Basque country fun
I have heard a lot about the food in Basque country. In the middle of summer, i choose to go north to cool off =). So off to Bilbao and San Sebastian!
Bilbao
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| City of Bilbao, and of course the Guggenheim |
With only one day, i aim for the main sights in Bilbao. On first arrival, Bilbao reminds me of London, with the weather! It drizzled and stayed gray for the whole day and I understood why Barcelonians say the weather isn't good in the basque country =)
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| The city shrouded in mist |
Bilbao feels like a vibrant city trying to establish its identity while retaining the traditional values.
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| The city of Bilbao from Ercilla Hotel Roof Top Bar |
It also reminds me of a Paris-wannabe but didn't quite have the vibe and buildings to pull it together in the old city. On top of that it has the modern buildings to complement the Guggenheim museum, and the entire juxtapose is random and confusing.
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| The theater and old city area in Bilbao |
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| City hall with the river (and yes, i had to brighten the shot as it's so gloomy) |
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| Taking the funicular to see the city from the hill top |
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| Another beautiful building in Bilbao |
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| Cathedral in Bilbao |
I decide to visit one of the museum in Bilbao and i picked the Museum of Fine Arts as it has a large and complete selection of Spanish arts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbao_Fine_Arts_Museum
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| Museum of Fine arts, showing the juxtaposition of old and new in the building |
I decide to splurge on a Michelin star restaurant as i figured if i'm going to eat at a Michelin restaurant, the basque country is the way to go! And I have time in Bilbao for a 3 hours lunch =)
I picked Etxanobe as it has an emphasis on seafood.
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| Entrance to the restuarant |
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| Interior of Etxaonobe |
I had a fantastic meal, journeying through cuisine and ingredients important to the basque country in Etxanobe. It is on the list of my top 10 best meals in my life!
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| My lunch in Bilbao - Octopus ball, Black bean pint with bacon mousse, white truffle with almond soup, anchovy lasagna (specialty of the resturant), grilled tuna with sumec, Salmon bonbon with black rice, shrimp gel with shrimp tartare, leg of duck with tranparent potato, cod fish with squid ink, fennel mousse with strawberry wafer and tomato gel, tangerine ice cream made on the spot with nitrogen gas |
San Sebastian (Donastia)
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| Bird's eye view of San Sebastian |
It truly is unique, facing the ocean with 3 huge beautiful beaches, and surrounded by mountains. Donostia is the basque name for San Sebastian. It totally took me by surprise at how gorgeous it is.
Being small facilitates management of touristy spots which is an advantage.
San Sebastian people are also highly proud of their heritage, food and city too.
http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Sebastian
I took a bus from Bilbao and it's a little chaotic trying to figure out the bus as it's not labelled going to San Sebastian but the final destination Irun. And it turns out this bus is late when i'm going to St Sebastian and coming back to Bilbao. ^_^;
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| Chaos in the bus station |
But it all worked out and u can see the route in the google map from Bilbar to Eibar to San Sebastian.
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| google map route |
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| Woo.. First view that greeted me when i came out from the bus station |
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| Gorgeous buildings |
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| The theater |
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| Street view that's very Paris-like |
After gawking at the historical Paris-like building, i decide to take a pintxos tour that explain the history of this city and a lot more of it makes sense after that.
This is a city that started its life as a military fort by King Navarro. But Napolean conquered it for 2 years and it was freed by Allied military. However, the city was betrayed by the Allied army which looted the city and destroyed it completely by fire.
After that the people decide to rebuild the city, took a risk to invest in beautiful buildings for wealthy French and Europeans to vacation there instead of a military fort. Of course, French are the wealthiest and they make the streets mimic Paris to attract their visits.
The queen of Spain declared San Sebastian to be a royal vacation site for 2 generations, which further cement tourism in the city.
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| Tour guide and the tour group for the Pintxos tours |
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| The 3 tapas bar that we went, with fried cod balls, meat croquette and fish cake melt |
The guide (whose name i cannot pronounce =)) told us about how the fort wall was penetrated where the current market is. And it's called La Bretxa (the hole) noting the historical moment.
The farmers sell their produce at the stands and there's some really great looking produce!
He also explained how they planted the flowers at the fort wall location at the Boulevard in remembrance to the location.
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| The market with farmers selling fresh produce |
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| Row of flowers denoting the previous fort wall |
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Ex bull ring in the square, with numbers on each windows denoting terrace number for patrons
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| View of the main playa near the city |
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| View of the city hall with the monument at the back |
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| View of the city hall from the front |
After the pintxos tour, i took a boat tour to see the city from the ocean.
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| Ships Ahoy! |
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| Gorgeous view of the city from the ocean |
Having time on my hand, I roamed around the city and visited 3 more bars and ate more pintxos =)
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| My favourite tapas bar Antonio Bar with shrimp crepe, squid tempura and foie |
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| Iomba bar with foie/quail egg, mushroom pastry, shrimp with fish paste |
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| Tapas bar with famous cheese cake |
Stuffed with pintxos, i decide to climb up the city to visit the old castle. At the top, it's not hard to believe why San Sebastian was picked as a military fort. It has a great view of the city on top of the ocean. And the fort is the only place that you can see all the 3 beaches at the same time
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| View of the little island Santa Clara from the mountain top |
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| View of the city at the top |
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| Monument on top of the old castle |
There's also a jazz festival at the city that weekend. I think i watched the Houston Jazz Quartet for free =) Gorgeous location for a great band
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| Stage for the Jazz festival by the ocean |
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| Only in Europe, a parking garage for bike at the bus station |
