Bilbao, Spain

Flag of Bilbao

2nd August

Having spent two weeks in the UK I am off to Spain, starting in the north-west, in the city of Bilbao. There are a number of reasons why I chose to start my Europe trip here but in a nut shell the Basque region has always had a draw for me.

• I have never been to Spain and felt it would be an appropriate start to this part of my trip as it was an integral part of my original 1974 / 75 travel plans.

• 

  Map of northern Spain & Bilbao
  

  I was drawn to the fact that a Guggenheim Museum was built in this region. 
• The people of the Basque Region here are somewhat unique with regards to their language in that their language, Euskara, is a language-isolate and is the last such language-isolate in Europe, and as an amateur historian this certainly arouses my interest.
  (A language isolate is unrelated to any others, which makes it the only language in its own language family. It is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationships—one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other existing or ancient language - Wikipedia)
  
• My late father once traveled there on business in the early 70s on behalf of the government of the country he was living in. He always spoke with fondness of his short time in Bilbao. He never explained what he was doing there.

Visits to foreign places normally have three outcomes. You see those places you planed to visit, those places you actually visit, and those places you discover by fortunately accident along the way.

Three comments about Bilbao. The first is the cleanliness of the city. Hardly see any rubbish on the ground. Reminds me of Perth back in the 80s. Second is the amount of people who smoke. Young and old. Health does not appear to be a priority here.

Third comment relates to bank or toilets. Public toilets are few and far between. And those that exist are disguised apparently. A very young lady at a vet clinic allowed me to use their facilities, other wise I would have been in dead serious trouble. Once again my trusty walking stick, grey hair and magnetic personality worked wonders.

1st August

Because Gatwick is some distance from Holborn and that my flight to Bilbao is 8:30am, I took my sister's advice and booked a bed & breakfast near the airport. It was very good advice. After all, airports in the UK and in Europe are a mess currently and luggage is piling up like mountains in the halls, as well as flights being cancelled, being delayed, and the mass of American & European humanity looking for a holiday, somewhere, anywhere.

2nd August

So I am starting the Spanish part of my journey by flying into Bilbao from London. The view of the mountains, as the plane starts to land, is stupendous. The bus ride from the airport to the city is eye opening, especially as the curves of the Guggenheim burst into view.

Having found my lodgings, with a lot of difficulty, I find that I am staying in a very old yet local and central part of the city. So full of street life. Hardly anyone here speaks English yet it has a familiar feel about.

My first impressions of Bilbao: coming in to land from London, the mountains are a stand out. They present an amazing backdrop to the city. Basically they took my breath away. The estuary runs through the city and is naturally deep cut. The bridges of Bilbao are famous and sore feet or not, I intend walking the bridges.

At 2pm many specialised shops were closing so I have assumed that it is akin to siesta time. Haven't experienced that since 1974 when I visited Israel, and they no longer do it.

The temperature is in the low 30s, like an average summer day in Perth. There is no humidity reported yet it feels a bit sticky; but for a Perthite it is a reminder of home. 

I am sitting in the ever shifting shade of a large sun umbrella, by the side of a plaza (Plaza Barria), in Spanish, or an enparantza, in Basque language,  drinking a Spanish beer called Mahou Sin and if my google translator worked well it should have been a light beer. 

So far almost everything I have done here costs €3 a time - the bus from the airport, and now the beer. One thing that was relatively cheap was the bottle of water I purchased from an elderly woman who looked like she would have been more at home far away from Spain, but she seemed to speak the local lingo well. Each of us struggled to make ourselves understood. And here in Bilbao, English does not rule the waves.

I found a supermarket with such low prices for almost everything. Beers were about a dollar as were many things. Even a large 1.5 litre bottle of water only cost about 75 au cents. I have since discovered that this particular shop is well known for its relatively low prices.

One thing I have noticed only 2-3 hours into this part of Spain. That is how the locals respond to a walking stick. In London, Oxford or Cambridge young and middle aged people jump up on trains and buses at the sight of a stick and offer seats, but here,so far, they are immune as to why someone may be using a stick. Almost to the point of being rude. 

Late afternoon and I have decided to have an expresso and being in Spain, I also ordered churros. I could only eat four out of the 6 they put on the plate. The chocolate dip sauce was so thick that it was difficult to eat more than just a little because of it's richness

The architecture is interesting. I will have a lot to comment on this once I get my camera out.

3rd August 

I spent three hours in the Guggenheim museum. What an experience. I would recommend it to anyone to take the time to come to this edge of the world. My Guggenheim museum blog covers what I experienced, but below I am posting pictures of what I saw getting there & back ( by foot mind you)

Very strange swastika symbols on pottery but have also seen them as decorations on cakes.

I have seen these perculiar ramp like 'things' on the side of stairs.

I have finally realised what they are and for

So, should I climb it, was a question for a younger man in younger man clothes. The question now is do I have the koach to make it. Well the answer is yes because I did but only because of my walking stick

4th August 

Having very strong black coffee in a coffee shop/ bar just off the plaza. Honestly I don't think I have ever had coffee this strong in my life. But it is good. 

The food they eat here seems to be the same whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner. The tapas is so full of fat when there is meat, or filled with ingredients I neither recognise nor understand.

Just been video chatting to tash up in the Pilbara. She sent me a screenshot of us charting. I really love technology.

Neat my new hotel. Noticed a big arena and a smiling bull on it and the word Toro, which as we all know is Spanish for Bull. So Bullfighting Ring

When I finished at the Guggenheim Museum yesterday I forgot to take a shot of the dog. So I went back today, after my visit to the Fine Arts Gallery, to take a quick shot.

 Looking at Google maps I suddenly noticed a restaurant called 'Crazy Hourse'. 

I made a detour and ended up having a rib eye steak chips and red peppers for lunch with an amazing beer name after All Hambra, way down south in Grenada.

Why a. I talking about a steak& chips when I am from Australia? Two reasons. This is the first proper meal have had in Spain. I have been eating fried Calamari but have really tired of that as a substitute mean; and the second is their price structure. For 11€ you can get a burger with no fries, yet for 13€ you can get the steak. Ontoday's exchange rate it onley cost me 25$. And for those of you with sharp eyes, don't worry. I removed all the fat before I eat it.

Location of my hotel

My accommodation in Bilbao:

• Pensión de la Fuente: (3 nights)
  Kapelagile Kalea, 2, 48005 Bilbo, Bizkaia .

This hotel was the very first accommodation I booked for this whole trip. In retrospect I most probably would have looked for a somewhat more upmarket room (like a 2 star)  but I am not buying it, just renting it for three nights so as long as it does not leak I am sure it will be fine.

And this Pension also proves the old adage, you get what you pay for, LoL it's only 3 nights, and what the heck.  But what a job to initially find it. It appears, and I could be wrong, that each side of a street has different names. Strange custom but who am to object. I phone for directions but no-one spoke English. I asked a local shop keeper with bad english to phone and that was a disaster but by the end of the phone call it was mentioned that the Pension had red on its outside walls and she then was able to direct me.

Now to describe the hotel in more detail. 

This was the first place I booked and not fully knowing the budget I went for price over substance. In a polite manner I would best describe it as basic, very basic. The air con works very well, that is when I open the window to let the 2 klm/ day breeze blow through. On the up side I got a changed bath towel this morning, and they made my bed, and emptied out the rubbish. 

Mel & I once had a room on the 20th floor of a high rise in Kow Loon in Hong Kong. To use the shower one had to almost stand on the toilet seat. Now that was luxury compared to here. Without realising it I took a room with shared facilities. Would I describe this pension as nice & quiet? Well to describe the soundproofing of the walls, I mean the paper thin walls all I can do is quote the great Paul Simon - "couple in the next room bound to win a prize, they've been going at it all night long" I've been waiting for his or her head to come bursting through the paper thin walls, when they get real excited. I'm dying to look at whose ever head it's is and greet them with a 'Hola', after all, I am in Spain.

4th August

Well. Last night was the proverbial last straw. The owner/ manager was talking on the phone between about 10:30 and possibly after midnight. Sorry, did I say talking? He was screaming on the phone at the top of his voice to someone. It was quite humid last night anyway, but the incessant noise made it impossible to sleep. This no way to run a hotel, even a 1 star hotel. I woke about 6am and even though today is my last night here I booked a better hotel on the other side of the estuary. With its own bathroom. And without the noise 😁 

I also changed my bus to Madrid. I am now leaving at 8am on Saturday morning. My original idea of doing an overnighter seemed like a good idea at the time, but I would have been exhausted.

So, new 2* hotel but it's like a 5 star compared to the other place. 

And it's sort of not too far from the bus station, with the advantage that it's in theory all down hill 

I just need to find somewhere to eat tonight. While wandering the local area I suddenly spied a smiling bull. Is this a Bullfighting Ring?

5th August

Today is my last full day in Bilbao. There are two items on my list I have yet to tick off. The Museum of Fine Arts that is located adjacent to the Guggenheim, and a cruise along the estuary. The weather is overcast and definately not as warm as previous days.

A point of historical interest

Officially there are no Jews in Bilbao or in the Basque country and there have not been since 1492 (understandable) but apparently there are many hidden Jews (the Marranos) living here. 

I cannot say, one way or the other, but I found an interesting link https://tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/jews-of-the-basque-frommerluxetravel