A weekend in Bilbao.

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  Bilbao, Basque, Spain
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

 After dinner Friday night with my new teammates I
decided to take a trip to Bilbao. I had wanted to visit a few of the museums
there and try out the youth hostel. It so happened that the team was playing
just outside of Bilbao, in Leioa, on Sunday. They had offered to give me a ride
on the team bus but being stubborn and/or "adventurous" I opted to go a day
earlier by myself. So Saturday morning I threw some maps and a change of
clothes in my backpack and set off.

  The bus
trip was surprisingly short and I checked into the hostel with no problems.
Here I staged my backpack and took only my purse out for a walking tour of
Bilbao. Right away I happened upon the main park, which led to the Museo de
Bellas Artes. Technically I am not a student (I will be again one day) but I
flashed my C of I card to save a few Euros at the door. It was well worth it
and I spent a couple of hours looking at the exhibits. Some of the art I just
plain didn't "get", but found it all interesting and displayed well. The
numerous statues and fountains all over the town caught my eye. Of course, the
main building that stands out is the Guggenhiem, but there are many more. What
architecture! It was great weather for the weekend. Such nice weather that I
chose to stay outside and tour instead of go in the Guggenheim.

  Public
transportation continues to amaze me here in Spain. In Nevada and Idaho I
haven't been exposed to anything like it, but it is the way to go in bigger
cities. Sundays can be a little slower with less routes schedules. That just
means you have to be patient. After I got off the metro in Leioa and found my
bus stop to the basketball game and had to wait almost an hour. I shared the
bench with a 76 year-old man full of conversation. He spoke no English and it
was just the two of us waiting. I caught most of what he said and could answer
back pretty well. It's amazing the amount of people here that ask me what I
think of the election. "Espero que es bien." (I hope it is good). That is
usually all I can come up with: 1) because I don't know much Spanish 2) because
I know even less about politics and 3) I always try to keep a positive outlook!


  He helped
me out by letting me know what stop to get off for the University. I found what
looked like a gym but there was not much action and the game was scheduled to
start just 10 minutes away. A man at the front desk must have noticed my
confusion and I asked him if there was a game today. He said there wasn't but
maybe down the hill at the other sports center. About a 20-minute walk at a 'muy
rapida' pace. I made it there just before the end of the first quarter. Nice
day for a walk though. J After the game I walked back to the metro station and returned to
Bilbao. I took in a few more sights of the town and found the old part to be a
bit dirtier than that of Donostia (San Sebastian). It is also much more
populated that the cities I had been in the past couple weeks, aside from
Barcelona. Satisfied with my day's exploring I ate an early dinner and went
back to the hostel.

 Monday morning after a quick walk about town I boarded the
bus back to Donastia, which has become my new home-away-from-home. It was the
third consecutive day of sunshine and I couldn't help but have a picnic on the
beach. Fresh bread, some cheese, and a little pamplonika sausage. Tough life,
huh? The only tough part was when my pants got soaked. In my haste to get my
feet wet in the Atlantic I didn't roll my pants up enough and misjudged the
waves. But not bad for being the only glitch in my weekend adventure

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

Albergue	Fountain	Fountain	Fountain
Fountain	Museo	Museo	Guggenhiem and Spider
Beach

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