The last time I wrote something was almost a week and a half ago (I hope everyone’s enjoyed the pictures in the meantime) when I was preparing to go to a barbecue put on by some friends of our hostess in Toledo. It was a short drive to a suburb of Madrid and we were overwhelmed with the kindness – and TONS of food – showed by Patricia’s friends. We hung out there for a while before heading back to Toledo (while Patricia and some of her friends went to Madrid for a night out on the town) to catch up with Vania. We met up at O’Briens, an Irish bar that she and Rob frequented during their study-abroad program in Toledo, and then hit a new place called Explorer’s where we ran into Salud, Victor, & Jake. We had a great night and found our way back to the apartment around 4am – just in time to catch some sleep before getting up early on Sunday to get Vania to the airport.
Despite leaving a little bit later than anticipated we got Vania on her way to Barajas so she could fly back to Rome – a short 2-hour flight – and then Rob and I headed into Madrid to check out some museums, which are free on Sundays! We checked out the Reina Sofia where I got to see Guernica by Picasso (a great exhibit that had all of his sketches leading up to the final work), then to the Caixa Forum which has a vertical garden that was really awesome to see. The lines at the Prado were super long so we passed and checked out the Royal Botanical Gardens (Real Jardín Botánico) before heading back to Toledo for the last night. Patricia, Sussy, and Luisa took us to enjoy the sights and food of the feria in a suburb of Toledo, where we all enjoyed people-watching, eating baked potatoes, and watching some awesome fireworks. It was a great opportunity to take in the culture of the summer fair that is so prevalent across Spain – really cool to see how the week-long festivities really unite the different communities. We reminisced about the week before heading back to say goodbye to Toledo.
Early on the 29th – a week ago today, ha! – we made our way from Toledo to Madrid and then on to Burgos, up on the north side of the Castilla-Leon province. It was recommended to me by Brett and the city turned out to be really cool. The cathedral, no doubt the centerpiece of the city, was really beautiful on the inside and had a great exhibit on its evolution over the ages (it was built in the 1200) from a small chapel to the enormous gothic/neogothic structure it is today. We checked out an overlook of the city up near the castle (which was not the coolest castle I’ve seen on the trip – didn’t spend the 5 euro to go in) before meandering back through the city. Burgos was also celebrating its feria and the streets were packed with people dining along the river, enjoying street acts, and just relaxing. And, just like in Toledo, there were more fireworks! Though only one night was spent there, Burgos seemed like a really cool place – a big thanks to Brett for the recommendation!
The next morning it was off to Bilbao, in the heart of Basque country! Bilbao is probably most famous for the Guggenheim Museum building which was designed by American architect Frank Gehry – the silvery walls of the building undulate and curve around the river banks – it was awesome to walk around! I made the mistake of wearing my Spanish national team soccer jersey, and being that the Basques are sometimes intense about their desire for independence from Spain (much like Catalunya and Barcelona) I had a few angry shouts directed at me. Needless to say I found a cheap clothes store and bought a 6euro t-shirt, ditching the Spain jersey into my bag as to not create some other sort of altercation! We checked out the Guggenheim, as well as another Calatrava bridge (!!!) as we walked along the river. After walking around Bilbao for a while longer, a city which turned out to be far less industrial and far more culturally rich than expected, we headed to the town of Guernica, about a 40 minute train ride north of Bilbao. The Basques are so independent of the Spanish that they have their own train – the Euskotren – which is a narrow-gauge line that connects most of the major Basque cities – it was a fun ride!
Guernica was neat to see, though its reputation for the destruction that befell it during WWII is not noticeable in the least. We checked out the Guernica oak, a tree symbolizing the traditional freedoms desired for the Biscayan people, as well as a full-size, ceramic model of Guernica before heading back to Bilbao. We strolled along the river back to the bus station, enjoying the sunset playing off the Guggenheim, and caught the bus to San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque). Walking up to the hostel in the old city of San Sebastian at night was a little intense as we were shocked to find that, on a Tuesday night, the old city’s tiny streets were packed with people dodging in and out of bars, most of whom were English speaking – apparently the city is a huge tourist destination for Brits and Aussies (probably Kiwis, too).
On Wednesday, July 1st (sometimes it’s good to remember what day it was in order to give the recollection a better chronology) we checked out San Sebastian, but not before taking another Euskotren across the border into France to check on taking a train from Hendaye, the French border town, to Paris on the following day. The rest of the day was spent walking around the beaches and taking a funicular up to a peak overlooking the city to take in the view. The city is surprising for where it’s located on the northern coast of Spain, very close to France, as it feels far more Caribbean than Iberian – there are tons of surf shops and other beach retailers, plus it seemed like everyone and their brother was enjoying being on the beach on a midweek afternoon. Like Bilbao, the Basque element is big in San Sebastian, and it was fun to see all the signs written in Spanish, Basque, & English. It was a neat coastal city, much like Lisbon, with a lot of different cultural influences that seemed to make it unique.
Thursday brought an early start, around 5:30am, in order to catch the Euskotren over to Hendaye so that we could catch the TGV to Paris! I’ll pick up from there in my next post!
Until very soon,
Cheers,
Sam
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