My time in España: ¡ESTE ES EL PAÍS VASCO! (THIS IS BASQUE COUNTRY!)

So, after nearly nine months living abroad, I have to say, this is the trip where what could go wrong (at least at the beginning) went wrong. First, for a variety of reasons, poor Helen couldn't buy her bus ticket until 15 minutes before the bus left. Then, I realized I had bought the ticket for Saturday instead of Friday AH! We only had about 10 minutes to spare and I had to change my ticket. Needless to say, quite the nerve-wracking moment. Just for the record, there was NO sign at the ALSA ticket desk saying you had to take a number and be called. Once I finally changed my ticket, we couldn't find the platform oh no! We were literally running through the station searching for platform 33. We eventually found it. The doors were actually already closed on the bus double AH! I knocked on the door "¡señor, señor espera!" Thankfully, he opened the door and we hopped on. With 0 minutes to spare ah!

All the hassle was worth it, however. Whoever said Bilbao was an ugly city was definitely mistaken. The weather was great and the walk along the river was lovely. We walked on on the side of the river that houses the Guggenheim and along the way spotted some interesting sculptures, which you'll see (one of which is my worst nightmare...!). Anyway, the city was very clean, at least the small bit of it that Helen and I saw and had lots of open space near the river.

Weird slinky sculpture (Bibao)

My worst nightmare aka a GIANT spider (Bilbao)

As for the Guggenheim, there were some very interesting and cool exhibits, and then there were of course some, well, strange ones. i.e one exhibit consisted of about 40ish tv screens that continuously played interviews. A man had gone to a shanty-town outside of Istanbul and after living there for some time, he interviewed the people's life stories. There are actually chairs in front of the tvs so you can sit and listen (well, read--there are subtitles in English) the interviews. Fascinating! I watched one for quite some time. Super unique. Other exhibits were a bit odder and, well, not quite as interesting to me.

Helen + ocean in San Sebastian

Megan + ocean San Sebastian

We were off to San Sebastian after that for two nights. It's only a little over an hours bus ride to this beautiful sea-side city. I must say, possibly one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, or maybe anywhere. It is sooo clean! And because it's such a small city, it's so accessible.

ditto

Yesterday, we rented bikes for the whole day and biked all along the water. There's a great bike trail where you can ride along the whole beach! There are also many bike lanes throughout the city, too.

castle thing San Sebastian

Okay, so we may not have technically gone to any historical sites in San Sebastian (no wait! we did walk by the cathedral last night!), but we spent all of our energy biking haha. Oh, also there's a great café right on the water. (I can't remember if it's Café de la Concha or de La Perla because they both exist. One is less expensive than the other and the food was still good and the views breathtaking.)

San Sebastian aka most beautiful city probably ever

As for the hostel, I'm sorry I can't remember the name :(, but it was great! It was super-small and the people were friendly. The rooms were spacious, very clean, and had actual linens, nothing questionable if you know what I mean...Also, the kitchen was great and even had some free food! We saved money cooking the whole time, except for that one lunch. (By cooking I mean yogurt and sandwiches, but hey I can live off of peanut butter and fruit for a few days....)

Dos chicas exhausted after biking up a ginormous hill (perhaps we walked the bikes part of the way?)

A picture for the parents

Lunch next to the playa don't mind if I do...

It was great to see the north of Spain after having traveled so much throughout the south. The landscape is quite different from the south. It is so green!! It is soo lush! I loved it! Also, I disagree that the gente of the north is colder than those in the south. I really didn't see any difference. Oh, and as for the language difference, I don't think I heard Basque (Euskera) once, much to my disappointment :(. I was hoping to finally find out how to pronounce all of those words full of Xs, Ks, and Zs. Oh well, guess I'll have to go back.

Beautiful weather yes please!

Tuna? Why not?

Bikes are the best!

Before I forget! The Barçelona fútbol team was staying at one of the hotels in San Sebastian because they were playing the team from...the Basque Country? Not exactly sure...anyway, a whole mob of people were waiting outside for them to come out. Helen and I were on the other side of the river waiting, too. But, we just didn't have the patience. Sorry Barça...