Sleeping in the airport sucked. BUT, cost me NOTHING to get there because I took the Metro, essentially saving me about 30 Euros for a taxi. So it was worth it.
Speaking of, and I may have said this before, but the US REALLY needs to get it's public transportation act together. I'm kind of embarrassed for us. There should be an easier way to get to major airports. Or at least not confusing.
Because let me tell you...I was NERVOUS to make this trip on my own. Like, super super nervous. But I got to the airport ok, checked in ok (for some reason, the Iberia self check-in machines did not like my debit card either way, so I had to talk to someone both times...glad I got there ridiculously early!), hung out...got on the plane fine (Spain airports apparently don't tell you what gate you are leaving from until like half an hour to an hour before...frustrating), landed in Bilbao.
Now, I had directions how to get to the hostel. So I took the bus, and I explained to the bus driver I needed to get to a Metro station. He tried to be so helpful, but I guess the Basque folk don't realize how slow they need to talk to us American folk, so I just kind of smiled and nodded, knew that he knew where I needed to be, and just hoped he'd help. And he did. He stopped the bus at a really easy spot, and pointed to the station, told me what direction to go, and off I went. Got on the Metro, got off the metro, got lost about three times, ended up on the opposite side of where I needed to be, but found the hostel eventually lol. A little further from the metro stop than I expected, but overall, it was good. And quite frankly, everyone is SO helpful when you ask for directions in Spain. Love it. The lady at the pharmacy (2nd person i talked to) made a copy of a map from the phone book, which saved my butt hardcore. Definitely going to print a map before I go anywhere next time, the google map directions didn't work so hot for me.
Called Austin and hopped on the metro towards Gexto, where he lives. UGGH, I am SO grateful to Austin for hanging out with me this weekend. I just needed to get away from Madrid for a little bit, and talk to a theatre friend/friend from Idaho, and I've known this kid since my freshman year. It was awesome getting to vent about our troubles here in Spain, talk a lot about the department, and just have a conversation with someone we knew. Seriously. It was just fantastic. Makes me super stoked for November when I'll get to go hang out with Kimbre in Paris, and Austin's going to come down to Madrid for a few days, too.
Now, pictures:
The bridge that carries cars and trucks across the river...like, a sky ferry:
We walked along the river towards the ocean...there was a dinosaur park, too:
The houses were beautiful. And I was SOOOOO excited to see the ocean!!!
We went to find food...and let me tell you, the Basque know how to do this. They have tapas. Kind of. They are called Pintxos (Peen-chos), which are like SO MUCH BETTER than tapas!!!! Well, at least I like them better. Here is my friend Austin with our pintxos:
Pretty much pintxos are what I expected tapas to be. They are a piece of bread (or a small sandwich...super small) with stuff on top. My favorites were a salmon/egg salad one, jamon, and one with meat and brie on it. They love their brie up north. OM NOMS!!! But the thing I REALLY like is they just have all their pinxtos out on the bar, and you can just point a pick a few, so you know what you're getting. Unlike tapas, where you just have to hope you translated everything right! Plus, they're super cheap and fairly filling, so 3 of them is a decent meal for me. Plus a glass of wine. :-)
We went to the Guggenheim later that day, because let's be honest...as pretty as Bilbao is, there's not much more to do there than go to the Gugg. Here's the dog out front. And yes...the way they water it, it looks like it's drooling. Lol.
They were doing an Anish Kapoor exhibit, so that was kind of cool, though not my favorite. My favorite piece that I snuck a picture of (sssh!) was "The Matter of Time" by Richard Serra. They gave us those special listening things when we went in, and he just had some really interesting things to say on the piece, and how our bodies react to different materials, and that's why it's important for sculptors to be aware of that:
(Here's some more info on it: "The Matter of Time"
These are some outside sculptures:
And after the Guggenheim, we just walked along the river for a bit:
And here's (kind of) what the Guggenheim looks like on the outside:
We walked around town for a little bit:
(Proof that Claire's IS taking over the world...I saw another one in San Sebastian!! :-\) (But, on another note, there are NO starbucks' in Bilbao!!)
Had a couple glasses of wine at a cafe...this was the Basque wine Carrie suggested I try (txakoli). Luckily Austin knew the name of it, cuz I sure was blanking:
We found these pastries...they were filled with meringue...of course we had to split one:
And this is what the hostel looked like inside (I tried to not be creepy, there was someone sleeping, so the pictures aren't super great)...and I was in the Owl room, so I took a picture of the Owl for Em, too:
And that ends Day One in Bilbao!! Day Two: San Sebastian. See next post. Lol.
That pastry was SO GOOD.
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes it was. :-)
ReplyDelete