Spain Day 6 Bilbao July 19,2015

Since we didn't know of anywhere else to eat in the area, we met at 8:45 in the bar area. We had croissants and muffins. I was happy to be able to get orange juice, too. It was also handy, that we could charge the cost to the room.
The Basilica de Begona was on a hill next to the hotel property. We were unsure how long it would take us to climb up there and to get inside, so we headed out at 9:25. We walked around the fenced off pool to a set off stairs at the sudden hillside. It was hazy and cool, which was a nice change. It took us only 10 minutes to get up there. We found we were directly behind the church. This gave us time to take photos of the exterior and to read up on the church.

We found out, that the basilica is on the Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James. There are several pilgrimage routes that lead to the Cathedral of Santiago de Campostela and the basilica is on one of them. Because there are several routes, the seashell (scallop) is the symbol of the Camino. We saw one embedded in the ground near the front of the basilica. (I would later see the scallop as a pin, but didn't buy it, since I was not a pilgrim.) We're pretty sure that several hikers we saw were on the Camino.
I'd chosen the 10 am Mass, because it was bilingual. Now, that doesn't mean what it means here at home. Bilingual in this instance was Spanish and Basque, because we were in Basque country. I figured, that this was our only opportunity to hear this language. Plus, we had the bonus of not understanding what was being said in two different languages. A good thing about Catholic is that the Mass is basically the same everywhere. This makes it easier to figure out what is going on. For common prayers, I just say them to myself in English. (For some reason, though, none of us could remember the Gloria in its present form!)
The church put up screens and what was usually projected on them was Basque. The basilica is dedicated to the Virgin Begona, the patron saint of Biscay. She occupies a place of honor above the altar.

After Mass, the shop in the narthex was open and I was able to get postcards, as well as stickers for the area. The clerk kindly added a prayer card to the Virgin to my bag.
We went around the cloisters side of the church to head back to the stairs to go back to the room shortly before 11. Mass and a shop in under an hour. My priest at home should hear about that!
At 11:20, we headed out for the Metro. It was 24 degrees C (75.2F). In less than 15 minutes, we were each buying 1 trip for 1,50 euros. It was not cool, but it was not as hot a station as Barcelona. It was very modern and deep underground. I believe, we heard that the Metro was put in because of the Guggenheim. The seats on the train had fuzzy cloth on them, which was new to us. We were at the Moyua Station at 11:40 and it was now 28 C (82.4F).
We began following signs to the Guggenheim Bilbao, while keeping an eye out for food. We knew it was on the early side for lunch, but we still needed to eat. We finally came upon the Restaurant Zuretzat, a tapas restaurant, at noon. It was a small place, with a bar on the left and some tables with 4 chairs each up against the opposite wall. Even though it is on the main street leading to the museum-we could see the museum from the sidewalk-the bartender showed no signs of speaking English. We ordered our drinks-2 Coke Lite, 1 Coke and 1 coffee- and began to survey the bar counter. It was covered in plates with food on them and each plate was covered by plastic wrap. We each received a small plate and pulled back the plastic on various platters to choose our food. Once again, my reading of Rick Steves came in handy, because when I saw the toothpicks in each sandwich, I figured out what was going on. We would be charged by the number of toothpicks. Each tapas turned out to be only 2 euros. Had I known, I'd have had another! I never knew exactly what I was eating. One definitely tasted like tuna.

Leaving at 12:25,we found Amorino, a gelato shop, on the corner a little further down the street . My husband chose not to get any, but my daughters and I are huge fans, having eaten one every day we were in Italy. I chose a Normale for 4,50 with stracciatella, ciocolata Amorino, and Fragola (strawberry). Such luscious coolness on a rapidly warming day!

Now, it was time to head over to the reason for our entire visit to Bilbao-the Guggenheim Bilbao. Ever since I read an article about it, probably in Newsweek, when it opened, I've wanted to visit this place. I was fascinated by the architecture and have recognized it in pictures every since. It was finally before us.

Meant to evoke the sailing ships that made Bilbao an important port, as well as fish and the wind, the building uses very modern materials and incredibly geometry. I was so excited to finally see it in person! And how cool-in front is Jeff Koons' Puppy. I don't always like his work, even though that last name is very important to us, but some of his stuff is awesome, we discovered on this visit. We were very excited to see that a major exhibition of his work was currently on display in the museum.
I had thought, that our tickets, which were the last ones we would be using that were bought at home, were for 1 pm. Upon closer inspection, I saw they were for 2. We had thought, that we'd be walking here from the hotel, but it was further away than anticipated. I suggested, we use the extra time to go around the exterior of the building. However, my husband went inside to see, if we could get in earlier. I expected little to come of this. So, I was very surprised, when he came back saying we could.
My husband had to check his backpack after we picked up the audio guides that I'd also prepaid. These conveniently hung around our necks. You just put them up to your ear, after pressing the numbers on a plaque or near a piece of art. Then, after scanning my printout from home,we were allowed in the atrium.

As everyone else did, we stopped here to listen to the audio intro, which told us about the building's construction and interesting aspects of its look. The guide was invaluable on our visit, as it told us about the building and various pieces. At its suggestion, we stepped on to the back terrace to view the river, the building and the art work there. (We also ran out later to look at the fog-producting installation that evidently worked on the hour.) On the terrace, we had a close-up view of Koons' Tulips, made of mirror-polished stainless steel. The guide encourages you to take a photo that shows your reflection. They look like they are air-filled balloons. Terrific color! What a neat piece!

Back inside, I took so many pictures of the architecture of the museum! I loved it even more in person and it was such a thrill to finally see it in person.

We came away from the Koons' exhibit with a new appreciation for him. Sure, some of his stuff may be kitschy (Michael Jackson and his monkey) or fairly pornographic (sex scenes featuring him and his wife in sculpture or paintings), but other stuff is mind blowing. Take Lobster. You get up close to it and it looks like the edges are seams of a blow-up toy. There were dents where you'd expect on a blow-up toy. But it is painted metal!

I took photos of any work they'd let me and that was just a few and they were all by Koons. I took one of my husband and daughters with the Balloon Dog, which I later tweeted with #KoonsGuggenheimByYou as part of a contest. We didn't win, but it was still cool.
Other than Koons' work that the museum owns, none of the collection was on display. On the top floor was an exhibit of American graffiti artist Basquiat's work. We were unimpressed by it. Later, I was trying to get a handle on Richard Serra's The Matter of Time installation, which consists of giant rusted steel plates, in the largest gallery. We were walking through it, not getting the feelings the artist said we should, when he dissed "so-called architects" on the audio guide and indirectly referenced Frank Gehry and this museum. I found this supremely rude and his opinion wrong and I gave up listening to him or trying to "get" the piece.
After 5 1/4 hours, we found ourselves in the shop. We spent over one-half hour in there. I got postcards, of course, but also a key chain made of the same material as the skin of the building.
It was time to take the audio guide's suggestion and do what I always intended to do, get a picture of the riverside of the museum. Our older daughter decided she'd had enough and did not join us in our trek across the bridge. Oh, the view she missed!

It was very unfortunate that after 7 pm, it was still so light, because we did not get to see the night lighting of the museum. But, I did love what I saw! I am so happy that we were able to get here, so that I could finally see this unique piece of architecture.
Back on the museum side of the river, we strolled through the very busy children's park. Kids playing. Folks sitting on benches on either side of the river. How pleasant! The air was marvelous. My younger daughter and I enjoyed watching a mom utilizing tough love on her toddler. He did not want to leave, so she just started to walk away. He'd advance some, then cry and try to stand his ground. Once in a while, someone would stop to check on him, but, unlike here, no one immediately called the police or child services on her, and he learned now means now.
We'd passed a pizza place on the way to the museum and chose it for dinner. We saved a little money by sitting inside La Foca Nicanora at 7:32. It wasn't very cool, but cooler than outside. We ordered a pizza that was 1/2 Florida, because, you know, we just had to, and 1/2 Tijuana chicken.

It was a good pizza and we washed it down with a San Miguel for 2,40 for my husband and the usual sodas for the rest of us at 2,20 each. The bill came to 30,30 euros, which is not bad for dinner for 4.
Within 45 minutes, we moved on toward the Metro. We each paid 1,50 again for a trip that took 8 minutes. We were in our rooms by 8:52 to pack for our departure for Oviedo the next day.
I found that the rash on my ankles was worse tonight and itched in places. Could it be from being on my feet so much? I wish I knew!

Spain Day 5 Driving to Bilbao July 18, 2015

We met for breakfast at 8:40. It was an excellent buffet of fruit, pastries, hams, eggs and more. The view was very nice, too.

I know my plate looks a bit unhealthy, but I did follow up with yogurt. So, there's that.
We wanted to see more than stores in Andorra, so shortly before 10, we headed out to see St. Esteve church, which was just minutes away. It was a cool, comfortable walk and we saw more of where Andorrans actually live.
The Romanesque church was built in the 11th-12th centuries. We arrived before it opened for the day, which gave us time to explore the outside and the nearby square.

The square overlooked the street below, where I saw several of these:

They appear to be lights, but I cannot find any info on them in guidebooks or the Internet.
When we entered the church, the organist was practicing, which really added to the visit. The church had been restored in the 20th century. This is why the interior is so much more modern than the exterior leads one to believe.

I liked the church. The side chapel is reserved for prayer and still has the old stone walls. That was really cool.

They had the most unusual holy water fonts. I've never seen anything like them.

I loved the side door. It looked like what you'd expect on such an old church.

By 10:30, it was warming and we headed to the Pyrenees department store, which was catty corner from the hotel. They didn't have as much on any one floor as some of the other department stores did. As usual, the food particularly interested us.

Okay, Doritos, fine. But, Old El Paso? Really?
Our next stop was the post office. After all, Andorra is a "postage stamp" country. We mailed postcards to friends and family, but also to ourselves. This would be a cool souvenir. Being a stamp collector, I also asked about that and the clerk acted very used to that. I picked out some nice ones, before we headed back to the hotel to pack up.
At 11:50, we checked out and left my husband with the luggage in the lobby. The daughters and I headed next door to the McDonald's because they had a McCafe that looked incredible. We took pictures with the sign and went in to choose something. The macarons were just too tempting and there was a bulk price. Since there was a line, we left the older daughter to buy them.

The younger daughter and I hiked up the hill to the car, where we put 10,20 euros into the machine to pay our bill. It was much cheaper than we expected. My daughter chose to drive again and we headed out at 12:16 with 17505 on the odometer.
At 12:30, we stopped at a gas station near the border to clean the windows, which still had sand on them from Barcelona. We saw many, many vehicles entering the country. At 12:39, we stopped at the border to ask for passport stamps. The guard took our passports and we waited a while, but he came back without stamping them. Evidently, he was a Spanish border guard and we already had that stamp. The traffic on the other side just came to a standstill. I guess, Saturday is a big shopping day.

Driving through the Spanish countryside, we saw some nice little towns.

We also saw a lot of open fields and countryside, of course.
At 2:45, with 17681 on the odometer, we stopped at the Fraga rest area on the AP2. We were able to park the car under cover. Thank heavens, because it was so hot-96.8! The restaurant was cool and busy. It operated like a cafeteria, with folks walking along the counter pointing to what they wanted. My husband had been wanting paella and since none of the rest of us will eat it due to the fish, this was his chance. He also picked up a plate of fruit, including a donut peach, which we shared with our younger daughter. The head on the shrimp was a turn-off to the rest of us.

I chose brocheta de pollo, because the meat on the stick looked good. I didn't expect it to come with all the other stuff. It was good, if a bit greasy. We needed dessert, hence the apple pie, even if it didn't seem Spanish.

Even with two good sized bottles of Coke Zero (look at how the label looks like regular Coke) the bill was only 29,55 euros, which I charged to MasterCard to take advantage of my good exchange rate and cash back.
We filled the car with 29.78 liters of diesel for 34,60 euros and set off at 3:55. It was 99.5 degrees! The road now reminded me of the American West: dry, scrubby, mesas, etc.

At 4:14, we had major excitement-we crossed the Prime Meridian! Luckily signs warned us it was coming and we were prepared to snap photos. It was seriously cool on a really long driving day.

Shortly after 4:30, we paid our first toll of the day for 12,60 euros. Still no idea why. It began raining not long before 5, both on us and in the plain. (The joke for the day.) We passed wind farms, as the temperature dropped to 89.6 degrees. I really wish farmers would put out signs, so that we'd know what we were passing.
With the odometer showing 17824 and a heavy rain outside, we picked up our toll ticket at Zaragoza. 50 kilometers further and we stopped at the Tudela rest area. We were off again at 6:05. The elevation increased as did the mountains around us. In all, it was a lot more mountainous than I would have expected. At 7:51 and 18082 kilometers, we had the shock of the 32,05 euro toll. Good grief! Trying to find that much cash was nuts, so we put it on my MasterCard.
We soon found ourselves in the outer areas of Bilbao. At 8:10 and 18102 kilometers, my daughter having done yeoman's work by driving all day pulled into the Holiday Inn.

(We'd chosen the Holiday Inn so that my husband could get points.) By the time we'd unloaded the car and my daughter and I went back to put it down in the underground parking garage, it was raining again. We chose level -3 to avoid other cars as much as possible. The elevator, unfortunately, took us up to the courtyard. So, we had to sprint to stay as dry as possible.
The view out our window was not great:

And the bed was a bit weird for a double bed, what with the big separation in the middle, but it turned out to be comfortable.

Seeing no restaurants nearby, we gathered in the hotel restaurant at 9 for dinner. My younger daughter and I each ordered Oroyo white wine for 2 euros. My husband's red wine was 2,95 and my older daughter had Pepsi. I ordered a club sandwich for 8 euros, my husband lasagna for 10, my older daughter the Special Burger for 9,50 and my younger daughter the chicken sandwich for 9. Service was incredibly slow. Perhaps it was due to the wedding reception we could hear elsewhere in the hotel. The food nothing to write home about.

Look at that sauce on the lasagna! Argh!
By now, I had a headache. So, I headed to my room, while the others went off to get info on transportation for the next day's outing.

Spain Day 4 Andorra July 17, 2015

As I typed the title for this day, I realized, that one could argue that it is wrong, in that Andorra is a country, not a part of Spain. But, then again, I couldn't very well type Andorra Day 4 or even Andorra Day 1, as neither seems right. The trip is mainly to Spain. So, we'll stick with the title above.
We got up at 7:30 to a sunny sky with no clouds, but a bit of a haze. I've got my European ankle rash, that first turned up a few years ago in an equally hot Germany. However, this time it doesn't itch. I still say it is the heat, not an allergy, as the German pharmacist insisted at the time.
At 9, we all headed to the beach to experience the Mediterranean and get the car. There were already a fair number of folks there. There was a concrete ramp down to the beach along the seawall. At the bottom, there was a bit of a boardwalk to the rinsing stations. The sand wasn't too hot, but we were shocked at how cold the water was. It was also incredibly calm, more like a lake than what I expected. I don't think I expected it to be waves like the Atlantic, but I did think it would have some like the Gulf of Mexico does on the other side of Florida. But, just lapping of the water. Incredibly clear, too.

Not much in the way of shells were to be found either. I managed to get 2 small ones. I also got sand for my collection of spice jars of sand. It may sound like a weird thing to collect, but they are interesting to compare. Plus, it gives me a bit of real estate from the beaches I've visited.
I'd brought a towel on the trip, so cleaning up was a bit easier. Even rinsing didn't make the sand terribly easy to get off, though.
At 9:38, we found the car covered in what looked like dirt, but was no doubt sand. Seemed odd, what with the relative lack of breeze, but I guess that evening breeze that we experienced was enough to pick up sand-even that far from the actual beach.
Within 15 minutes, we were parked back at Diagonal Mar. We went back to our rooms to pack up and at 10:25, we checked out of the hotel. Now came the fun of getting the suitcases to fit back in the car. I left it to the three of them, while I got myself situated again in the driver's seat. I really hoped that leaving town would be easier than getting into it.
At 10:47, with the odometer showing 17,300, we headed off. My daughter programmed both GPS units with the address of our Andorran hotel. Until our GPS, Sarah, woke up, I followed signs pointing to Andorra. We were surprised first by an Ikea and then by a Toys R Us along the highway. The latter probably shouldn't have been a surprise, since there had been one in the mall. But, still, it seemed more like America than we expected. Soon, however, the scenery was more of what we expected:

Of course, the road sign on that second one is not like any we've seen at home.
At 11:35, we paid our first toll of the trip and it was 4,25 euros. We weren't always clear why we were paying a toll. Sometimes, it seemed to be for a tunnel. Others, it just seemed to be for the road. Maybe they take the attitude that the users should pay the bulk of the fees. Who knows?
The roads were good. I probably could have gone a lot faster than I did, but the car at the rental place had warned me that Spanish police like to ticket.
At 12:21 (17420 on the odometer), I finally found a photo op for us. It was near Massis del Pedraforca's exit and it was just a little park-like area on the side of the road. My husband started to wander down a path and discovered a stream. He encouraged us to come down and we found a nearer path to use. It was rather steep, but we all managed to get down, although each of us had to be caught at the bottom. I really wanted to touch the water, but bending down wouldn't do it, because the bank was too high. I couldn't kneel due to the knee, so the family had to hold onto me as I reached down to touch it. It felt wonderfully cool. Everyone took a turn. Then, there was the fun of getting back up the embankment. We found ourselves laughing like crazy. An excellent stop!
At 12:40, we were back on the road. According to Wikipedia, this was the Pre-Pyrennees. At 12:51, we entered Cadi Tunnel, which was 5026 meters long and at 1051m elevation, which explained the popping in our ears. The toll on the other side (17437) was a whopping 11, 65 euros, which we had to scrape up change to meet. They don't post signs ahead of time warning you of the amount of the toll, so that you can be prepared.
At 12:57 (17438), we pulled into a rest area for lunch, since we weren't sure what we'd find ahead and towns had been rather sparse. It was called Porta Cerdanya. It was very well maintained. It served both sides of the highway and we crossed a bridge to reach the restaurant. My younger daughter was quite disappointed that the ski shop was closed for the season.
We looked around at the self-service food, but wound up ordering from the counter. (We were surprised to see Oreos and Chips Ahoy in the self-service area.) My husband and I got 2 Bocadillo Suprema (long rolls with chicken and ham), 1 liter of Coke Zero to share, and 2 bags of Lay's (!) chips, but they weren't flavors you can get at home:

Once we tried them, we wished we could get them at home. They were delicious! Our daughters ordered ham and ham and brie on the local long rolls. The seating area was very pleasant. Part of it had tablecloths for evening meals. They were having trouble with their new credit card machine and it took until after the meal for it to work and let us pay.
We were on the road again about 2, feeling refreshed.  We saw some interesting signs.

By 2:46, I was feeling incredibly sleepy, which my medication often does to me, which is why I don't drive long distances alone. So, with 17479 on the odometer, we switched drivers. I soon realized, we shouldn't have. Why? Just 9 minutes later and at 17486, my daughter crossed the border into Andorra.
Drat! Well, that gave me a chance to appreciate how different it looked.

They seem to have built along the ravine created by the river that ran near the road. The capital, Andorra la Vella, seemed to be mostly in this valley, with just a bit running up the sides.
At 3:14 (17497), we reached our hotel. There was no street parking here and, in fact, there were yellow pylons and cafe areas, but there was an opening right in front of the Hotel de L'Isard just big enough for the car.

I'd chosen the hotel for its location in the older part of town and because the place looked so cool with that stone facade. We were given rooms 110 and 109, which were actually separated by an L-shaped hall. They were simple rooms that had a bit of mountain view over the roof. They were not new or modern, but seemed fine for the night. (It did turn out that dealing with the air conditioning was an issue. It blew directly on me, which wasn't great, but turning it off, meant it was actually too hot. In the mountains!)
At 3:35, the younger daughter and I went off to move the car to the parking lot up the hill to which we were directed. She chose to drive, because she felt, she'd already had to deal with the one-way streets and understood them. We couldn't get directly to Lot 5A, but had to drive back down the hill and then cut up to the lot before reaching the hotel. When we got to the lot, it said it was full, even though, we could see spots. The lot was built into the side of the mountain and there was a row of spots to the right of the entrance that were full, but to the left was a big open area. There was a sign that said something about a festival, but the date had already passed. We had to do something with the car, so we went back to 4A, which was the garage for a large department store. Very few spots existed on each floor, but we finally found one on level 5A. We cut through the store, which was catty corner from the hotel. At the hotel, they gave us another suggestion and we went back to try again. The clerk in the store wasn't thrilled to validate, when we'd bought nothing, but we wound up paying nothing to park. The exit was scary steep and came out somewhere we hadn't been before. We got a bit lost, but finally came upon the other lot, 1A, which turned out to be underground. My daughter wanted to give lot 5A another shot, so we headed there. We pulled into the entrance because we saw a car exiting at the other end and after just a moment, the light turned green and we could park. Hurrah! It was now 4:18 and the odometer read 17503. We found the pay machine, so that we'd know where that was.
By 4:30, we were in our rooms to get ready to explore. We all wanted our passports stamped, so we headed to the info center. They told us we had to do it at the border. Coming in, they had just waved us across the border. We'd have to try as we left the country.
We came out to a bit of rain. It didn't last terribly long. Just across the plaza, we found a Salvador Dali sculpture. That was a pleasant surprise.

I must admit, that this was really the only culture we saw in Andorra. Cirque du Soleil was in town, but we didn't go. People come here to shop due to low taxes. We saw lots of shoppers. We also saw lots of alcohol and lots of cigarettes for sale.

We didn't come to shop, except for postcards and such. We wanted to see this postage stamp country. My husband couldn't understand why the rest of us insisted on coming here. We took the attitude, that if we were going to be as close as Barcelona, it would be a crime not to take advantage of the opportunity to come here. We'll never get here any other way.
We did wander into some stores. We spent some time in a department store below the info center. We love looking at what kinds of kitchen things people use. My daughters even picked up a few items. Then, we spent time just exploring the grocery store in the department store. So cool! Lots of chocolates, wines, fish-yuk, so many cheeses!
By 6:50, there was a nice cool breeze and the shoppers had disappeared to their buses or whatever. I found a cute mini Andorra sculpture, some pins and postcards in a shop.
At 8:00, we went to Casa Teresa, a restaurant that we'd seen recommended in Frommer's or Fodor's, not sure which.  It was sort of an Italian restaurant really. There was seating outside, inside near the bar and in the front of the place, but we were led further inside. We ordered a liter of sangria for those of us who drink and a Normal Coke for the older daughter. Olives and bread were also delivered, albeit unbidden.

This was a very good way to spend our time waiting for our food!
My older daughter and I each ordered Reina Pizza. Mine came with obvious burnt edges, something that would never happen at home, but I was able to eat the rest and it was okay.

My younger daughter absolutely loves spaghetti, so she had to order the Bolognese version that was on the menu. She liked it.

My husband ordered stuffed trout, which I could barely look at, but he likes it.

What I loved about this dinner was that even after 3 days of being together almost constantly and having all these meals together, we had just a great conversation during this one, with lots of laughter. I love this about my family. We get along so well on trips and can always find something to talk about.
We decided we had to try more than one dessert. The idea of a frozen lemon as a cup intrigued us, so we ordered the Limona Gelada, which was terrific. A great palate cleanser. Trufes were a must, because I am not going to miss a chance to have chocolate truffles. They were amazing! An intense dark chocolate flavor that I loved!

Our final choice was the profiteroles. They were easy to share and so light and creamy. Basically, they are cream puffs with chocolate poured over them. Yum!

The bill came to 60,82, which my older daughter paid. Rather than splitting dinner bills,we took turns paying. At lunch, the daughters usually paid for their own. It worked out.
At 9:38, we headed out and up the hill to our hotel. There were some folks in cafes, but the streets were quieter than during the shopping time of day. At 9:50, we were already back to our rooms.