"Vamos a la playa" in the Basque Country

Yeah... like... yeah....

The Basque Country is one of the must see parts of Spain. While I was familiar with its renowned beauty when I arrived in Spain, convincing myself to visit involved a combination of events. First, the American living in Madrid (who I met in Krakow) recommended the region highly. Second, one of my classmates mentioned the fame of the region's food. Finally, the ever wonderful ESN was organizing a trip there. With all of the fun from the last ESN organized trip to Barcelona, I decided to buy the ticket last minute, right before it sold out.

The plan for the trip was simple: we would visit Bilbao, San Sebastián, and an outlying Madrid city of Burgos.

Appreciating the early morning departure from the Atocha station (compared with our normal departures in the middle of the night) we departed by bus. I was going on the trip with my Italian friend Dario. We passed the four hour bus ride while catching some more sleep and talking. Also on the trip were some familiar faces from Barcelona and other students I know.

For every bus ride, especially in the light of day, I draw comparisons to my previous bus rides to and from school in Indiana. The never ending corn fields of Indiana are replaced here with rolling hills, vineyards, forests, and picturesque Spanish towns. Quite a change in scenery.

Bilbao

Approaching Bilbao, our highway was weaving through the low lying mountains that border the city. W first drove around the city, eventually passing both banks of the river. From there, we got our first glimpse of the most famous landmark in Bilbao: the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao. For this reason alone we were visiting the city, basically.

Dropped off at the museum, we were a tad disappointed that the clear and sunny skies turned gray. Our priority after the long bus ride: food. Joining some mutual friends (another American, a Polish girl, a Russian girl, and a French girl) we departed for the Casco Viejo (Old Town) district of the city, home to the best restaurants.

Cloudy skies in Bilbao

Old Town of Bilbao

Food is done a little differently in the Basque country. Tapas are their main tradition, though they are not called tapas but Pintxos. Remember, people are not speaking Castellano here (Spanish as we know it) but Basque. The origin of the Basque language is unknown and has been described (to me) as "Spanish gibberish."
We followed the river and crossed the infamous Zubizuir (Basque translation 'white bridge'), known for many who died falling from the bridge before railings were installed (fun fact!). The old town began near a park, where we could admire the Arriaga Theater, the train station across the river, and the exterior of Plaza Nuevo, their equivalent to the Plaza Mayor. Here, we consulted my guidebook for where to eat.

Getting turned around by the cathedral using the small map in my guidebook, we finally arrived at our lunch destination: Xukela Bar. We discussed with the demonstrative bartender about the bountifully displayed pintxos on the bar counter. Confirming the guidebook description, every pintxo for only 1.60 eur, a good price anywhere. We all picked out our selection and each a glass of Basque rose wine. For myself, three pintxos of a corned beef/ham, mixed crab in sauce, and roast peppers on a type of fish. We had discussed our wine order with an elder patron of the bar. He spent a long time talking with the Polish girl and eventually bought all of us a bottle of the same wine we ordered. Basque country hospitality at its finest! Of course, the pintxos were amazing. As I have said in the past, my guidebook is never wrong.

Pintxos!

Good luck....

After figuring out the bathroom signs written in Basque, we returned back to the Guggenheim museum for our tour. The self guided tour was accompanied by an individual audioguide. The museum, actually, is more renowned by art critics for the building and not the actual art collection. In collaboration with the Guggenheim collection, the museum works rotate among other museums. The only permanent collection is housed in the largest exhibition space; a collection of room-sized steel structures. Much like a monument park, the artist encourages people to walk inside the large steel shapes, titled "Matter of Time." To certainly not my surprise  the collection is sponsored by ArcelorMittal, an American steel company.

Inside the museum

"Matter of Time" structures 

Mock up of the structures

The other galleries feature mainly contemporary or modern art. The largest collection was of European art created before, during, and after WWII, including pieces by Picasso (having lived in Nazi-occupied Paris). I mainly wandered the galleries on my own, occasionally encountering another student. On this particular day many French high school students were visiting the museum.

Art of LED text on columns 

I checked my printed itinerary about when to leave. Our departure time was for 5:30 pm on our guide, though I did remember something about a change of departure, but was not sure. I used my excess time to wander around the museum exterior. At the main entrance stands the over-sized "Puppy," a dog made of flowers, in full bloom for this time of year. I walked down a nearby bridge for some more photos.

Puppy

The ship resembling exterior

At this time, I started receiving calls from unknown numbers. They were from the ESN officers, asking where the heck I was! Apparently, they had told us a 5:00 pm departure and written 5:30 pm by mistake. I got to the bus by 5:25 pm by running. Greeted by the stares of my seated companions and applause as I approached my friends, I was relieved to take my seat in the back of the bus.

In another two hours we arrived in San Sebastian. This coastal city would be our home for the majority of the trip. By this time, the clouds had firmly set in; we appreciated our luck in getting such 'nice' weather. Following the Urmela river into the Old Town of San Sebastian, we exited the bus and found our hostel. Room arrangements were made on the bus; my roommates were my friend Dario, Mark, a German guy, a Thai guy, and a Finnish girl.
I met up with the lunch group for a walk around the city. Our hostel was near the Mont Urgull, one of the highest points of the town with a historic defensive castle at the top. We walked around the base of the Mont, right on the ocean. We were weary of the breakwater walls, with water waves occasionally falling on our elevated sidewalk. We passed through the port area of the city, stopping briefly at a bar for a beer and sandwich (salmon!) for 1.5 eur.
Dinner was included in our trip. With a light rain settling in, the ESN organizers ordered taxis to drive everyone across town to the restaurant, though we had to pay the fare. As I have complained about ESN organized meals in the past (see: Barcelona), I will fully say our meal that evening was good and representative of the region. Given sufficient bottles of wine and water for each table, we were all served individual dishes of seafood paella. Already filling, another fish dish was next. Completely full, I nibbled on the desert cake. All very good, and very filling. Some drinks at a bar completed the evening.


Next day. Sunny. 70 F. San Sebastian. Beach.

Let's do this!

The only item on our itinerary that day was a guided tour of the city. We first drove around the city in our bus, with our tour guide pointing out the Kursaal convention center, surfing beach, Urmela river, Santa Clara island, and mount Igeldo overlooking the city from the west. The bus drove along the La Concha beach, regarded as one of the nicest in Spain. Sweet. As we noticed, the tour guide explained that youth league soccer matches are held on the beach in the morning low tide. Among the dozen matches being held, we even saw one team score a goal.

The contemporary Kursall contention center

We got off at the base of Mount Igeldo and followed a beach walk to the end. There at a viewing area for the ocean stood metal statues. We all took group photos here.

After the tour, the whole day was ours. Meeting up with my regular group, food was the obvious priority. Good news: San Sebastián is the culinary capital of the Basque Country! Following my guidebook (never wrong...), we found the best pintxos bar in the old town: Goiz-Argi. Given the track record of my book, it was amazing. We ordered three rounds of pintxos, mainly the grilled shrimp ('gambas'). We all agreed they were great. Following the locals, we ate while standing on the sidewalk, enjoying the weather. I promised myself to eat at more than one place, finding another recommended bar nearby even as everyone else was full. There, at Borda-Berri, I had a goat cheese and plum pintxo for a sweeter conclusion to lunch.

So good!

Feeling like a walk, we decided to walk up the Mount Urgull. The direct route up didn't take too long, but was a little tiring. The tree-covered path provided shade and views toward the city center and beach. We found a number of viewing areas along the way, where many pictures were taken. Locals were also out, enjoying picnics on grass covered areas in full sun. We made our way to the castle at the top. Entrance to the museum was free and allowed access to the castle top, featuring a prominent statue of Jesus, visible from almost anywhere in the city below. Many more photos were taken here.

Castle at the top of the hill

Exiting, we found a viewing area facing the ocean. We all took turns posing on a small stone overhang, with little to protect any of us from a nasty fall into the ocean below. Even as a pilot, I am very afraid of unprotected heights!

After our viewing excursion, there was only one thing on our minds: Beach! Leaving the girls behind (who wanted to explore more of the city), Dario, Mark, and I set off for the beach. Borrowing Mark's extra swimsuit (thanks!), we walked to La Concha.

Normally, I never describe myself as a beach person. Then again, I'm mostly used to Lake Michigan beaches in unbearably humid July weather. This time, I was at a real beach. Clean white sand. No rocks. Clear water. Spectacular views. Hundreds of people. And not to mention the nearly perfect weather (ok... it was perfect!).
We staked out a spot with our towel, and proceeded to jump right into the water. Thankfully, we found some other students from the group and left our stuff more securely with them. Some of us went for a jog along the whole beach (chariots of fire style), admiring the beach and other 'views.' Locals were out sunbathing, playing volleyball, kicking soccer balls around, and just having fun. Little children were also running around, some completely naked. At least two sand castle pros were applying their trade near the back of the beach, away from encroaching tides that had significantly reduced the beach size since morning.
Inspired by the locals, we borrowed an otherwise unused soccer ball from a woman. We collected students from our group and played 'monkey in the middle,' where you kick the ball around to avoid the 'monkey' from touching. I got a chance to show off my soccer skills (not) and held my own in the friendly competition. This went on for more than an hour.
After lounging on my towel and getting some sun, some of us walked up and down the whole beach again. It gave us an opportunity to really appreciate the beauty of our surroundings one more time. Undoubtedly, one of the nicest beaches I have visited ever.
With the sun getting low in the sky, we agreed it was time to pack up. We walked back to the hostel (barefoot) and stopped for ice cream along the way. Near the main avenue was some outdoor concert; the music was some flamenco and hip hop combo. For whatever the occasion, the street was filled with people and we decided to follow the avenue as a detour to the hostel.
We were left on our own for dinner. Rejoining the group after the beach visit, we went back tour favorite pintxos place Goiz-Argi from earlier. Splitting the preferred shrimp pintxo again, I also went to another place across the street to at least get another opinion. Still, Goiz-Argi was the best.
To complement our dinner, some Basque wine (same offered at Goiz-Argi)  and sandwich ingredients purchased from a grocery nearby.

Sunday was out departure. For many, this meant recovery from some drinking the night before. One last brief walk through the nearly empty old town was in order before we left on the bus.
We had one stop left on our trip: the small city of Burgos. On the outskirts of the greater Madrid area, Burgos is a small city known for only one thing: the cathedral. Once again, we went to visit another cathedral. A small group of us went to find lunch first. Without even a section in my most-excellent guidebook, we were truly on our own for lunch, we eventually found a small restaurant with outdoor seating near the plaza mayor. For some reason our waiter seemed not to understand our Spanish, and we had some good Spanish speakers among us. The owner served us instead and we received more prompt service. He also helped us split the bill among each of us, requiring extra attention and time to write the separate bills. As we negotiated the food orders at the counter, we encountered a Spanish couple who helped us with our Spanish to get the order straight. The woman then asked us (in Spanish) if we were part of the Santiago de Compostela, the famous religious pilgrimage that passes through Burgos. Known as 'The Way' the pilgrimage spans all of northern Spain, attracting thousands over the course of the year,

Plaza Mayor of Burgos

Main avenue in Burgos (FYI my camera ran out of battery here)

Next, the cathedral. With the entrance fee, an audio guide was included. The side entrance where the self guided tour began was modest by most standards. Entering, we we immediately greeted by the seemingly frigid interior temperature. Above 80 F and sunny outside, this was quite a shock. Beyond the usual cathedral traits, this church was more 'cramped' in a sense sincerely there were no wide open spaces. Each chapel was beautifully decorated, but even the main church and altar area was smaller than one would expect. By contrast, the whole cathedral complex is very large. My favorite distinct feature of the cathedral was the clock bells inside the church. Hearing them chime the hour, the bells are rung by the mechanical lever of a mannequin statue with an opening mouth. Almost had a Disney like quality, except the cathedral was built hundreds of years ago. Following the route to the cloister, we enjoyed the open windows overlooking the courtyard. Most importantly, we enjoyed the warm breezes and sunlight from outside. We finished outside with a view of the main entrance, enhanced by the main bell towers.
Though it is hard to point out new distinct features of the cathedrals I've visited, this cathedral could crack my top 10 favorites by being so out of the way and, really, the only significant thing in the city.
Finding a washroom in a parking garage (I only mention because it was nice... and in a parking garage) we returned to the bus. Arriving a little early, the ESN coordinators gave me a big hug given my previous incident of being late. Before we left, some of the other travelers asked amusingly if 'Miguel Frances' was here. With such a large group, I will give them the benefit that they probably didn't know me from the beginning.
Still a few hours from Madrid, we watched the movie 'Limitless' on the bus, only in Spanish and no English subtitles.
With the sun getting lower, the countryside was just as beautiful. A vast improvement over central Indiana any day.
We returned to Madrid with enough light outside.

Overall, ESN trips have always proved interesting, both for sights seen and the oddities of traveling with dozens of other students. Going with my best friend Dario and meeting others made the trip worth everything. Cross off the famous Guggenheim museum and one of the best beaches in he world; how could the trip have been bad? Combined with the Barcelona trip, the ESN trips go down as my favorites in all of Spain!


 PS: Here are some more random pictures from San Sebastian!

"Looks like I'll have to jump!"