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.

Big Vacation with Mom and Rae!

Oh man, it's time to write about pictures... here we go.

This was the first part of my big nearly four week long vacation with my mom and sister Rachel. They came into Spain via Madrid and managed to catch the bus up north to Logroño. Since both of them had been in Logroño before, we took advantage of the first part of the vacation to visit some places in the northern autonomous community of the Basque Country. The Basque Country, or Pais Vasco, is divided into three provinces known in English as Biscay, Guipuscoa, and Alava.

The Basque Country has a different climate than La Rioja, as the latter where I live is much drier and hotter in summer. The Basque Country gets quite a lot of precipitation as it borders the sea to the north. It's a fairly mountainness or hilly region with a lot of vegetation and forests in the north. There are also a lot of nice beaches along the coast that are completely different from the more famous Spanish beaches on the Mediterranean. The northern beaches are more natural, with hills, trees, rocks, and a more temperate climate, than those more well known beaches like around Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Cadiz, etc. that tend to be flatter, larger, and more artificial.

This is Mundaka; it's not too far from Bilbao in the province of Biscay, or Vizcaya. The tide goes up, creating a river running inland, and down, revealing an expansive beach for surfers, sailboats, and suntanners alike.

This is a church outside of Mundaka called San Juan. It can only be accessed through the skinny stairwell that winds out from the shore to its peninsula location. The tide comes up and the stairs go away.

This is the castle of Butron located in Gatica of the Biscay province. The fairytale like castle dates back to the Middle Ages.

We owe many thanks to my flatmate Juan for taking us in his car to the many places we visited in the Basque Country. Here we are on the beach of Bakio, very near Bilbao in Biscay. Its close location to the metropolitan city leads it to be a very fashionable place for people to relax and catch a tan.


Here we are in front of the monumental vineyard hotel Marques de Riscal in Elciego of southern Basque Country in the province of Alava. The architect is Frank Gehry, the same man who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the similarity between the two buildings is quite clear.

My mom is eating a pincho in Logroño with our friend Tony.

Laguardia: medieval village just north of Logroño in Alava, known for its hilltop location, vineyards, wineries, and beautiful narrow stonepaved streets.


Juan and the girls in the main square of Laguardia.


Lastly, here's Juan strolling through a portal in the center of lovely Gernika in the Biscay province. Gernika is most famous for being bombed by the Nazi Germany during the Spanish Civil War in an effort to overthrow the Basque and Spanish Republican governments. Pablo Picasso painted perhaps his most famous painting 'Guernica' in commemoration to the bombing.

Laguardia, Pais Vasco

I went to nearby Laguardia with Maria Jesus (one of the English teachers from my high school). Her boyfriend Jose Pedro is from there, and he gave me a wonderful tour of the medieval village. Laguardia is located in the autonomous community of Pais Vasco (Basque Country) in the southern province of Alava, which borders La Rioja, and is only about 18 kilometers or so from Logrono.

Laguardia is special because it's surrounded by medieval walls, inside which are narrow twisting streets packed with restaurants, bars, ancient buildings, churches, and nice plazas.
There are five ancient entrances to the old center of the city, one of which is pictured above.

Here's an example of some of the architecture featured on the side of the Church of San Juan (I believe).

Laguardia is an elevated village, and beneath it are hundreds of ancient medieval tunnels and hideouts that were possibly made during times of war. These caverns are also wineries or storage areas for wine. The exact origin of the tunnels is unknown, but they were once connected with one another underground, creating an elaborate system through which you could go arrive anywhere within the village walls. It's thought that these cellars were perhaps built at the same time as the houses. Today, these tunnels have been blocked off, separating them and the property of the respective owners. We visited a big winery in the center of town called El Fabulista. We climbed down into the caverns to taste the wines (a really nice experience).

Another church in Laguardia perhaps houses its most famous monument, a Gothic portico or arcade leading into the Santa Maria de los Reyes church/monastery. Constructed of stone in the 14th century and then painted for the last time in the 17th, this portico is unique because it has retained its color, and it's in really good shape. This is because there was a facade built around it that protected it and sealed it from the effects of the weather and erosion over the centuries.


Here is the altar inside the church. The shell design at the top is also quite unique, as I don't think I've seen it anywhere else.


Here I am standing with Jose Pedro, who's from Laguardia.


And here I am with my Maria Jesus. They were both incredibly nice to take me around and show me Laguardia. I would have never learned so much without them. We also had lunch together and they introduced me to several of the bars and restaurants. Thanks very much!


There are nice views from Laguardia of the surrounding countryside. Production of wine is very important to this region, and you can see many vineyards and wineries. The province of Alava, though in Pais Vasco, is close enough to La Rioja (and it's wine is close enough) that the wine produced there is tagged with the official La Rioja mark. The region is actually known as La Rioja Alavesa.
The mountains around Laguardia are beautiful. Most of the buildings in the valley between Laguardia and the mountains are wineries. One of them in the middle is a modern structure which attempts to mimic the shape of the mountains in the background. It might be hard to see the resemblance from here... This winery was designed by world famous Spanish architect Calatrava.

Return to Vitoria

Abby, our friend Kara, and I traveled to nearby Vitoria, the capital of the Basque Country, to visit a cathedral that is under restoration. It was a special situation because most cathedrals in restoration aren't open for visitors. This cathedral is an exception. We had to get reservations ahead of time, and when we got there we had to wear helmets for the tour! It was fantastic. We walked through the cathedral on scaffolding and saw all of the different projects inside the giant church.

Besides the cathedral, we also toured the city a little bit also. The Basque Country is the autonomous community in Spain directly above La Rioja, so it shares a similar climate and culture for great tapas and food. This tapa shown above was probably one of the best I have ever eaten. I don't know it's specific name, but I can tell you the contents. Bread on the bottom, then a slice of jamon serrano (special Spanish ham), then some really rich goat cheese, and on top a caramelized onion. I think they call it pure heaven... I'm not sure.

Here is a typical Spanish cafe at around midday (not really lunch time, not really breakfast time). And when it's not mealtime in Spain, that means that it's perfect time for tapas; so, you can see all the tapas out on dishes. You don't even have to know Spanish... just look, find something good, and point.

Here is a main plaza in Vitoria where they had an afternoon street sale the day we were there (Sunday). I bought a book at one of the tables: El Alquimista (in English, The Alquemist). I've read it in English, and it's a pretty straightforward read, so I thought I'd read it in Spanish too. Abby got the same book and we're now reading it together.

Here is me standing in front of the new cathedral in Vitoria. We didn't get to go inside this one... it's not the old one under restoration that we toured... This is the new cathedral they built after the Basque Country became an autonomous community of Spain and Vitoria became it's capital. They decided that they needed a new bigger cathedral, so they built this monstrosity.