We are heading to Northern Spain and finally getting to see San Sebastián which has certainly been on Shane’s list for a long time. We fly to Bilbao, considered the capital of Basque Country, and enjoy an intro to the world of Pinxtos!
We are staying in a guest room in an apartment that’s very central to all the action and once we’ve met our very chatty host Sonia, and get settled in our room, we head to a bar for a glass of Txakoli (kinda sounds like chocolate) and our first Pinxto!
This is the life! The ham is fantastic, the wine is fabulous and the price is cheap! They also have the European athletics on tv and I get to see the amazing Rhasidat Adeleke win a silver medal for Ireland. Woo hoo!!!
Next door is Bar Ledesma… now their array of Pintxos looks amazing…. Another glass of delicious white wine and this time we try the tortilla and some gilda (pickles, olive and an anchovy on bread) -Yum!
We go for a wander to the river and check out the sculpture in front of City Hall.
A couple more bars and a couple more pinxtos before we call it a night!!! We move onto the red here… ooh it’s so good and all of €2.40 a glass!
So many bars and so many pinxtos… we’ve done well for our first night!!
We have booked tickets for the Guggenheim which I’m excited to visit. About twenty years ago I visited the Guggenheim in New York City so I’m interested to compare. So next morning, we set off with umbrellas in the rain and admire the building from outside, as much as you can in the rain!!
We see the giant “Puppy” which is very cool.
There are lots of puddles as we walk around the very large Guggenheim but it has to be done…. I like the giant spider sculpture, named Maman (as a tribute to the artists mother), sitting alongside the river outside.
At the allocated time for our tickets, we head inside this gigantic building and explore three floors of art – modern art, so not always my cup of tea but we do see some interesting stuff.
We walk around “The Matter of Time”, a permanent installation by Richard Serra. The structures are made of eight gigantic pieces of weathering steel and are shaped into curves.
It’s still raining when we come outside so we take the tram to the famous Ribera market. It’s nearly 2pm so a lot of the market stalls are closing up but the meat and fish counters we see are very impressive. It’s the largest covered market in Europe. The Gastro plaza seems too busy and chaotic to queue for pinxtos that we can get more comfortably in a bar so we leave here and walk into the old town. We find a “Menu Del Dia” and have a delightful 3 course meal, with a bottle of wine plus bread (of course!) for €14 each! Happy days!
Casco Viejo, the medieval old quarter, is located alongside the Nervion river. We walk around the streets which are quiet due do the rain and it’s also siesta time. We see the cathedral which I would normally go into but we are a bit wet and tired and also it’s €10!!
Instead we visit Plaza Nuevo and enjoy the views of the city from the bridge, before heading back for a rest.
Later in the evening we go to Bar Iruna, which is a really old school bar where they pour cider from a height!
Surprise surprise they also have some amazing pinxtos!
Next up is Bar Atseden for more yumminess!!
Next morning it’s time to leave Bilbao and take the train to San Sebastián. It’s a fairly long train journey of just under 3 hours, on a train that is like a DART, that goes all the way to France!! It’s pleasant though and there’s a toilet on board and we’ve brought a banana and a nectarine so we survive!! The scenery along the way is beautiful.
See Part II for San Sebastián!
odohertyelaine 