Home of the Guggenheim museum, Arantxa and I spent a rainy day in Bilbao. Bilbao is the “capitol” of the Basque Country in northern Spain, pretty much just known for it’s cuisine. After a three hour bus ride from Pamplona we arrived in the port city. Dying for a cup of coffee (as usual) we scattered to a cute cafe and watched the time fly by. With every rain drop that fell from the sky, Arantxa and I each had something to say– in other words, we both like to talk, a lot. A few hours later we realized we should buy our bus tickets home before it’s too late. We realized that too late… The machine to buy tickets said they were sold out and there was nobody at the station who would be kind enough to help us. So, being the millennials that we are, we waited a few hours for our phones to load. Eventually I found some pretty expensive tickets that would get us home *sigh of relief.* Since the majority of our day had been quickly consumed by the bus station and the coffee shop, we were hungry for lunch. It being mid saints week, all the restaurants were shut down. Except for one, that our stomachs led us into before our eyes could react to the elegance of the place. We sat, ordered, and melted. The food was absolutely, mouth-wateringly delightful. I ordered the cod on top of potatoes while Arantxa opted for the lighter option, pea soup. We were both pleasantly surprised that the food was something we could actually spare from our pockets. This lifted our spirits after the annoying bus debacle.
With only a few hours to spare, we came to a mutual decision that we must go to the Guggenheim museum. We enjoyed our stroll over there as we went full out tourist: taking photos, pointing at stuff, and using google maps. The price for us to enter was 10 euros each, the student fare. And we got every euro worth as we were there for three and a half hours and tirelessly read every exhibit. However, my favorite part of the museum wasn’t any exhibit at all, but the architecture. I could have sat and stared in awe of that edifice for ages. I was astonished how the inside felt like a movement with pieces going in all different directions while simultaneously being perfectly still and peaceful. Individually it felt as if the pieces of the building shouldn’t have looked good together, but when absorbed all at once, it was a display of carefully manipulated art. It. was. astonishing.
We checked the time and suddenly had to run back to the bus station to make it just in time for loading, phew!
While in Bilbao we wanted to go to a place called Gaztelugatxe to do a little hike but we didn’t have enough time. Fortunately we were able to go back a few days later with Arantxa’s parents. I highly recommend this location. While it was touristy, the view was most definitely worth it after having to shove past some a few selfies and maps. It is a long staircase that leads you to a church, it is also where they filmed a scene of Game of Thrones (which explains all the tourists).
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