The Trip of a Lifetime: June 20 to 23, 2022 - Bilbao

June 20, 2022: Captain’s log: star-date 64; Monday, Bilbao, Spain
We put Madrid to the South and headed to Bilbao. For the fourth time we hired a personal car to drive us. It’s expensive, but keeps the misery index down. It will probably be the last time we do it, because they are quoting us almost $800 for our next leg. We are going to try FlixBus next. With cab fare at each end of the leg, it will cost around $150. And, you can upgrade to guaranteed seats up front, which I did for Roz.
The ride to Bilbao was spectacular. I was shooting videos and Carlos the driver was (hands free) shooting videos. Lots of mountains, from the outskirts of Madrid to the middle of Bilbao. Our new address is Mozart Plaza Nº 3 4º B, Bilbo, Euskadi 48012, Spain
We aren’t actually in Bilbao. Our host, Javier told us it is a former industrial neighborhood that is being redeveloped. It’s across from a crappy old abandoned factory, but the apartment itself is really nice and pretty close to everything we want to do here.
When we rolled into town, the digital thermometer in the town square read 20 degrees. Wow, that’s only 68 Fahrenheit! What a change from 30 to 40 degrees Celsius in Madrid. And we looked at the weather for Paris next week. Rainy lows 10 (50) and highs only 20 (68). I guess we will be breaking out the jackets again. I may have one long sleeve shirt left.
So, here’s how to amaze your friends with your knowledge of Celsius. First learn that 20 C = 68 F (getting a little chilly) and 30 C = 86 F (68 reversed and also getting close to uncomfortably warm). Once you can look at the weather in C and convert it in your head to F within that range, then learn that 10 C = 50 F and 40 C is a little more than twice that (it is actually 104F). Got it? Now go out there and be a sanctimonious a**hole like me…
This isn’t our first foray into Basque Country. We went to Biarritz for part of our honeymoon. That’s in the French Basque area. We also drove across the frontier to San Sebastián/Donostia for a day. What a cool place. Probably not going to venture too far from here, so we won’t get a chance to go back there.
It was after 4:00 PM by the time we settled in, and we hadn’t really eaten all day, so we made sandwiches for lupper (lunch and supper) and then we just hung out and planned adventures for this week.
mañana

June 21, 2022: Captain’s log: star-date 65; Tuesday, Bilbo, Spain
Wow! Day 65. That means 50 days since we got off the ship and 38 days until we get on the next one. We’ve still only booked until Paris next week, and aren’t even sure where we are going after that. Crazy, huh?
We took the train to Bilbao and hung out in the Casco Viejo (Old City) and La Ribera (market), where we had pintxos. It’s kind of a tourist trap. Busloads of people came in while we were there. Food was good, but could have been fresher.
Then we took the Hop on Hop Off Bus and toured the city. This place is beautiful! Rain coming in heavy this evening, so we grabbed food to nuke on our way home.
mañana

June 22, 2022: No captain’s log

June 23, 2022: Captain’s log: star-date 67; Thursday, Bilbo, Spain
Today we took a boat ride down the a boat ride down the Ría de Bilbao. It looks like a rio (river) but it’s a ria (estuary). The morning turned out to be beautiful and so was the scenery.
We had a lunch near the dock, I got my third haircut of the trip, and headed home to get ready for tomorrow, when we leave Spain. We got caught in a drenching rain, coming from the train station. Good thing it’s only a seven minute walk.
We did our wash again. It seems like we are always doing our wash. We packed and got ready for our long bus trip tomorrow. We will be eating sandwiches and beverages; even some Snickers Bars, we scored at a secret location. Goodbye Spain! Love ya!
Things I’ll miss about Spain are tapas and pinxtos. The best beer I found here: Cerveza 1906 Reserva Especial.
mañana