I'm going to try to be brief today. It's past midnight and Eneida and I are starting on El Camino at 0700 hours from the center of town. (That's 7 AM for the rest of you.)
Nevertheless, I want to share some of Bilbao, where we arrived last night and spent a very pleasant evening despite the jet-lag.
The first thing that caught my eye in Bilbao (Bilbo in the basque language) and led us to get off the bus from the airport was this massive canine floral arrangement. Never seen one like this before.
The dog seemed to be watching over the Guggenheim Museum in the background and making sure that the Hugo Boss models didn't get too close.
The museum is something else though...
It needs to be seen in person from multiple angles in order to be appreciated. However, I wasn't sure if it was going to set sail,
or if instead it was designed to take off and fly away.
Look Ma, no right angles!
The setting of the Guggenheim Bilbao is spectacular down by the river, insects included.
By the way, is that a White Walker spider? (For you Game of Thrones fans.)
Both eye-catching public art and stunning contemporary architecture are on display in Bilbao in droves.
OK, you got me. Not all of it is works equally well...
However, there are things here outside the post-modern. There are some gorgeous older structures around town. Here is the Ayuntamiento as an example.
And another striking building by the same river as the Guggenheim but near the older part of Bilbao known here as the Casco Viejo.
Nevertheless, a lot of thought seems to have been given to the visual side of things in Bilbao. Here's the lobby of our hotel.
No, it's not a museum and, yes you are allowed to use the furniture.
Getting back to the older things in town, here's a spot recommended by a local where we consequently tried our first "pinchos" from this region.
Pinchos are a regional dish from these parts and we were reminded that they are not tapas but they are also delicious.
We sat outside on a pleasant evening in a plaza here and ate our way through the menu.
In spite of the delicious indulgences, we were also reminded that there are some serious political and national issues here in the Basque region that need to be sorted out and which engender strong feelings.
I don't speak Basque but I believe the poster suggests that the region is the home to ETA prisoners and refugees.
To close on a different note and get back to the stated intent of this blog, by pure chance on our way back to the hotel we came across an unmistakable symbol that marks El Camino.
It is a graphical representation of a scallop shell which Eneida and I will both be carrying with us and displaying as a symbol of the pilgrimage we are about to undertake. This one marks a portion of the northern route of El Camino that goes through the ancient heart of Bilbao, the Casco Viejo.
Finally, we arrived at St. Jean Pied-de-Port across the border in southern France where in just a few hours we begin our pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, on the western part of Spain. Our first destination was a very busy Accueil pèlerins (pilgrim office) at no. 39 rue Citadel where we each obtained our Credencial (pilgrim passport) and scallop shell and mapped out our planned crossing of the Pyrenees with aid of the very friendly and helpful staff.
This medieval town is too charming and welcoming for me not to post some photos. Here is a view down rue Citadel
That shows the gate through which we will cross the city walls as we depart in the morning.
The weather department forecasts warm and sunny conditions over the next few days as a heat wave settles over the region. This is welcome news to me as it can also be very wet and cool here in the mountains, even in summer, and where sudden thunderstorms can explode the sky.
Once safely resting at the next stop, I promise to show some more of this ancient regional capital and of its inhabitants and passers by.
¡Buen Camino!
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