Bilbao and Salamanca: Oct 26th-28th

We arrived in Bilbao on Saturday and immediately took off for the famous Guggenheim Museum. The Museum had two main exhibitions: One was called “Art in the U.S.A.: 300 Years of Innovation”; The other featured art pieces created by young Basque artists. We had a great time walking through the museum. Not only was the interior a work of art, the building exterior was …

We had seafood tapas (brie with anchovies; crab bruschetta; green olives, peppercinis and anchovies) and vino in the Grand Platz. We stopped in another bar for more tapas and vino. For this second round we had a bocadilla (small sandwich) and a tortilla espanola (Spanish potato omelet).

The next day, we walked along the Gran Via. Since it was siesta time for the locals, many of the shops were closed temporarily. We stopped by a bar for a late lunch. There, we ordered Sangria which was very delicious, red wine, home-made tortilla espanola, and ham and squid croquettes (fried cheese balls basically). The squid croquettes were interesting because they actually used black ink for color and flavor.

From Bilbao we made it Salamanca in five hours on a single car train. Via the scenic route we saw some of the countryside of north and central Spain. With perfectly blue skies, the fields, grass, hills, houses, windmills, livestock and anything else along the way seemed to shine with an aura of gold that must only be endemic to Spain.

We arrived in Salamanca around 8 P.M. We enjoyed a late night walk around the city center. The city was absolutely beautiful because all of the famous monuments and cathedrals were lit up perfectly for all to see. The Plaza Mayor was a sight to see! There were lights, people, and bars everywhere. Next stop, Madrid!