Our trip across the north of Spain began in the Basque town of San Sebastian. Other than having a few good beaches, the main attraction to Donostia (as it is known in Basque) is the food. Throughout the day, about twenty bars in the old neighbourhood of Parte Vieja sell pintxos. These are basically Basque tapas, often on a slice of bread and most tasted great.
Other shots of San Sebastian
The 2nd stop was Bilbao, most famous for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, also known as the Googly-Schmoog.
Josh says "It's my favourite building in the world"
Yaz says "This is one of the most admired works of contemporary architecture. The building should be hailed as a significant moment in architectural culture, because it represents a rare moment when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united."
We only got to see half of the exhibitions due to renovations so hopefully we'll be back someday. Despite that, we enjoyed being part of the art with Richard Serra's sculpture "The Matter of Time". The outdoor sculptures were cool as well.
As part of the rejuvenation of the city, 1997 also saw the building of a pedestrian bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava.
The highlight of the week was our visit to the Picos de Europa National Park. We went on two hikes, the first to see two lakes at an altitude of 1,000m.
And the second through a gorge to the town of Cain, following the Rio Cares.
Along the path was a canal carrying fresh water to the towns below.
While the mountains were pretty spectacular, the icing on the cake was getting to stay in a 4 star hotel for 20 EUR a night due to a clerical error. Unfortunately though, Josh still can't work the timer on the camera.
And Santiago de Compostela, the cathedral of which is said to hold the remains of St. James. It is here that thousands of Christian pilgrims have travelled since the 8th century from all over the world.
We didn't realise that we had just completed one of the most popular routes of the Way of St. James, all the way from Paris, and arrived just in time for the Pilgrim's Mass. But they didn't give us a Compostela Certificate because apparently you have to walk more than just the last 200m.
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