art)
Museo de Reproducciones Artísticas (Museum of Artistic Reproductions ...

... Sometimes on a holiday like this you become a bit jaded with fine dining, but today I was also tempted by the fact that several of the courses on the tasting menu were vegetarian, and I also felt a bit overloaded in recent days with meat and fish. Aubergine roasted in liquorice was a pleasant new experience, but all in all not a patch on the Andra Mari which I tried on Monday, and not as good value. If you ...

... t plan on the rain !! So I've unusually made a late morning retreat to my hotel to start this blog.

Many cities have reinvented themselves top attract tourists and my initial impression is Bilbao has done this more ...

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 ...

Eh bien apres avoir passer proche de manquer d'essence nous nous sommes rendu a Bilbao pour rencontrer l'amie a Tania, Amaya. Apres 3 ans de separations les 2 amies ce sont enfin reunis. Nous avons sortis ce soir dans un pub irlandais et il y avait un festival de jazz qui nous a garder reveiller un bonne partie de la nuit. Nous avons rester dans un bel appartement dans un tres beau quartier. Le lendemain ...

... regardless of age. Also, there are not really any health codes-at least I don't think so. The public bathrooms rarely have hand soap, paper towels, and sometimes there is no toilet seat. Yeah, it is different. At least I keep hand sanitizer and such with me at all times. So, I have been acting like a Spaniard. I have been eating late lunches and very later dinners. I have also been walking everywhere--at least a few miles ...

... pork chop meals from my childhood. For dessert, Farida had the DQ ice cream cake (the highlight of the meal), and I had the Flan, made with rotten eggs. I don't think I am lying when I say that this is the first food that Callista has ever said that she hated. Nasty, Nasty, nasty. I made sure to drink all of the included wine, figuring that this might kill the bacteria that I surely just injested. After that meal...I can't wait to taste the next.

... I stayed with another woman I met sailing in the Whitsundays, Suzanna. I got to spend some time with her and hang out with her friends, one of them even let me use her bicycle while I was there, which was very nice. We watched two Barcelona soccer matches at pubs in the Gracia area where Suzanna lives. Went out one night til 5am to check out the gay scene there. Met lots of nice, fun people. Dancing way too late into the morning though. Thanks for the hospitality, Suzanna!