Bilbao is for Guggenheim, at least that was the main reason we are going there. The Guggenheim is a wonderful, ultra-modern, waterfront museum with a welcoming, immense, ever-growing topiary puppy (thank you artist, Jeff Koons) in the entry and bright, shiny & color metal tulips and a gigantic spider sculpture on the exit (thank you, Louise Bourgeois). The museum was designed by architect Frank Gehry who said that when he designed the building he just started drawing, free-flowing, with his pencil never leaving the paper. The result is an exterior of curved golden metal walls complemented by large, angular sweeps of glass. The interior has large gallery rooms for displaying large installations of modern art such the more than 100 canvas panels known as "Shadows" by Andy Warhol; Louise Bourgeois' "Structures of Existence: The Cells" (rooms created by a series of doors or metal enclosures within which she places sculptured figures or body parts with furniture and items common in our lives, but uncommon in placement, and of course, the Spider); and Richard Serra's " The Matter of Time" (8 large sculptures of weathered steel which transforms the spectator to a participant by inviting them to walk through small winding corridors within spirals and double ellipses).
San Sebastián is for food, particularly the pinxtos (pronounced "pinch-os"). We stayed 2 nights in a small pension in the old town and had street after street of wonderful pinxtos bars right around the corner. Pinxtos are to northern Spain what tapas are to the rest of Spain, except these creations are small works of art with bread, egg, mayonnaise, sardines, anchovies, octopus, salted cod, salmon, ham, and cheese featured in various, beautiful combinations. They are served with wine or cider, generally in small, crowded, loud, friendly bars with people from many countries ordering by pointing at the buffet of pinxtos lining the counters. Sharing is common and the fun of discovery invites conversation with your neighbor at the bar. Since restaurants don't open until 8:30 pm it is not unusual for the tourists to sample pinxtos for a late lunch and continue right through the evening, while the locals seem to have pinxtos for a light social lunch or after work, but dine in the restaurants (away from the tourists) about 9PM or later. Whereas Lisbon, Porto, Madrid, and other cities we've visited have felt very medieval, San Sebastián has a very vibrant, cosmopolitan feel about it.
SS also has a beautiful bay and beaches, one area relatively calm and another area with rolling waves crowded with surfers who seem to catch the wave, only to dive off into the foam. We spent our last afternoon enjoying the beach, walking along the surf line and playing in the water (Cee running in & out of the water, jumping the waves) and then, of course, it was off to find more pinxtos. San Sebastián is on the Camino de Santiago ("Way of St.James"), a pilgrimage route which extends from France to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela a bit southwest of us. I think if I were on that original pilgrimage, I would have stopped & stayed in San Sebastián, enough heaven for me.
Our last night in San Sebastián, we ate with the locals in restaurant Alderdi Zahar, the 3 of us sharing Monk fish, a very firm white fish which covered a dinner plate; clams; and vegetables , namely steamed artichoke hearts, leeks, and thistle with roasted garlic, all cooked to a very soft consistency, apparently just like the locals enjoy it. Dinner was accompanied by a wonderful Spanish red wine and we may have finished with dessert, I just can't remember. Then it was off to bed for the GMA while the youngsters went back to the pinxtos bars to dance & engage with other tourists from the UK & Germany.
Next stop: Zaragoza, to see a couple of the cathedrals. The train travel between San Sebastián and Pamplona reveals dramatic scenery with high sandstone mesas, deep green, lush valleys, and winding creeks and rivers. Unfortunately, after Pamplona (about midway through the 3-hr train trip) the scenery flattens out and the land becomes dry, with short grasses and scattered industry. Not so pretty.
Zaragoza is a big city, larger than anticipated. Fortunately, our hotel is located in the historical district so once again the Fitbit is happy as we walk to the cathedrals and to the palace and through the shopping district, stopping for lunch on the square and later for gelato. Lunch consisted of a vegetable plate, meat plate, and a pizza. In Spain they love their tuna & mayonnaise & there were options for this as part of a pizza. We restrained ourselves & opted for oregano, cheese, tomatoes, and pancetta, a little more Americanized and a lot more palatable for at least one of us.
As it happened we were in Zaragoza on some sort of a holiday, where weddings and other religious confirmations were taking place at the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, reportedly the first church in history to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. According to local beliefs, not long after the resurrection of Jesus, St. James was becoming disheartened while preaching the gospel in Spain, feeling his mission was failing. On 2 Jan 40, Mary appeared to him, and as mother's do admonished him to get his act together, giving him a small wooden statue of herself and a branch of jasper and instructed him to build a church in her honor. And so he did.
San Sebastián is for food, particularly the pinxtos (pronounced "pinch-os"). We stayed 2 nights in a small pension in the old town and had street after street of wonderful pinxtos bars right around the corner. Pinxtos are to northern Spain what tapas are to the rest of Spain, except these creations are small works of art with bread, egg, mayonnaise, sardines, anchovies, octopus, salted cod, salmon, ham, and cheese featured in various, beautiful combinations. They are served with wine or cider, generally in small, crowded, loud, friendly bars with people from many countries ordering by pointing at the buffet of pinxtos lining the counters. Sharing is common and the fun of discovery invites conversation with your neighbor at the bar. Since restaurants don't open until 8:30 pm it is not unusual for the tourists to sample pinxtos for a late lunch and continue right through the evening, while the locals seem to have pinxtos for a light social lunch or after work, but dine in the restaurants (away from the tourists) about 9PM or later. Whereas Lisbon, Porto, Madrid, and other cities we've visited have felt very medieval, San Sebastián has a very vibrant, cosmopolitan feel about it.
SS also has a beautiful bay and beaches, one area relatively calm and another area with rolling waves crowded with surfers who seem to catch the wave, only to dive off into the foam. We spent our last afternoon enjoying the beach, walking along the surf line and playing in the water (Cee running in & out of the water, jumping the waves) and then, of course, it was off to find more pinxtos. San Sebastián is on the Camino de Santiago ("Way of St.James"), a pilgrimage route which extends from France to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela a bit southwest of us. I think if I were on that original pilgrimage, I would have stopped & stayed in San Sebastián, enough heaven for me.
Our last night in San Sebastián, we ate with the locals in restaurant Alderdi Zahar, the 3 of us sharing Monk fish, a very firm white fish which covered a dinner plate; clams; and vegetables , namely steamed artichoke hearts, leeks, and thistle with roasted garlic, all cooked to a very soft consistency, apparently just like the locals enjoy it. Dinner was accompanied by a wonderful Spanish red wine and we may have finished with dessert, I just can't remember. Then it was off to bed for the GMA while the youngsters went back to the pinxtos bars to dance & engage with other tourists from the UK & Germany.
Next stop: Zaragoza, to see a couple of the cathedrals. The train travel between San Sebastián and Pamplona reveals dramatic scenery with high sandstone mesas, deep green, lush valleys, and winding creeks and rivers. Unfortunately, after Pamplona (about midway through the 3-hr train trip) the scenery flattens out and the land becomes dry, with short grasses and scattered industry. Not so pretty.
Zaragoza is a big city, larger than anticipated. Fortunately, our hotel is located in the historical district so once again the Fitbit is happy as we walk to the cathedrals and to the palace and through the shopping district, stopping for lunch on the square and later for gelato. Lunch consisted of a vegetable plate, meat plate, and a pizza. In Spain they love their tuna & mayonnaise & there were options for this as part of a pizza. We restrained ourselves & opted for oregano, cheese, tomatoes, and pancetta, a little more Americanized and a lot more palatable for at least one of us.
As it happened we were in Zaragoza on some sort of a holiday, where weddings and other religious confirmations were taking place at the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar, reportedly the first church in history to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary. According to local beliefs, not long after the resurrection of Jesus, St. James was becoming disheartened while preaching the gospel in Spain, feeling his mission was failing. On 2 Jan 40, Mary appeared to him, and as mother's do admonished him to get his act together, giving him a small wooden statue of herself and a branch of jasper and instructed him to build a church in her honor. And so he did.
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