Northern Spain, 2023
Day 1: Bilbao (Old Town and Artxanda)
After a few wonderful days in Madrid, we bid farewell and headed off to the Spanish Basque country, specifically, Bilbao. The flight was quite short, just over an hour, and it felt like the moment we got up to cruising altitude, we were already starting our descent, and soon, we had landed and headed off to get our rental car. We got comfortably acquainted with our car and drove 15 minutes to our place. We were happy that the airport here was so close to the center of town, and that really made a difference when we were driving there to take our flight back home (more on that later).
We were all quite hungry, so we decided to stop into a restaurant near the parking garage that looked nice: Kokken. When we entered, we were asked if we had a reservation, which we didn’t, but we were lucky that they had a free table for the four of us. And then we were asked if we knew about the menu, which we also didn’t, so he explained that they serve a surprise tasting menu of 4, 6, or 8 dishes excluding dessert. So if we were still hungry after four courses, we could extend to six, and to eight if we wanted. After our massive dinner at DiverXO the night before, four courses was plenty.
All of the dishes there were delicious: a bonito sashimi dish, a croquette dish filled with something that I can’t remember, a cuttlefish dish, and then an Iberian pork lettuce wrap. And to wrap up our lunch, our dessert was a refreshing coconut panna cotta with pineapple sauce:
We also realized that we didn’t know the price of the tasting menu, but I don’t remember it being crazy expensive, so all in all, a great deal!
Next, we headed off to the Old Town of Bilbao, which was historically the area used for commerce. Nowadays, it houses narrow streets with numerous retail and restaurants on the first floor, and what appeared to be residential units above. There’s also a beautiful church in the center. We enjoyed just walking around and appreciating the various architectural styles being exhibited in the area:
We then headed back to rest a bit before our evening activity, going up to the Artxanda viewpoint at sunset. To get up there, we needed to take the Artxanda funicular, which was only a 10 minute walk. In the evening, the funicular runs every 15 minutes, so we had to wait a bit, but soon we were on the cute little car, which had no ventilation, so it was a bit gross inside. Fortunately for us, the ride was about 5 minutes to the top:
We had timed it so that once we got to the top, the sun would have started to set, so we got some amazing photos of the sunset behind the mountains with the city in the foreground:
You could also see the Guggenheim and some pretty bridges and other structures from up here:
The viewing platform is also cute, with the barriers being large red letters that spell out Bilbao/Bilbo. There’s also a cool art installation, a fountain, and pretty landscaping:
Given the amazing view of the city and the sunset from up here, we were surprised that it didn’t feel overly crowded. Sure, there were people there taking romantic selfies/photos, but we could always find space on the barrier to get a good photo. Once the sun started to set for the evening, we headed back down the funicular to get some not great Chinese food for dinner, and then called it a night.
Day 2: Bilbao (Guggenheim and more of the city)
Our first full day in Bilbao started with us finding somewhere to eat for breakfast. After doing some research, we walked to a place called Arvo Coffee & Plants. There was a wait to get in, but it only took about 10 minutes before we were seated in the window counter:
The plant decor was beautiful, and the food and drinks were also amazing. I ordered their manly toast, which was toast with peanut butter, banana, blueberries, and drizzled with honey. Not sure what makes it manly, but it was delicious.
After being energized by our breakfast, we headed off to our one and only attraction today, the famous Guggenheim, designed by Frank Gehry. You can definitely see the signature Gehry style in the swooping metal curves and sharp angles. I feel like someone told us that some of his architectural inspiration comes from crumpled up paper. It definitely is a style…
In front of the entrance to the Guggenheim is the puppy by Jeff Koons:
It’s extremely large, and full of various flowers in a sort of patchwork design. Nick was wondering how they keep the flowers blooming all year long, but there was no readily available explanation to that.
Inside, we were greeted with signs indicating that one of the current temporary exhibits is the art of Yayoi Kusama, and all of us were excited:
While she might be best known for her large gourds covered in black polka dots, this exhibit featured many of her other works, which were just as enthralling:
We then proceeded to the back patio, where we could see some other art installations:
Inside, we experienced a large exhibit by Richard Serra called the Matter of Time. From the ground level, all we saw were many tall metal walls with various curves that created small hallways for us to walk through, so we did. The first one felt like a pretty long spiral that went into a large open space, another was a long wavy line, and there were more spiral like sculptures. It was fascinating to walk into them because every time we rounded a corner, we felt like we must have reached the center, but no, it just kept going:
And from the second floor, you got a great view of what the structures look like from above, including all the various paths that you could take:
Later we learned that none of the metal walls are attached to the floor. Serra intentionally created these specific shapes because they could rest on the floor on their own and support their own weight, even with the various angles and curves. It’s a remarkable feat of physics.
Further on the second floor, we discovered a soon to be open Picasso sculpture exhibit, but we were a week or so too early, so no Picasso for us…
On the top floor, we noticed that there was another Yayoi Kusama exhibit that required signing up to be in the queue to get in. Nick signed us up and we had to kill around 30 minutes before our slot opened up, so we explored the floor some more and saw the famous tulips by Jeff Koons:
Finally, it was time to see the Infinity Mirror Room. When we made it to the front, they let the four of us in with another person, and I think we had 90 seconds in there to take photos and videos. Given that all the walls are mirrors, it was sort of difficult to take a good photo inside the box:
And as we were all posing to get a group photo, the door opened and ruined our one chance…
We decided to leave to find lunch at this point, but then it started to rain, so we went back inside the Guggenheim to get lunch at the cafe, which consisted of some tapas and coffee.
After about 30 minutes, the rain stopped, so we headed back outside to go to what seemed like the heart of downtown. Along the way, we saw some cool outdoor art, buildings, and landscaping:
We made a quick pitstop to get some coffee at a cute coffee shop called Gürekoffee. Unfortunately, they ran out of pumpkin spice, so I had a caramel latte, which was just as nice:
For dinner, we went back to Old Town to experience tapas, including the chaos of ordering and finding a table. The first place we went to was Gure Toki, probably the busiest of all of the tapas places in the plaza. We got in line to wait for our turn to talk to one of the people at the counter, and then we frantically pointed at things on the bar and tried to find a table. It was a little too chaotic for my taste, but the food was excellent. We were lucky to find a small table next to the entrance for us to use, but we did notice a few patrons walking around with plates and a glass of wine or beer. I don’t have a photo of our food there, mainly because it was crazy busy, and we were all very hungry, but I did order their crab tempura:
Next, we decided to go to another tapas restaurant, so we walked around the plaza and came across Iturriza Taberna. I think the reason we chose it was because we took a look at the food on the counter, and everything was bread with stuff on top skewered with a toothpick. Nick and Tiffany ordered for us while Mike and I tried to find a table, and eventually we did, and shortly after, Nick and Tiffany came with our plate of food:
Everything was tasty, and after having many small tapas, we were all quite stuffed, but we still wanted dessert, and the only place that was open at this time was a nearby gelateria:
I didn’t get anything, instead I shared with Nick who ordered a scoop of their arroz con leche and a scoop of chocolate. I forgot what Tiffany ordered, but the four of us stood outside the store, along with everyone else, enjoying gelato and the wonderful day we just had. Tomorrow, we drive out on a day trip to Guernica and Gaztelugatxe.
Day 3: Guernica and Gaztelugatxe
This morning, we stopped by a nearby bakery to grab some coffee and pastries before getting into the car and driving 30 minutes to the famous city of Guernica. Currently, the city is the political seat of the Spanish Basque country, so the first thing we saw was their assembly house.
I believe that this used to be where meetings would take place, although Nick said that there was a sign in Spanish saying that official meetings have been moved somewhere else. In any case, I guess that allows the assembly hall to be open to visitors to take a look inside. You’ll need a timed entry reservation to enter, but it’s free, so yay!
Once inside, we entered the main assembly chamber. You’re allowed to walk into the center and see the various red chairs surrounding you. In front is a lectern, and behind it, a larger table with a few nicely upholstered chairs. I guess the most important people would sit there.
Above the chairs were multiple portraits and above them were beautiful stained glass windows and plaques that seemed to have important dates on them, but I couldn’t quite discern what they were indicating:
The next stop in the assembly hall is a large foyer with a gorgeous stained glass roof:
Around the sides of the room were some rich red tapestries and a large painting:
Outside, in the back, is the famous Tree of Guernica. Apparently, for many centuries, this tree was used as the gathering place for all meetings, so it carried a strong historical aspect of Basque culture. During the infamous bombings in 1937, both the assembly hall and the tree remained intact, which added to their political and spiritual significance to the region. That’s why the tree is such a prolific symbol in Guernica, including the stained glass ceiling and also on their manhole covers:
I think this is the fifth iteration of the tree, but all of them were planted using seeds from the original tree. There’s actually a stump on display on the grounds of the assembly hall, which is from one of the earlier trees:
From here, we walked a few blocks to a mural that shows the famous painting by Picasso depicting the tragedy of the bombing of Guernica.
One of my friends asked if I was going to see Guernica, the painting, in Madrid. I told her that we didn’t have time, but instead, we were going to Guernica itself, which is probably better anyway.
You can see the agony and pain in the faces, and the whole painting as a whole is unsettling, as it should be given the topic it is representing.
Next, we moved onto the Peace Museum, which showcases what happened during the bombings as well as the concept of peace and what it means to them. All of the signs are in Spanish or Basque, but you’re given a folder at the front desk with English translations. There’s also a room with a 10 minute narration in English of the day of the bombing. If I understood the woman at the front desk correctly, they rotate through English, Spanish and French (or maybe another language?). We got lucky and the next presentation was in English, but be prepared to wait longer if that isn’t the case.
I won’t go into too much detail about the bombing, but basically there was a civil war in Spain in the mid-1930s, and during that time, the Basque region declared their independence from Spain. The then president, Francisco Franco, didn’t like this and wanted to prevent their separation, so he asked Hitler to bomb Guernica, the capitol of the Basque region. They chose to do this during a market day, meaning that many people would be out and about doing their shopping. The actual number of deaths is refuted, but the lasting devastation of the bombing still appears to impact the region to this day.
After that very somber history lesson, we found a local coffee shop for some pastries and cafe con leche:
We then walked around the city and saw some interesting sculptures and cool buildings:
Before we headed to our car, we stopped by a small sculpture park, which had two pieces of art in it:
And then the nearby park, with a cute pond with turtles and ducks:
Our next stop would be a short drive away, Ekoetxea Urdaibai. I think the center is intended to explain the ecological importance of the area, but we were really here to go to the lookout of Tower Madaraiga, which offers amazing views of the area and the ocean:
Entry is free to the center and to the lookout area, and offered a great little stop between Guernica and our next stop, Bermeo. We intended to get a quick lunch at this seaside city, but the moment we arrived, we noticed that it was extremely busy. Some of the streets in the city center were closed, so we were forced to take a detour. There were many people walking around, and no parking to be seen. Nick was getting a little stressed out having to drive through the narrow one-way streets, so we decided to leave and head to a nearby gas station to grab some food for lunch. Later that day, we did some research to see what was happening in Bermeo, and it turns out that the city was holding their large annual festival, which would explain the unexpected insanity we encountered.
Back at the gas station, we picked up some sandwiches and I noticed a small fridge section with packaged charcuterie that looked decent, so I got their jamon Iberico with a bag of toasts. We then drove to a nearby viewpoint to sit down and have our lunch, where I opened up my disc of meat:
It was surprisingly good for gas station charcuterie, and provided an ample energy boost for our next activity, Gaztelugatxe. For those of you who’ve watched Game of Thrones, Gaztelugatxe is where they filmed the scenes when Daenerys reaches the mainland at Dragonstone. The castle in the show was CGId, as the actual church on the islet is much, much more modest, but the staircase is featured in the show.
In order to enter the area, you’ll need a timed entry reservation, which we did here. You would only be allowed entry no more than 15 minutes before your reservation time, and they were strict about this. While we were there on-time, the person checking tickets was turning others away for being there too early.
Once we passed the entrance, we started our rather steep descent. The walk itself isn’t too long. I think it’s under 2 miles total roundtrip, but the first part involves walking on uneven cobblestone paths, which can be a little treacherous if you’re not careful, and probably extremely slippery if it were rainy.
As we walked down a bit, we stopped at the main lookout point to take some photos of the islet from the mainland:
We can see why the Game of Thrones producers chose this location. There’s still a medieval feel to the islet, and the staircase leading up to the church is epic. After taking a few photos here, we continued down to the entrance of the staircase, where we started our ascent. The staircase is actually quite narrow, but it doesn’t detract from the beauty of it as you walk up:
At the top, we got a nice view of the front of the church:
As well as some great views of the coastline:
The area also provided a nice sitting area for us to catch our breath after climbing 200+ steps, and also to mentally prepare for the return trip. We survived the hike back up to the parking lot, and I think all our legs were dead at this point, so we were very happy to be sitting in the car for our trip back home to rest and freshen up for our highly anticipated dinner at Azurmendi. This would be our second three starred Michelin restaurant on this trip (yes, we’re crazy), and we were curious how it would compare to DiverXO.
Dinner: Azurmendi
About 30 minutes before we needed to get into the car to drive to Azurmendi, it started to rain really hard, making the drive a bit hazardous. And once we got there, Nick dropped us off at the entrance while Tiffany, Mike and I ran inside as fast as possible. Nick had an umbrella, so he remained relatively dry when he came to join us later.
The first thing we noticed when we entered is the massive lobby. There’s a large wall full of greenery, a cute little pond, and some large wooden tables in the center:
Unfortunately, that was the only photo we took. We sort of were distracted with running in from the rain, and overwhelmed with all that amazing things we were seeing.
As we entered the restaurant, we were each given a welcome drink, and they offered both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. Soon afterwards, we were escorted to one of the tables where we were very excited to start our culinary journey. But before that, we took the opportunity to take a group photo in front of the wall:
And then someone arrived to our table with a couple of picnic baskets, inside of which contained our first few bites:
I can’t remember what each of the bites were, but they were all delicious and provided a wonderful introduction for what we would expect for the rest of the evening.
Next, we were taken into the kitchen where we were shown the ‘truffle’s table.’ One of the chefs was there to finish one of the dishes:
The spoons with the egg yolks were originally just complete egg yolks, but the chef took a syringe and removed some of the yolk without destroying the yolk’s membrane. And then later, he took some truffle soup and injected it into the now half empty yolk, and we were asked to enjoy the entire yolk in one bite. It was an incredibly velvety umami explosion in our mouths, which we then followed up with a truffle macaron and an apéritif with truffle foam on top.
Next, we were taken to another area of the front lobby, which they called the garden. Once the door opened, we were greeted with multiple wooden pedestals with various ‘flowers’ being displayed in them. We were told that the actual flower petals were created from kitchen waste, and then clipped onto the metal stems and displayed in this garden. And then we were shown some flowers that looked different and instructed to take one and eat the ‘flower:’
This was actually a flower made of cauliflower, and it was amazing. Next, we were presented with some dark twigs with purple flowers:
The twig was some type of black breadstick with purple basil flowers. Continuing on our garden journey was a lacquered shiso leaf:
Delicately crispy, but covered in something that gave it a little sweetness. And finally, we were shown some roses topped with red balls:
I think this was meant to be a palate cleanser before the main courses because inside the balls was a shiso liquid that helped to open up our senses. And with that, we were taken to our table, where we would enjoy the rest of our dinner:
But before we continued with the food, we were presented with their cocktail cart:
We could order a glass of Dom Perignon, a handmade cocktail, or a handmade mocktail. Nick opted for their cocktail, and Tiffany and I got their non-alcoholic version. I liked my drink, and I think Nick liked his, although he said it tasted like Coca-cola.
And then the next courses came in:
I think my highlights were the fish taco, the squash blossom and beetroot leaf, and the lobster. But we loved all of the dishes, and appreciated the care in the preparation and execution of each one.
After about 2 hours, we reached our final dessert, which was a crazy box of various candies and confections:
Much like DiverXO, at this point of our meal, we were extremely full, so we couldn’t finish all of the confections. We asked if we could take the remaining sweets home with us, and instead of boxing up the leftovers, the server came back with individual boxes of one of each candy. It was such a wonderful gift for us to bring back, and a great last memory of this amazing and creative meal.
Day 4: San Sebastian
On our last day, we had no real plans other than to drive to the seaside city of San Sebastian. This allowed us to sleep in a bit, which was great because it took me a while to sleep after eating such a large meal. We went over to a cute cafe called Cokoon Cafe for breakfast. I realized that we never actually took any photos of the cafe itself—I think we were still recovering from dinner last night that we completely forgot to do so.
We then got back into the car for the just over an hour drive to San Sebastian. Nick found a parking lot by the beach, so once we got up to ground level, we were greeted with the beautiful ocean and the lovely beach vibes of the city:
Just hearing the waves crashing on the sand is so relaxing and peaceful. And then further down the beach, we discovered a couple of sand artists and their spectacular art:
We then walked into the old town of San Sebastian and just wandered around. Even though it was a Sunday, many of the stores were open, and there were quite a number of people enjoying the area. We found a cute clothing store that we got some shirts from, and another store with awesome Basque themed items. And we just soaked in the art and architecture of the area:
It was actually quite hot in San Sebastian, so we actually found a bubble tea shop in the old town, and so we made a quick stop there to get a drink:
We’re not sure why there’s a sad clown sitting at the entrance, but it’s a little creepy…
We then decided to walk to the María Cristina Bridge, but we took one last look at the water before heading inland:
As we continued to the bridge, we saw this large church:
And then a couple of blocks away, we discovered this amazing fountain with flowers:
And finally, we reached the famous bridge, as evidenced by the four large towers, two at either end:
We only took photos of the towers at one end of the bridge, but we did walk onto the bridge to enjoy the views of the river:
And with that, we needed to return back so that we could make our reservation at La Olla de la Plaza Nueva. Tiffany wanted to have paella before we returned home, and they had it on their menu, so she was able to make a reservation for later that night. It was an interesting experience finding the restaurant because the entrance is located in the plaza where we had tapas a couple of days ago. So when we got to the restaurant, it basically looked like another tapas bar: a crowded interior with many people surrounding the bar. But then we saw a sign that said' ‘restaurant’ that pointed downstairs, so we went down and it was completely different. In the basement, it was much calmer and there were tables with linens and silverware. We were then shown to our table where we looked at the menu and ordered a few dishes to share. Tiffany got the paella, which I think contained squid ink because it was very black. I think we also got a whitefish crudo, artichoke hearts, a cheese board, and scallops:
While it wasn’t as elaborate or fancy as Azuermendi, it was still a great last dinner to have together before we headed back home to our normal lives. We had an amazing week in Spain, and I think all of us would be excited to come back to explore other parts of this wonderful country!
Oh, so remember at the beginning of this post when I wrote about it being a good thing that we were close to the airport? So right as we were about to leave for the airport, our rental car decided that it didn't want to start the engine. So after a few minutes of panic and then realizing that we couldn't do anything, we called Hertz’s roadside assistance. Nick, who can understand Spanish, couldn't understand the person on the phone, so we had to be transferred to an English speaker. And then after about 10 minutes talking to him, they decided to send someone to help us.
Normally, we would have just left the car and took a taxi to the airport, but we were stuck on a one lane road, and at 5am, there was no one to leave our keys with, so we waited and also started to fret that we were going to miss our flight back home. Then Nick decided to try the engine again, and it worked! So we started driving back to the airport while also letting Hertz know that we no longer needed assistance. And since it was only a 15 minute drive to the airport, we actually made it there with about 20 minutes left before boarding, yay!
But yeah, that wasn't the best way to end our trip, but it all worked out in the end.