Hotel Tryp Sondika Bilbao

... small place got packed by about 3:30. We had a delicious meal: 1) a Basque version of bruschetta (ham, tomatoes, sea salt, olive oil), 2) a clam that gave you a burst of sea, 3) the best calamari that I have ever had (whole, not your strips type) and then tail of bull (rabo de toro). Oh, yeah, I think we also had a bottle of red wine. Yum!

We took a nap after a short walk after that. We walked ...

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 ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

... that they have to clap? Shouldn't we expect decent landings all the time? It's like those fools at the theatre that always give a standing ovation, despite it being ****. We're lowering the standards, people!!! Getting off the plane - some UK guy heard that I was going to Spain and warned me about the need for Spanish there. Thanks for the tip, but been there, done that! Though it's overblown - even without Spanish the average tourist can get ...

... covered in plants and flowers. The Basque country is known for it's pinxos (pinchos), little bite sized portions of bread topped with all sorts of yummy stuff ...

... with a dark purple ceiling, dark wood paneling accenting white walls, and glass separating the bathroom from the sleeping area - yes, glass (some frosted, some not), so don't plan on sharing a room with someone you don't know well). Very nice views out of our fourth-story window (which actually opened fully) showed us the pedestrian street below and to the east, the theatre's plaza to the west, and the tram line to the northwest. We also did some preliminary research to ...

... We found some lockers and stored our bags. It was kinda pourng rain on and off here, so we bought some umbrellas at a store near the station. Finally we were on our way to the Gugghenheim Museum. On the way there, Homer comes up to me and hands me a grey scarf and says Merry Christmas. I was so happy to finally have a scarf, everyone else had one and i was left freezing on my own will. From this day on, I was now living in warmer days. On ...