Besides Madrid, what we really wanted to visit this time in Spain was the Basque Country. This was our third trip to Spain and we had already been to Andalucía and Catalonia (Barcelona). Basque has held a special place in our list to visit after we met Vitoria and Raul in 2003 while we were travelling in Patagonia in South America. They were from Bilbao and proudly said that they were from the Basque Country, not Spain.
The Basque Country is a part of Spain but reluctantly. It is a distinct region populated by people who speak a strange language, not connected to Spanish or even any Indo-European language. Euskara is the proper language although most people outside the region would call is Basque language. These people mounted a campaign to separate from Spain a few years ago. ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), the political organization spearheading the effort exploded bombs and killed a lot of people. Those days are gone, ETA disbanded in 2018, but the desire to separate still remains.
Two major cities to visit are San Sebastián and Bilbao. We went to both, spending three days in the former and two days in the latter. While we liked Bilbao, we loved San Sebastián.
We used an intercity bus service to visit both cities. We were able to book on-line with ALSA, one of the bus companies. The buses were quite nice with an entertainment system (just like in an airplane) and a toilet. The ride from Madrid to San Sebastian was 6 hours, but the time went fast as we went through a very pretty countryside. The part near the ocean is quite hilly. If you continue going east from there, you end up in the Pyrenees, a mountain chain separating Spain from France.
Our hotel (a pension) was in the old part of the city where no cars are allowed. Our room was on the third floor of a building and it had two windows looking out at a plaza and a street. The whole place was filled with bars and eating places. A common practice in San Sebastian is pintxo barhopping in the old town. Go to a place that looks interesting, order some pintxos (tapas) and a glass of txakoli, pay, and then go to the next one. The Basque word for this is Txikiteo. By the way, tx is pronounced as ch.
One place we liked a lot is known for its mejillones (mussels)- based pintxos. One spicy one is called “Tigres”, and it was fun to see one of the servers shout “Tigres” to the kitchen staff every time someone ordered it. It was so tasty; we went back there two nights. We did not have to when served, instead tell them after we were done. We reminded them what we ate and they charged us accordingly. Everything is based on an honor system.
San Sebastian has a great location. The city is built around a conch shaped beach that goes around almost 270 degrees.
On both ends are hills that can easily be climbed for stunning views of the beach, the city and the hills behind. I hiked up one of the hills (as Meera was still limping) and we took a funicular to the top of the other.
Bilbao is also interesting. Located in a valley with a river flowing through it, the city is charming. The geographic location aside, it was not charming until a major redevelopment took place. The centerpiece of the renewal was the Guggenheim museum, an architectural wonder.
It truly is a sight to see and photograph. As my architect friend says, nowadays if you can imagine, you can build it. How did Frank Gehry imagine it? How was it built?
The works inside are all modern and whether you appreciate them or not is up to your taste. We found some of them quite interesting, like one, which is composed of huge circular mazes, while some others, like the ones with slashes in canvases made us scratch our heads.
Besides the Museum, there are a few other attractions. We also took a funicular up a hill to get a panoramic view of the city. Quite nice. There are plenty of pintxos places in the old town where we stayed. There were lots of young people sitting on the street drinking and smoking in the neighborhood where our hotel was located. While not intimidating, the atmosphere was certainly rough.