photos: euskadi 2011 (part 1)...
In September I came home visited the Basque Country with my buddy J again, and we had an absolutely amazing time. We discovered new, exciting places, visited familiar but no less exciting places, enjoyed the sun and the Basque cuisine, had a blast spending time with our favourite Basque girls, xurda87 and her sisters, and, last but not least, saw Athletic play against Villarreal at San Mamés - a rather unlucky draw but a great match overall. :D
During our trip, we visited Bilbao (obiously), Butrón, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Bakio, Lezama, Santander, Plentzia/Gorliz, Getxo, and Donostia, and in the upcoming posts I'm going to share my best photos (trust me, I've taken LOADS). :D I'm also going to share photos of the match at San Mamés, but my camera battery died during the match and therefore I have to wait until I get the photos from xurda87's camera. ;)
1. Bilbao.
We arrived in a sunny, warm Bilbao around noon and, as always, took the bus to the city centre, where our hotel was. I was quite close to buying the bus tickets in Basque because I had brought a book with lots of useful phrases, translated word-by-word into German, but then I decided against it. I didn't want to make a fool of myself on my very first day. XDD
We had booked a hotel right in the middle of the Casco Viejo, which we were very satisfied with. The room was not expensive at all but comfortable, and we didn't miss anything. Also, the location was obviously perfect. :D
Our hotel room!
Bathroom!
The view from our window,to the left...
... and to the right! I love the little streets of the Casco Viejo! :)
After unpacking and having a little nap (we both had to get up really early in the morning so we were a bit knackered), we went out to have lunch. There are several restaurants in the same street as our hotel, for example the one that xurda87, blue_eyed_miss and I went to in February, where we were served by that waiter who looked like Jordi Codina. XD J and I decided to try out a different restaurant and had an amazing lunch, three courses, bread, a bottle of water AND a bottle of wine, for 12 Euros per person. And I insisted on emptying the bottle of wine so we were a bit tipsy when we finally met xurda87 after lunch, hehe. XD
We first went over to the Funicular de Artxanda, which took us up to a panoramic platform where we had an amazing view of Bilbao.
The Funicular de Artxanda, or Artxandako Funikularra. The railtracks are actually behind that wall. ;)
On top of the Artxanda mountain, right outside the exit of the funicular, there's this interesting monument.
The station!
Another interesting monument! No clue what it's supposed to be for but I thought it looked quite neat.
The view from Artxanda is really fantastic, as you can see. This is the Barrio de Begoña, by the way.
This is the Basílica de Begoña, where Athletic's staff and players ask for divine support before every season. ;)
The heart-shaped Casco Viejo to the left, and the city centre to the right.
A closer look on the Casco Viejo and the Puente de Arenal, with the Teatro Arriaga behind it.
One of the most imposing buildings in Bilbao is the BBVA Tower.
Another is the Iberdrola Tower behind the Guggenheim Museum.
There are several restaurants near the panoramic platform, for example the restaurant "El Txakoli", which I found a very apt name. XD
The Artxanda, seen from the city centre.
Afterwards, we strolled through the city a bit longer and then went to the Plaza Nueva to have a coffee. The café had several tables and chairs outside, very nice. We got our coffees, sat down, and then suddenly xurda87 nudged me and discreetly pointed to where three people were sitting, two tables away from us. One of them we didn't know, but the other two we did. One was Agurne Anasagasti, a TV presenter from Uyyyyy!, and the other was Igor Gabilondo! I don't want to start any rumours (if there aren't any yet), but xurda87 and I agreed that they seemed very comfortable with each other! XD Anyway, obviously I realised that nobody would believe this happened if I don't have any pics. I didn't want to disturb them and ask them for pics, so we had to be stealthy like ninjas, which resulted in a lot of awkwardness and LOLs. XD xurda87 said she would call her sister, and put her phone against her ear, but only to take a picture, which turned out a bit blurry but otherwise okay. The really embarrassing thing happened when she wanted to send me the pic she had taken. I had switched on my Bluetooth (to find out that Gabilondo had his Bluetooth on as well! XD) but somehow we couldn't establish a connection, and then I accidentally tried establishing a connection with Gabilondo's phone because I'd pressed one button too many. I was so shocked I nearly dropped my phone. LOL! Fortunately I could cancel the request before anything happened. And xurda87 managed to take a pic with my phone as well, saying loudly that her phone wasn't working. Ahahah, fun times! XD I guess after 10 minutes even J was embarrassed. XDD
Picproof!
And this is xurda87's phone showing an available Bluetooth connection to Gabilondo's phone. Hee! :D
After having said goodbye to xurda87, J and I went bar-hopping, which - as always - was amazing and yummy and just perfect. :D The Casco Viejo has the most awesome bars, and being there always makes me wish I had five stomachs or something because choosing between all those delicious-looking pintxos is more than difficult! :D
The next day we had a yummy breakfast near the Santiago church (where I was happy to discover Mundo Deportivo lying around, hee!), and then walked through the city, enjoying the great weather.
The Guggenheim Museum!
Ibaigane, the headquarters of Athletic Club.
Including the Athletic cow, which was one of the protagonists when Athletic presented their "official milk" (don't ask!) recently. ;)
Amazing-looking building!
These twin towers, the Torres Isozaki, are not the residence of Walder Frey (thank God). XD
The Zubizuri!
The Puente del Ayuntamiento.
Another very interesting-looking building.
The city hall, this time without the Basque-coloured crane behind it! ;)
But still with that strange monument in front of it.
The Teatro Arriaga.
The church of San Nicolás.
Pavilion in the park in front of the church.
Birds bathing. XD
No clue what this building is called, but the statue on top of it has a flag tied to it to support Kukutza III, the gaztetxe (squatted social centre) in Rekalde which was recently closed.
The station Bilbao-Concordia from where the trains to Santander operate.
The Puente del Arenal.
The city crest on a building.
The Mercado de la Ribera, a huge market where you can buy all kinds of food. Too bad we had no opportunity to cook anything, otherwise we'd definitely bought our ingredients there!
Fishes! :D
One of the most emblematic sights of the city, the church of San Antón, which is part of the city crest.
The Ribera market, seen from the bridge of San Antón.
One of the many buildings of the BBK bank.
Impressive building on the Plaza Bizkaia.
The Gran Casino Bilbao - we didn't go in though. ;)
This is the Alhóndiga, a multi-purpose venue, used to be a wine warehouse but now consists of a cinema compley, a fitness centre, a library, showrooms, an auditorium, shops and a restaurant.
Inside the building.
The most awesome thing about the Alhóndiga is that every column looks different.
If you've ever wanted to know what a swimming pool looks from underneath, visit the Alhóndiga - there's a swimming pool on the first floor that you can see from the ground floor! ;)
Modern art outside the building.
The Plaza Indautxu looks really impressive from above but I quite liked the view from the ground as well. ;)
In the afternoon, we met xurda87 and her sister in front of the city hall to see some very interesting sights outside Bilbao: the Castillo de Butrón, the island of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, and the beach of Bakio. However, I'm going to have to put all my photos of that trip in a new post because I took so many. XDD Stay tuned!
During our trip, we visited Bilbao (obiously), Butrón, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Bakio, Lezama, Santander, Plentzia/Gorliz, Getxo, and Donostia, and in the upcoming posts I'm going to share my best photos (trust me, I've taken LOADS). :D I'm also going to share photos of the match at San Mamés, but my camera battery died during the match and therefore I have to wait until I get the photos from xurda87's camera. ;)
1. Bilbao.
We arrived in a sunny, warm Bilbao around noon and, as always, took the bus to the city centre, where our hotel was. I was quite close to buying the bus tickets in Basque because I had brought a book with lots of useful phrases, translated word-by-word into German, but then I decided against it. I didn't want to make a fool of myself on my very first day. XDD
We had booked a hotel right in the middle of the Casco Viejo, which we were very satisfied with. The room was not expensive at all but comfortable, and we didn't miss anything. Also, the location was obviously perfect. :D
Our hotel room!
Bathroom!
The view from our window,to the left...
... and to the right! I love the little streets of the Casco Viejo! :)
After unpacking and having a little nap (we both had to get up really early in the morning so we were a bit knackered), we went out to have lunch. There are several restaurants in the same street as our hotel, for example the one that xurda87, blue_eyed_miss and I went to in February, where we were served by that waiter who looked like Jordi Codina. XD J and I decided to try out a different restaurant and had an amazing lunch, three courses, bread, a bottle of water AND a bottle of wine, for 12 Euros per person. And I insisted on emptying the bottle of wine so we were a bit tipsy when we finally met xurda87 after lunch, hehe. XD
We first went over to the Funicular de Artxanda, which took us up to a panoramic platform where we had an amazing view of Bilbao.
The Funicular de Artxanda, or Artxandako Funikularra. The railtracks are actually behind that wall. ;)
On top of the Artxanda mountain, right outside the exit of the funicular, there's this interesting monument.
The station!
Another interesting monument! No clue what it's supposed to be for but I thought it looked quite neat.
The view from Artxanda is really fantastic, as you can see. This is the Barrio de Begoña, by the way.
This is the Basílica de Begoña, where Athletic's staff and players ask for divine support before every season. ;)
The heart-shaped Casco Viejo to the left, and the city centre to the right.
A closer look on the Casco Viejo and the Puente de Arenal, with the Teatro Arriaga behind it.
One of the most imposing buildings in Bilbao is the BBVA Tower.
Another is the Iberdrola Tower behind the Guggenheim Museum.
There are several restaurants near the panoramic platform, for example the restaurant "El Txakoli", which I found a very apt name. XD
The Artxanda, seen from the city centre.
Afterwards, we strolled through the city a bit longer and then went to the Plaza Nueva to have a coffee. The café had several tables and chairs outside, very nice. We got our coffees, sat down, and then suddenly xurda87 nudged me and discreetly pointed to where three people were sitting, two tables away from us. One of them we didn't know, but the other two we did. One was Agurne Anasagasti, a TV presenter from Uyyyyy!, and the other was Igor Gabilondo! I don't want to start any rumours (if there aren't any yet), but xurda87 and I agreed that they seemed very comfortable with each other! XD Anyway, obviously I realised that nobody would believe this happened if I don't have any pics. I didn't want to disturb them and ask them for pics, so we had to be stealthy like ninjas, which resulted in a lot of awkwardness and LOLs. XD xurda87 said she would call her sister, and put her phone against her ear, but only to take a picture, which turned out a bit blurry but otherwise okay. The really embarrassing thing happened when she wanted to send me the pic she had taken. I had switched on my Bluetooth (to find out that Gabilondo had his Bluetooth on as well! XD) but somehow we couldn't establish a connection, and then I accidentally tried establishing a connection with Gabilondo's phone because I'd pressed one button too many. I was so shocked I nearly dropped my phone. LOL! Fortunately I could cancel the request before anything happened. And xurda87 managed to take a pic with my phone as well, saying loudly that her phone wasn't working. Ahahah, fun times! XD I guess after 10 minutes even J was embarrassed. XDD
Picproof!
And this is xurda87's phone showing an available Bluetooth connection to Gabilondo's phone. Hee! :D
After having said goodbye to xurda87, J and I went bar-hopping, which - as always - was amazing and yummy and just perfect. :D The Casco Viejo has the most awesome bars, and being there always makes me wish I had five stomachs or something because choosing between all those delicious-looking pintxos is more than difficult! :D
The next day we had a yummy breakfast near the Santiago church (where I was happy to discover Mundo Deportivo lying around, hee!), and then walked through the city, enjoying the great weather.
The Guggenheim Museum!
Ibaigane, the headquarters of Athletic Club.
Including the Athletic cow, which was one of the protagonists when Athletic presented their "official milk" (don't ask!) recently. ;)
Amazing-looking building!
These twin towers, the Torres Isozaki, are not the residence of Walder Frey (thank God). XD
The Zubizuri!
The Puente del Ayuntamiento.
Another very interesting-looking building.
The city hall, this time without the Basque-coloured crane behind it! ;)
But still with that strange monument in front of it.
The Teatro Arriaga.
The church of San Nicolás.
Pavilion in the park in front of the church.
Birds bathing. XD
No clue what this building is called, but the statue on top of it has a flag tied to it to support Kukutza III, the gaztetxe (squatted social centre) in Rekalde which was recently closed.
The station Bilbao-Concordia from where the trains to Santander operate.
The Puente del Arenal.
The city crest on a building.
The Mercado de la Ribera, a huge market where you can buy all kinds of food. Too bad we had no opportunity to cook anything, otherwise we'd definitely bought our ingredients there!
Fishes! :D
One of the most emblematic sights of the city, the church of San Antón, which is part of the city crest.
The Ribera market, seen from the bridge of San Antón.
One of the many buildings of the BBK bank.
Impressive building on the Plaza Bizkaia.
The Gran Casino Bilbao - we didn't go in though. ;)
This is the Alhóndiga, a multi-purpose venue, used to be a wine warehouse but now consists of a cinema compley, a fitness centre, a library, showrooms, an auditorium, shops and a restaurant.
Inside the building.
The most awesome thing about the Alhóndiga is that every column looks different.
If you've ever wanted to know what a swimming pool looks from underneath, visit the Alhóndiga - there's a swimming pool on the first floor that you can see from the ground floor! ;)
Modern art outside the building.
The Plaza Indautxu looks really impressive from above but I quite liked the view from the ground as well. ;)
In the afternoon, we met xurda87 and her sister in front of the city hall to see some very interesting sights outside Bilbao: the Castillo de Butrón, the island of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, and the beach of Bakio. However, I'm going to have to put all my photos of that trip in a new post because I took so many. XDD Stay tuned!