Adios Spain!

I guess it is about time to wrap up with my time in Spain, seeing as I have been in Portugal for over a week now! I left Barcelona on Aug. 18 and took a night train to Bilbao. This was my first night train experience, and was not bad. I do have to say that I was shocked that I (almost) fit in my bunk, seeing as I seem to tower over most of the people here! I had the day to spend in Bilbao, at the Guggenheim Museum. (If you have never seen any pictures of this museum, now would be a good time to google it!) The trip was worth it simply to see the building, regardless of the exhibits inside. I have really never seen anything quite like it - the undulating forms of the exterior assume the appearance of a fish, as the entire surface is covered with panels of 1/2 mm thick panels of titanium, making it look like fish scales. The combination of the titanium, which constantly changes color depending on the light and wind, the translucent glass panels allowing a view inside, and the use of sandstone, somehow all thrown into crazy shapes and forms, was quite a sight. After spending the day there, I took the bus in the evening to Santander, which is 90 minutes west of Bilbao, and stayed there for 2 nights.

Santander was really beautfiful - right on a bay surrounded by hills (I guess they are called "mountains" here?). I did a lot of walking and exploring and spent a day at the beach relaxing. This was the largest dorm room I had slept in yet - 16 beds! However, it was surprisingly quiet and I haven´t really slept better since! I also fully took advantage of the free breakfast at this place - so much better than what hostels usually provide. They even had steamed milk for coffee and hot chocolate - so gourmet! Unlike the hostels I have been staying in in Portugal, no one at this one spoke English! Made for interesting "conversations" with my limited knowledge of Spanish....

The bus ride to my next destination was incredible - at many points along the way, out the right side of the bus, the only colors were the brilliant blue of the sea, rust brown of the terracotta rooftops and vibrant green foiliage, while on the other side was green, green, and more green - covering mountains and valleys - incredible! I had to keep pinching myself to remember that I was in Spain, not Ireland! About halfway through the trip the bus stopped for a break, and the driver said we would leave at 4:15pm (one hour later). As he was speaking in Spanish, I asked the man sitting next to me, just to make sure I had understood him correctly. I got off the bus, used the washroom in the station, and then headed out to go for a walk. To my horror, as I passed the spot where the bus was parked, I saw it starting to pull away!! I sprinted over to it, knocked on the door and the driver saw me and stopped. (I was freaking out, thinking that I would be left in a random city without by bag!) He then proceeded to explain to me that he was going to park the bus, and he would return in one hour...... ooops....at least I provided some entertainment for the crowd of people standing around and waiting...... stupid tourist who doesn´t speak Spanish. (On this note, I am constantly amazed at all of the Europeans I meet who speak at least 3 languages fluently - it is such a norm for them! It makes me feel very spoiled that my first language just happens to be English, which I am seeing more and more is really a Universal language. I also feel very limited, only speaking one language fluently, and I think I will sign up for some Spanish classes when I return home. I have also had to explain to so many people that although Canada is a billingual country, no, I do not speak French, as I am from Western Canada.....does not make sense to me or to them. I think if we take pride in being billingual, then we should all be able to speak both languages!)

My final stop was Santiago De Compostela, a small city that is the destination for the pilgramage walk that starts in the French Pyranees. I felt like I was defintely the only non-local there that had not done the walk - the entire place was teeming with people in hiking boots, backpacks and walking sticks! The town was great, with very narrow, windy and cobbled streets. I must say that I have not had any problems navigating myself around new places, until I arrived here. The combination of the windy streets, along with the fact that many of the streets changed their name at least 2 or 3 times along their length meant that I found myself walking in circles on numerous occasions! A lot of my time here was spent doing one of my favorite things - putting the map away and wandering down whichever street looks interesting. This town had incredible pastries - Palmera which is a doughy pastry covered in chocolate, and Chocolate con Churros which are these deep fried tubes that you dip in melted chocolate (they eat this for breakfast!) - so yum! I ate one every day! I did a bit of a hike while I was here, up the "mountain" (I guess I am spoiled having grown up in the Rockies, but I have a difficult time calling a lot of these hills mountains..) which had a spectacular view of the town below. On the way down I decided to take a different route, and must have been caught up too much in the beautiful scenery, as I ended up in someone´s backyard - literally amongst their corn stalks!

After 3 days here, it was time to say goodbye to Spain and embark on the next leg of my journey - Portugal. More on that to come......

"If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all of your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears." - Glenn Clark