When I arrived 2 hours later, my old friend was there to greet me: Gorka! Gorka and I met 2 summers ago in Rome, we were staying at the same hostel. I was there with my best friend Jamie, and it was pizza night and I heard a familiar accent speaking English. I asked him where he was from and my suspicions were correct: Spain!
Upon my arrival, Gorka and I went to his home to drop off my things. I met his WONDERFUL family and then we set off again to explore the city.
We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant decked out in Athletico Bilbao paraphernalia and we saw the main sights in the city, including of course, the Guggenheim. (However we did not go in, we were advised that the outside was much cooler than the inside!)
Later we took this little train up to see more views of the city. The train is almost like a really slow roller-coaster and you sit in a semi box type thing. But in the end you have breath taking views of the city
The next two days we spent along the Costa Vizcaya. This is the northern coast of Spain, along the Biscay Bay/Atlantic Ocean. Each time we arrived at a new town, I became more in awe and more in LOVE with the North!
We started at Portugalete, the home of the worlds last existing and functioning transporter bridge. The bridge has a little carriage cab thing that is suspended from the top of the bridge, and quickly slides across the bay to transport cars and people. You can also walk across the top if you're brave enough. I for one was not, and it was way too cold to go that high and become vulnerable to the winds!
After we went to some other coastal GORGEOUS beaches.
At the Old Port, we practiced some English and Spanish. I helped the new friends with pronunciation of words like Tomato, fuzzy, and Squirrel, and I learned many new words and was reminded of many more. I spoke Castellano the entire weekend and by this time i was EXHAUSTED from too much thinking in Spanish! It made me realize that I really need to practice more! Some words I got really good at are ardillo (squirrel) arrancar (to start a car) soso/a (bland, boring, lame) borroso (blurry) me sueña (i've heard of it/it sounds familiar) me marcha (to leave/depart) and many more!!!
Monday we woke up early and went to the town where Gorka works: Bermeo. The town was an old fishing village, but it remains a fishing village with ships coming in frequently to drop off the day's catch.
Later we made it near Bakio, to see the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. This is a church! And although they dont hold weekly masses (its a 1 km hike down followed by a bridge crossing and stairs up the mountain) they still hold events like bodas (weddings).... p.s. gears are turning on this one! Look how beautiful!
And go figure, when it came time to leave beautiful Bilbao, I was heart broken! I had made new friends, and been a part of a family again. No one likes to leave a family! But I left with the promise of returning in the summer so that we can hike down to the church with bocadillos, and party for the fiestas of Bilbao in late August... time to start re planning my summer!
Dear Northern Spain,
I love you. A lot.
Love,
Chelsea
No comments:
Post a Comment