bilbao 2011 (part 1)...
It's been a couple of weeks since I returned from Bilbao and I wanted to post these a lot earlier but then I got ill and RL and work stuff intervened as well, but now all that's dealt with and I can finally tell you about the awesome time I spent in Bilbao with blue_eyed_miss and xurda87!
I won't write a huge report like I did last time because I don't have the time, so let me summarize the main events.
Apart from doing the usual sightseeing in Bilbao (as is documented in the photos), we also did a little road trip along the coast and visited the Castillo de Butrón, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the marina of Getxo, the Puente Colgante in Portugalete, and several little beaches (though unfortunately it rained and was very windy so we couldn't really appreciate them properly).
We promenaded along the river Nervión, visited the Basque Museum (!!), walked down the Gran Vía, had a great view on Bilbao at night from up the hills, got lost in the old town looking for Athletic merchandise, and chatted about everything and nothing.
We had pintxos and drank txakoli (ah, how I miss Basque cuisine!) in the Casco Viejo, had dinner at a fancy restaurant where Jordi Codina waited on us (no, really, the waiter looked JUST LIKE HIM!), and ate yummy ice cream (I had kalimotxo, which tasted like a mix between coca cola and wine, yum yum yum!).
We watched interesting stuff on TV whilst relaxing, for instance typically Basque sports like pelota and wood-chopping, and the hilarious coffee machine advert with Gaizka Toquero and Javi Martínez (cue major squeeing when it happened XD), and also had the unique pleasure of watching shows like the Flintstones in Basque (Euskara). XD
Naturally, we also visited Athletic's headquarters, did the stadium tour, said hello to the players at training in Lezama, and were lucky to get tickets for Athletic's league match against Valencia at San Mamés! We weren't lucky about the result, but attending a match at San Mamés was a fantastic experience.
And once again, when the time came to leave this beautiful city, I didn't want to. I wish I were a millionaire, then I could move to Bilbao immediately and wouldn't have to worry about trivial things like work. ;)
Of course, I took tons of pictures of everything! Ready to see them?
We stayed at the hotel Barceló Nervión, which is located along the riverbank and from which you can reach the main sights very easily. Our room was nice and comfortable, and even more so with the additional decorations we applied. (More about that later. XD)
Staying at a hotel on the riverbank gives you the great advantage of this view when you step outside. The white bridge in the background is the Zubizuri.
In the other direction, there's the Puente del Ayuntamiento, and the BBK tower, from which you have a great view on the city.
BILBOATS! Sadly I don't own them, they're just called that because Bilbo is the Basque name of Bilbao, but I liked to pretend they were mine. XD
The Aduana building.
Pretty!
The Zubizuri, no less pretty on a cloudy day.
And, another time, on a better day!
The city hall, where this happened. Ah, good times! :D
Statues in front of the main entrance.
And the clock with the two flags right and left of it.
I have no clue what this weird sculpture is supposed to mean, but it's quite characteristic, isn't it?
The city hall from a distance.
This little park is situated on the riverbank near the Puente Arenal and the old town.
It's got a pavilion as well but nothing ever went on in there when we walked past it.
Memorial of a Basque poet (I think).
I can't help it, I think Basque is an amazing language. (Though I can't say I understand much. Yet!)
A church - I'm too lazy to look up which one it is. ;)
The Teatro Arriaga.
And the train station!
These are the stairs in the old town that lead up to the panoramic viewpoint.
Pretty buildings in the Casco Viejo.
Another church.
The Kukuxumusu shop! :D
Very pretty!
We didn't go in there but I was happy we passed this pub again because the last time I was in Bilbao I had my very first lunch there with my buddy J, so this place is special. XD
The Plaza Nueva.
In the Café Bar Bilbao, we had absolutely delicious pintxos. Mmmmm.
Athletic Smurf! His boat actually has the Athletic crest on it, and when you approach it, the Athletic anthem plays. Hilarious!!
... No, I don't know what this church is called either.
This, however, I do recognise: The Ribera market, still (mostly) closed for renovation, just like when J and I were here in September. I'm curious if they'll have it finished for my next visit... ;)
It does look nice, though.
Especially this town crest, with the church of San Antón on it.
And this stained glass window.
Apparently a lot of people in Bilbao walk through the streets with their gazes locked to the floor, so someone installed this nifty light in the pavement...
... that flashes red when a tram is about to approach. Very clever! :D
We didn't visit any of those places (especially since the "campo de futbol / futbol-zelaia" sign pointed towards the river! XD), but I have great memories about Donostia and Gasteiz so I had to take a pic of this.
The Plaza Moyúa.
Of course, I had to include the Hotel Carlton in one of my photos. ;)
Along the Gran Vía, you see lots of interesting stuff, like this grass carpet. ;)
And a government building from which (I believe) this picture was taken. (Oh, teh nostalgia! XD)
I have no clue what this is, but we passed it whilst looking for a chemist, and I thought it was very pretty.
Memorial of John Adams, who was very impressed with the Basque people and said in his letter A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the USA, 1787 that "this extraordinary people have preserved their ancient language, genius, laws, government and manners without innovation, longer than any other nation in Europe."
Combination of modern and ancient buildings in the Avenida Mazarredo.
The Guggenheim, including Puppy wearing his spring outfit.
Puppy from the right.
Trilingual signs. <3
Another famous sculpture outside the Guggenheim, Maman, a giant spider.
There's also a sculpture of silver balls...
And some colourful tulip-y things.
If it had been summer and really hot, we could have cooled down walking over these fountains... ;)
The Guggenheim from the other side.
The shopping mall Zubiarte next to a huge tower.
The university of Deusto.
Zubiarte again.
The Palacio Euskalduna is somewhere in this direction.
And more sculptures!
The statue of the Sagrado Corazón, or, in short, Jesus.
Look, it's night already! So let's end this tour through Bilbao by walking up the stairs in the Casco Viejo to the panoramic viewpoint...
... and see Bilbao at night! (The rectangular shape on the left is the Plaza Nueva.)
In the other direction, you can see the Nervión river...
... and the Zubizuri bridge!
I hope you enjoyed this little tour through Bilbao! If you want to see more photos of this beautiful city, go here and here! And once you've seen these, keep your eyes open for the next post, which will cover Portugalete, the Castillo de Butrón, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the beaches, and Getxo. :D
I won't write a huge report like I did last time because I don't have the time, so let me summarize the main events.
Apart from doing the usual sightseeing in Bilbao (as is documented in the photos), we also did a little road trip along the coast and visited the Castillo de Butrón, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the marina of Getxo, the Puente Colgante in Portugalete, and several little beaches (though unfortunately it rained and was very windy so we couldn't really appreciate them properly).
We promenaded along the river Nervión, visited the Basque Museum (!!), walked down the Gran Vía, had a great view on Bilbao at night from up the hills, got lost in the old town looking for Athletic merchandise, and chatted about everything and nothing.
We had pintxos and drank txakoli (ah, how I miss Basque cuisine!) in the Casco Viejo, had dinner at a fancy restaurant where Jordi Codina waited on us (no, really, the waiter looked JUST LIKE HIM!), and ate yummy ice cream (I had kalimotxo, which tasted like a mix between coca cola and wine, yum yum yum!).
We watched interesting stuff on TV whilst relaxing, for instance typically Basque sports like pelota and wood-chopping, and the hilarious coffee machine advert with Gaizka Toquero and Javi Martínez (cue major squeeing when it happened XD), and also had the unique pleasure of watching shows like the Flintstones in Basque (Euskara). XD
Naturally, we also visited Athletic's headquarters, did the stadium tour, said hello to the players at training in Lezama, and were lucky to get tickets for Athletic's league match against Valencia at San Mamés! We weren't lucky about the result, but attending a match at San Mamés was a fantastic experience.
And once again, when the time came to leave this beautiful city, I didn't want to. I wish I were a millionaire, then I could move to Bilbao immediately and wouldn't have to worry about trivial things like work. ;)
Of course, I took tons of pictures of everything! Ready to see them?
We stayed at the hotel Barceló Nervión, which is located along the riverbank and from which you can reach the main sights very easily. Our room was nice and comfortable, and even more so with the additional decorations we applied. (More about that later. XD)
Staying at a hotel on the riverbank gives you the great advantage of this view when you step outside. The white bridge in the background is the Zubizuri.
In the other direction, there's the Puente del Ayuntamiento, and the BBK tower, from which you have a great view on the city.
BILBOATS! Sadly I don't own them, they're just called that because Bilbo is the Basque name of Bilbao, but I liked to pretend they were mine. XD
The Aduana building.
Pretty!
The Zubizuri, no less pretty on a cloudy day.
And, another time, on a better day!
The city hall, where this happened. Ah, good times! :D
Statues in front of the main entrance.
And the clock with the two flags right and left of it.
I have no clue what this weird sculpture is supposed to mean, but it's quite characteristic, isn't it?
The city hall from a distance.
This little park is situated on the riverbank near the Puente Arenal and the old town.
It's got a pavilion as well but nothing ever went on in there when we walked past it.
Memorial of a Basque poet (I think).
I can't help it, I think Basque is an amazing language. (Though I can't say I understand much. Yet!)
A church - I'm too lazy to look up which one it is. ;)
The Teatro Arriaga.
And the train station!
These are the stairs in the old town that lead up to the panoramic viewpoint.
Pretty buildings in the Casco Viejo.
Another church.
The Kukuxumusu shop! :D
Very pretty!
We didn't go in there but I was happy we passed this pub again because the last time I was in Bilbao I had my very first lunch there with my buddy J, so this place is special. XD
The Plaza Nueva.
In the Café Bar Bilbao, we had absolutely delicious pintxos. Mmmmm.
Athletic Smurf! His boat actually has the Athletic crest on it, and when you approach it, the Athletic anthem plays. Hilarious!!
... No, I don't know what this church is called either.
This, however, I do recognise: The Ribera market, still (mostly) closed for renovation, just like when J and I were here in September. I'm curious if they'll have it finished for my next visit... ;)
It does look nice, though.
Especially this town crest, with the church of San Antón on it.
And this stained glass window.
Apparently a lot of people in Bilbao walk through the streets with their gazes locked to the floor, so someone installed this nifty light in the pavement...
... that flashes red when a tram is about to approach. Very clever! :D
We didn't visit any of those places (especially since the "campo de futbol / futbol-zelaia" sign pointed towards the river! XD), but I have great memories about Donostia and Gasteiz so I had to take a pic of this.
The Plaza Moyúa.
Of course, I had to include the Hotel Carlton in one of my photos. ;)
Along the Gran Vía, you see lots of interesting stuff, like this grass carpet. ;)
And a government building from which (I believe) this picture was taken. (Oh, teh nostalgia! XD)
I have no clue what this is, but we passed it whilst looking for a chemist, and I thought it was very pretty.
Memorial of John Adams, who was very impressed with the Basque people and said in his letter A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the USA, 1787 that "this extraordinary people have preserved their ancient language, genius, laws, government and manners without innovation, longer than any other nation in Europe."
Combination of modern and ancient buildings in the Avenida Mazarredo.
The Guggenheim, including Puppy wearing his spring outfit.
Puppy from the right.
Trilingual signs. <3
Another famous sculpture outside the Guggenheim, Maman, a giant spider.
There's also a sculpture of silver balls...
And some colourful tulip-y things.
If it had been summer and really hot, we could have cooled down walking over these fountains... ;)
The Guggenheim from the other side.
The shopping mall Zubiarte next to a huge tower.
The university of Deusto.
Zubiarte again.
The Palacio Euskalduna is somewhere in this direction.
And more sculptures!
The statue of the Sagrado Corazón, or, in short, Jesus.
Look, it's night already! So let's end this tour through Bilbao by walking up the stairs in the Casco Viejo to the panoramic viewpoint...
... and see Bilbao at night! (The rectangular shape on the left is the Plaza Nueva.)
In the other direction, you can see the Nervión river...
... and the Zubizuri bridge!
I hope you enjoyed this little tour through Bilbao! If you want to see more photos of this beautiful city, go here and here! And once you've seen these, keep your eyes open for the next post, which will cover Portugalete, the Castillo de Butrón, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the beaches, and Getxo. :D