Eskerrik asko, Pais Vasco!

I LOVE Pais Vasco! Great food, ridiculously nice people, amazing views...what more could you ask for? It was like being Paris except with nicer people (sorry Parisians!). And Bilbao? Well, not quite as beautiful as San Sebastian, but still quite nice.

San Sebastian is known for world famous chefs and their delicious pintxos (name for tapas in the Basque Country). Who else better to go there with than Brie, my friend who knows a lot about and knows how to appreciate good food. Brie and I had planned our trip to San Sebastian for a while now. We were going to take the Thursday midnight bus so we can arrive in S. Sebastian early Friday, stay at a pension for one night and bus it back to Madrid again at midnight on Saturday. In the end, we ended up road tripping it with Tess, her roommates and their friends. I have to admit I was a little nervous about it at first. I'm not really a fan of travelling in large groups - a lot more disorganized, and lot more opinions which can lead to arguments and tension. In the end, it was totally worth it. Yes it ended up being more expensive and there were some tense moments but in the end, we had a pretty rockin' time.

We left Madrid late Thursday night and arrived in rainy S. Sebastian at 2 AM. Luckily we found a hostel at the last minute. The next day, we started the day right by going to what is supposedly the best pintxos bar in the city, La Cuchara de San Telmo. A. ma. zing! Who knew I would like cow's cheek?! And the risotto con queso de cabra or the cabra con verduras? Soo good. The scallops, croqueta, and bacalao tempura? Buenissima!!! Just talking about it makes my mouth water. After, we walked the city along the beach, talking about anything and everything and learning lots of dirty German words (two of the guys were Austrian and one German). S. Sebastian, or Donostia in Euskera which is the language of Pais Vasco, is located off of the Bay of Biscay. The views along the Bay is ridiculously beautiful. It's like you're being transported from one city to another within minutes. We ended our walk by going up the funicular and seeing the city from the top of a mountain. After a quick nap at our hotel, we had a nice meal at a restaurant where I had bacalao pil pil (olive oil and garlic sauce). Being a city next to the sea, seafood is obviously very good here. Oh and it was good! Donostia is small but there's enough to see - and eat - in one, or ten, day. I might have to buy a house here some day...

Saturday, we left S. Sebastian after one last round of pintxos and headed off to Bilbao. I have to admit I wasn't really keen on going to Bilbao. I hear it's nice but all I really wanted to see was the famous Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry. Well, I'm definitely glad I went. It was such a cool museum. Just the building itself was interesting enough. The art was also impressive. One sala had light installation that had signboards transmitting phrases that doesn't seem poetic, but ends up being poetic. At least to me they were. They were very simple but very powerful words. It was the coolest thing ever. They also had an entire floor full of art done by Cai Guo-Qiang, a Chinese artist who uses gunpowder, among other materials. Another floor was dedicated to Takashi Murakami, the Japanese "Superflat" artist. I'm usually not a fan of anime or Japanese modern art in general. I went into the exhibition with a lot of doubt but came out really enjoying it. I finally got it. I don't know how to explain it, but I get it. After the museum, we spent the rest of the night looking for a hostel and getting lost (ha!).

Sunday we had to say goodbye to Pais Vasco. I wasn't really quite sure what to expect from this part of Spain. I knew that the best Spanish food come from here; I knew the terrorist group, ETA, reside in the area; I knew a good chunk of the population still speak Euskera. In the end, Pais Vasco went way beyond my expectations. Although my roommates are Vascos and are two of the nicest people I know, one can't help but think that Vascos may be a pretty hard, closed group of people. When you hear people talk about how it's better not to mention anything that might associate them with Espana, you start thinking things. But I didn't get that at all! Every person we've talked to was nothing but nice, friendly and helpful. One even volunteered to lead us with his car to our destination when he realized we were lost. I would say the nicest people I've met in Spain are Vascos.

And for that I would like to say thank you in their own language, eskerrik asko!