Today was supposed to have been our day-long tour out of Bilbao to points northwest of the city along the coast. However when we looked at it again, it was going to be way more than Irv could handle with his back. There were three and four-hour tours in a couple of the places, which he would never have been able to do. He is having enough trouble just getting around the cities and has not been able to do much exploring this whole trip.
So instead, we decided to just explore more of Bilbao. First stop was the Artxanda Funicular which takes you up to the top of a lookout with a spectacular view of the whole city. Well worth the 6 euro round trip! From that vantage point it is easy to see where the original part of the city, or Old Town, is in relation to the rest. Also at this mirador, or viewpoint, is the Fingerprint Sculpture by Juan José Novella. It is a large iron piece that is, as the name suggests, a fingerprint. It is to honour the soldiers and victims of the Spanish Civil War,
When we got back down, we stopped for a beer and wine and a couple of pintxos at a restaurant close to our Air BnB. Since I wanted to go explore the old town and hopefully find the basilica, Irv decided that would be a bit more than he could handle, so I took off headed for Casco Viejo, the medieval quarter, and Las Siete Calles (seven streets). We had been over this way several times when we were still with the tour, as there is a plethora of shops and bars and restaurants. I was bound and determined I was going to find the Basilica de Begoña, since I was foiled in my attempt earlier. Well I did find it, but only after climbing the Mallona Stairs - 326 steps leading from the Casco Viejo up to the Basilica, stopping briefly to watch a soccer game.
The Basilica is a beautiful building (when’s the last time you saw an ugly cathedral?) Unfortunately it was closed and not open till five. I was a little leery of the dark clouds gathering, since I had forgotten to get my umbrella from Irv before I took off. I headed back down the Mallona Stairs - much easier going down - and wandered over to the Mercado de Ribera. I was expecting something like the Mercado we had experienced in Madrid or Granada. This was a little disappointing. Only one of the two floors was open and there wasn’t the same variety of stalls and food.
I wandered around the streets a little more, poking my head into the odd store just for fun. On my way back I stopped to take a look at the Txin Txin Fest in Arenal Park. It is a gastro-cultural event celebrating the local wine, txakoli, and the many different kinds of food of the Basque Country. Kind of like A Taste of Edmonton on a smaller scale,
Back at the Air BnB Irv was relaxing after his explorations of the area closer to “home”. In his wanderings, he found a little crepe restaurant, so that is where we headed for dinner. I know it seems strange to be eating French food here, but we have sampled a fair bit of Spanish food and decided a change might be nice. It was a one-man operation, but a very friendly guy,amd the crepes were delish! We got to talking to another customer, a lady from Seattle and also a young man who seemed to be just kind of hanging out there. He was from Vermont and the second person we’ve met from there - our travel companion, Paul, was from Montpelier. He was at the end of a semester abroad at the university studying mechanical engineering.
A stroll back to the Air BnB and we close the book on another fine day in Spain, where the rain must have stayed on the plain, because we stayed dry the whole day!!