The drive was short and we were in Bilbao just after noon. The drive was very mountainous and there were no straight stretches the entire drive. We parked the car in a car park and then explored the city. First we wanted to find the AirBnB, google gave us a cryptic dotted line at the end of our directions. That pesky dotted line is always tricky. We found the place and then walked to the Mercado for pintxos. So many to choose from, we had to get several. Then we walked back upriver and wandered through the Basque Days tent where there was artisanal Basque products to taste and drink and buy. By this time it was check in time so we went to the car and grabbed a load of gear and walked back to the apartment. It was a delightful place and our host was most helpful in checking us in. She sat down with us and showed us where everything was located. After the first round of settling in we walked through the old town and saw a series of "treasures". These are large platforms that can be carried by several people and depict scenes from the life of Christ. We passed several squares and beautiful streets. Lastly we found a little green grocer and the strawberries were too tempting. The street we were on spat us out by the car so we got the another load of stuff and headed back to the apartment. We finished up the chicken soup for dinner and called it a night.
Alpine scenes along the drive
The grand old buildings are represented in Bilbao
It is a Basque Days festival down by the river
A big fancy clock in the center of the facade
The majority of the old town is pedestrian only
Oops, this car decided that his was a parking spot when it was not one
Our street
Rows and rows of items to choose from
How to decide?
My selection #1
Two shrimps "smiling" on my pintxos
Two Chicken wings and some sauce
Jam, hot cheese and Jamon
Only the food areas were open at the Mercado as this Thursday is a national holiday
Leslie's Pintxos selection
This makes me hungry all over again
So many choices
Chorizo and egg, like a tiny breakfast
Little stew pots
the rows of crock pots lured us over
Baby Spanish Eels
Baby Cuttlefish stew
A Bilbao specific dessert
Taking a walk about the city
A Plaza with a large stage set up
Beef!
The giant is ready to eat the maiden?
Festival of Basqueness
Packed full of folks
Bedrooms are spacious
Lots of rooms for us to wander through
These paint samples are arranged carefully
To recreate the Girl With The Pearl Earing
The further you get away, the more it looks like the painting by Vermeer
This picture is of the panels that is reflected in the bathroom mirror
So cool how the buildings are all painted different colors, a more subdued kind of Key West look
Brotherhoods organize these "treasures"
They carry then to this spot outside the church
The Thursday set of treasures
Obviously parables surrounding the Easter Story
The colors match the colors on the buildings
No room at the table
A very old place of worship
The treasure are special but the floral bouquets are just as beautiful
We had to get these strawberries. 2.2 pounds of berries for 5 Euro
It has been 305 days since we began our Migration
