Escalators?!?

One of our favorite parts of Vitoria was the fact that there were escalators located on every hill (yes, even in the old district) to make the climb easier. Perhaps this is why so many people refer to Vitoria as the city where cars are trumped by pedestrians.

Vitoria

The next day, we took the metro back over to the bus station, so we could take a day-trip to Vitoria, a quaint city with rustic charm located in the interior of the Basque Country. It is one of the most overlooked spots by tourists, which added to its attraction for us. A perfect opportunity to exchange the slews of angry tourists for a peaceful day in the city's art galleries and medieval old quarter.

Historic San Sebastián

On our way back to the bus station to go back to Bilbao, we wandered through the old streets of the historic district of town.

Adiós rain!

The storm finally subsided, and nothing but blue skies prevailed! The city seemed to just sparkle under the sunlight, still glistening wet.

Storm at sea

Like any coastal town, the weather can change in an instant, which was exactly what happened during out hike back to the city center. Out of nowhere the sky opened up, and it started to downpour.

While most of us huddled under the shelter of an umbrella or an awning on the beach, the local teens (and dog) could not be stopped in the middle of their soccer game!

Peine de los Vientos

At the tip of the peninsula featuring the Monte Igueldo, we arrived at one of the most famous sculptures created by Basque artist Eduardo Chillido in 1977, the Peine de los Vientos (Comb of the Winds). The work is a collection of three sculptures of intertwining steel formations located where the waves crash into the rocks, creating art out of the natural elements found in the sea and wind.

San Sebastián

Our next main daytrip from Bilbao was San Sebastián, a city situated on the crescent-shaped Bahía de la Concha. In fact, La Concha beach is said to be among the world's most beautiful beaches located within a city.

For us, it was basically another beach day filled with walking along the shoreline. Although it was too cold to get in the water, there were several people of Northern European descent taking advantage of the opportunity for some quality sunbathing.

Back to Bilbao

The next morning, we took a bus back to the bustling metropolis of Bilbao to spend a few nights in the Pension Mardones, a budget hostel located in the heart of Bilbao's Casco Viejo. While we were dragging our luggage along the streets to our hostel, we actually ran into an open-air jazz concert, which was certainly worthy of plopping a squat for the free entertainment.

Un cafelito by the sea

All that walking made for some very tired people in need of caffeine, so we stopped off at this little café by the shore. We were actually sitting at one of the tables directly over the water; it doesn't get much more oceanfront than that!

La playa

At last, we made it to the beach, and as you can see, it was nice to get our toes back in the sand!

Boats

Just for you Padre, I made sure and took lots of pictures of all of the boats that were docked in the port.

Which one was yours again?

Santander

So, it has been a long time since we last posted anything to said blog, but it is better late than never, eh?

Back in May (yes, I know it’s awful to be this behind), we took advantage of our time in the north of Spain to go to Santander, a city located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea. One of the main highlights to the city was that it is located along the northern side of the Bay of Santander, making the port area and beaches the focus of our day spent there.

The city's most beautiful beach, Playa del Sardinero (Beach of the Sardine Seller), is a bit of a trek from the city center, so we decided to check out the coming and going ships at the port before making out way to the beach. It was a bit of an overcast day, but it was still nice to stand on the boardwalk and gaze off at the green shores across the bay.

In the second picture from the top, we stumbled upon some children diving for coins in the bay, only to find that they were actually sculptures!

Playa de Comillas

Just before we had to walk back to catch the bus back to Santander, we took a nice leisurely stroll on the beach. It was far too cold to get in the water, so the beach wasn’t packed with sunbathers, which made for a relaxing walk on what felt like our own little private stretch of sand.

Fishing Port

From there, we made our way to the town’s tiny fishing port.

Universidad Pontífica

After we got turned around and started back into town, we ran into the Universidad Pontífica in Comillas, which is no longer actually a pontifical university.