Last weekend, I successfully completed my first trip within Spain. It was a relatively short distance traveled but none the less a very exciting adventure. The past weekend we had a long weekend because All Saints Day (Nov. 1) is an observed holiday here in Spain. Since I don't have to work at my school on Mondays and Wednesdays I was able to take advantage of a 5 day weekend. I took a bus from Madrid to Basque Country in northern Spain to visit my good friends from San Jose, Jessica and Kevin. They are both working as English Assistants like I am but I living up north in Bilbao. It was great to see some friends from back home and explore a new region of Spain with them. Something that I find fascinating about Spain is how much the different regions in Spain vary from each other. Upon arriving in Bilbao I noticed that the landscape of the North was very different. Bilbao was very green. The city was surrounded by beautiful mountain that were blanketed with trees. It was quite spectacular. Another difference I noticed in the North was the people the had lighter features (ie. lighter hair and skin color) than they do here in Castilla La Mancha. I felt like I stuck out a little less in Bilbao although I still think it was pretty obvious that I'm not Spanish.
The week was so full of adventures and activities that I could go on for hours talking about what I did in Bilbao. Instead of rambling, I will give tell you some of the highlights from the weekend. On Saturday, Jess Kevin and I traveled to a small mining town close to Bilbao. Getting there was an adventure in itself. We took the Metro, to a train, to a funicular, to a bus, which finally took us into the town. Once we got there Jess and Kevin took me to a very unique restaurant. The restaurant was run by an old couple who had to at least be eighty years old. It appeared that the restaurant was just part of their house and we were the only customers. There were only three things on the menu eggs, chorizo and morcilla (blood sausage). Since they were out of morcilla we ordered eggs, chorizo and some of their more "expensive" wine (90 cents a glass). After we ordered, the old man started preparing the food on a wood fire stove. The meal was delicious and extremely cheap. After eating we talked to the couple for a little bit. Towards the end of the conversation, the old man fell asleep. We decided that was a good time to head out.
On Monday, we headed to a Basque Market in the nearby town of Guernica. The town of Guernica is famously depicted in one of Picasso's paintings with the same name. Every Monday there is a market in Guernica and the last Monday of the month is always the most important one. Since Monday was also a holiday, the market was even a bigger deal. The market was packed with people. There were hundreds of stalls, where farmers had set up shop to sell their goods. We were able to try to some typical Basque foods. One of my favorites was a talo, which was a sort of corn tortilla that was wrapped around a sausage. It was scrumptious! We also drank some Basque cider and ate some Basque cheese, which was also very tasty. Since Monday was Halloween, we had a Halloween party in Jessica and Kevin apartment. We celebrated with other Americans who were also living in Bilbao. Here in Spain, a few people celebrated Halloween but it is not as widely celebrated as it is in the US. When we went out to the bars, we were pretty much the only people in costume.
Well those are some highlights from a great weekend in Bilbao. I hope to have the chance to go back because it was a really great city! Now I'm back to reality here in Cuenca, which is fine because reality here is pretty good too!
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