Bilbao & Sanse

Bilbao, the magnificent metropolitan capital of Biscay in the Basque Country, city of monuments of great modern architecture like Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum, pictured below.


My mom, sister, and flatmate Juan are standing on a bridge in front of the Nervion River in the old center of Bilbao.

The Campo Volantin Footbridge along the Nervion, designed by famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Hilltop view of the Greater Bilbao, an urban area of around a million inhabitants. Bilbao is one of the most important seaports and industrial areas of Spain, and much of its growth was due to the industrial revolution.

Besides the factories, Bilbao is a city sprawling with commerical and cultural life. There are many parks, monuments, beautiful modern buildings, luxury shops, restaurants, hotels, museums, concert halls, and more. It's definitely one of the more interesting places to visit in Spain.

Now we change cities to San Sebastian, or Donostia in the Basque language of Euskeda. San Sebastian is the capital of the Basque province of Guipuscoa, and it's a popular tourist destination for all of Europe. Gail and Rachel are looking out over La Concha Bay from Mount Igeldo.


San Sebastian's old center is filled with wonderful restaurants dedicated to some of Spain's most elaborate and delicious pinchos.

Here Mom and I are standing in front of the river Urumea and one of the many bridges that cross it. You can see the cathedral in the background.

One of the most famous sites in the city is the lookout over the rocky coast near the base of Mount Igeldo where the Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida has several of his famous 'wind combs'. Interesting side note: I just learned that before he became a sculptor he was a professional goalkeeper for Real Sociedad, San Sebastian's football team.

La Concha Bay has a wonderful large beach shaped like a conch shell. The boardwalk that surrounds the beach is filled with restaurants, spas, cafes, clubs, parks, and more. It's a wonderful place to spend a nice morning, afternoon, or evening strolling around or just lying and relaxing.

Food you don't generally eat in the USA: salads with gulas (aka young eel). If the gulas (or regular eel would be 'angulas') are authentic they are a delicacy, and a very expensive one at that. Most times if you catch these slimy suckers in a typical restaurant or supermarket what you're getting is the imitation stuff, which is much cheaper. It tastes a little like crab... me thinks. Very good.

Long Time, No Blogs...

I really got to get cookin on these blogs, because I've been a lot of new places since I wrote last. It was almost a month ago that I last wrote about Milan, Italy. Wow! Abby's family came to visit us for Christmas; and, together with everyone, we traveled to Madrid, Toledo, Bilbao, Zaragoza, and we celebrated Christmas together at our apartment here in Logrono. It was a very busy time, and it seemed like we were always on the run; but, now that I think that we have the time and the energy to look back at everything, we all realize what a special experience we had, and we'll always remember how we shared it together.


Sniff sniff. Sorry, I get sooo sentimental sometimes. I'll break down the trip for everyone who just wants to see some pictures of far-out places. Here we go!


December 20, 2007 (Madrid - Capital and largest city of Spain)

Abby´s family flew in to Madrid on the 20th, and we stayed in an apartment there for three nights. It was a nice furnished place, right near the center of town.

We saw museums and monuments and palaces and cathedrals, and on the 22nd we took a day-trip to Toledo (an hour south on the high-speed train).

I had so many pictures of all the places we visited, that it was easier for me to put them on My Pictures site instead. Click the link to go there, or look at the left side of my page for the My Pictures link. I´ve already posted pictures of Madrid and Toledo and Logroño and myself and Abby´s family, and I will be posting more very shortly; so, stay tuned.

What next? After our day-trip to Toledo, the next morning we took the bus four-and-a-half hours through the mountains and the valleys and the plains to Logroño, our homestead. We all stayed in our apartment (not too far from the center of our city) and we toured a little bit, got in the Spanish Christmas spirit of things, and cooked and celebrated together like only North Dakotans / Minnesotans can. It was a fantastic time, with lots of laughs, games, toasts, pictures, and more.

The day after Christmas, we took a day-trip on bus to the northern Spanish city of Bilbao. Bilbao is a good deal bigger than Logroño (though much smaller than Madrid), and so we found ourselves short of time to see the city in its entirety. I don´t think any of us would disagree though that the best part of the city has to be the fabulous Guggenheim museum. We got many amazing photos of the outside of the impressive structure (which was made to look like a metallic ship!) right along the river than runs through the city.

The very day after we got back we took another day-trip on bus to nearby Zaragoza (east of Logroño). Zaragoza is a similar size to Logroño, and we liked the feel of the city very much. It was a foggy day, but we managed to enjoy ourselves as we strolled amongst the castles, the bullfighting ring, the churches, bridges, and cathedrals.

The last day in Logroño was for pure relaxation. We shopped, we did some last day touring, and we assembled ourselves and our bags for another journey south to Madrid.

With our last remaining day in Madrid, we went to parks, and museums, and rode the city´s Christmas Bus. The excitement in the capital was only growing after Christmas because of the anticipation for the New Year.