2 Weeks in Spain

Our last day in France was a bit of a reality check.  Here we had skated through our trip with no major issues when it came to transportation and translation problems.  Today however was a stressful mess.  At this point we are on a bus traveling to the Spain border.  I'm not sure if this bus goes all the way to our destination or halfway.  I just don't care.  I'll try and recap this mess and keep it as short as possible.   

Our Bla Bla Driver (sort of like Uber but really a ride sharing service) bailed on us in Bordeaux after we woke at 5:30am to catch a train to get to Bordeaux to meet him.  Our goal was Bilboa, Spain.  Luckily we found a bus and then a train to get us as far as the Spain border for the night.  The train part was delayed indefinitely due to a fire.  So we rushed to an earlier bus that may or may not be going all the way to the border.  Which is where we are now.  In the big scheme of things this is not a big deal, but it sure was stressful.

Yep, we ended up at the border.  Walked across the river and just like that, we were in Spain.  We crashed after a long day and the next morning had time for a walking tour of Hondarribia, an old sardine and whaling town.  Lunch was of course tapas.  The food is a nice change of pace.  Don't get me wrong, I love my pastries.  

 We left the next day to finish our trip to Bilboa.  This town is full of life.  A Guggenheim museum, large music scene, and lots of awesome food.  This town is technically still in Basque Country, although I don't know how much influence that plays on the culture here.  As for food, the most important part, it's everywhere all the time.  No weird rules about when to eat.  Most restaurants have a bar full of tapas and music playing.  3-bite snacks of all kinds waiting for you to pick from.  Technically I think dinner is served at 7pm.  From 2-4pm most shops close and restaurants have happy hour with cheap drinks and food.  The service during those times are not the greatest.  

The hotel front desk guy directed us to old town for dinner after we arrived.  Normally the old town is full of touristy stuff.  We questioned him about that, and he assured us that locals go there too.  He was right this old town was full of locals.  

A large food market along the river sold fresh fish, meat, and veggies.  Restaurants lined the upstairs where we ate brunch after our morning run.  This is an area where we could easily spend a few days.  There are more towns to see before we head home so the following morning we woke early to meet the fist bus out of town.  It's 6am and we walk across the city to the bus station.  Still dark outside, our GPS on our phone routed us through the streets on the most direct route.  To our surprise the city was still alive.  Taxis full of people pass by, bars still open with patrons spilling into the sidewalks, and hookers lined along the street.  

The 6 hour bus ride was mostly through dry farmland which reminded me of the Midwest in the Fall.  We had 3 days to get to Madrid and decided to squeeze in 2 more towns.  The first one was Salamanca.  Surrounded by a boring landscape, but was filled with the most dramatic architecture.  We stayed just North of town near the lively bull fighting arena.  Historically graduates of the local University would graffiti their initials on building walls using bull blood.  These marking from the 1500's are still visible.

Next was the cute town of Segovia.  Being an easy day trip from Madrid, this town is touristy.  Don't let that turn you off though.  Locally made items and historical places are easy to find.  Segovia is famous for their pigs.  Baby pigs that is...served on a platter.  I even saw a doll house with a slaughterhouse room.  Unlike the USA, these people know where their food comes from.  

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It time to go for now.  Back "home" at least for a little while.