Happy Saturday!
Yesterday was a GREAT day! Class was good, the weather was beautiful, and I got to do some new things...
After class--at around 4:30--we went to Getxo/Portugalete, which is the site of the oldest still-operating hanging bridge in the world (yes, older and better-functioning than the one in Germany.) There is an option to ride across the river in a little car thingy, but 6 of us braved the winds and walked across. It was actually pretty safe--felt a lot better than the Eiffel Tower!
We met up with the others in the group at the bottom of the bridge (yes, the "wussies" that didn't feel like crossing up top--about 7 others), and we walked to Santurtxi, a traditionally Basque town, for their "Sardinera." You're probably thinking that the word Sardinera looks an awful lot like a word you already recognize...like sardine? Ding ding ding! We have a winner! The Sardinera was in fact a gigantic sardine grilling. When the wind blew, depending on where you were, it smelled like either barbeque (great smell) or sardines (terrible smell). Unfortunately, coming home, I realized that everything--clothes, hair, purse, jacket--smelled like sardines. And yes, I DID try a sardine! Not as terrible as you'd think! I mean, they're small fish, CLEARLY freshly caught by the folks in this port city, and they charred the bejeezus out of them. AND with your sardines (they give you several on a plate, but we split them among our group) they give you free wine and bread. I mean, why not?! ;)
And because you're probably wondering, this Sardinera is in honor of Nuestra Senora del Carmen, or Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (I think that's the English translation...?) Her feast day is July 16th; she's not as popular here as she is in Chile (She's Chile's patroness), but she's still a big deal among the maritime communities.
Because the streets of Santurtxi were filled with people (and smoke, and the smell of sardines), we decided to head back to Bilbao to get some real food--preferably that didn't include heads, tails, and/or skin. Go figure--picky americans (and when I say "americans," I mean it in the purest sense of the word: USA/Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Colombia). That being said, after a good bit of squabbling and wandering around, we ended up at this place that served the most amazing croquetas. Croquetas are these little balls of bechamel with bits of (in this case) ham and cheese and are then deep-fried. Healthy? Well, no. Delicious? Oh, absolutely. ;) Paired with a Tinto de Verano (red wine, lemonade, and a bit of seltzer water), it was a delight. But following with Tapas tradition, we didn't stop there. We "hopped" to the next tapas bar, where I had some spinach thing that was also really really good (and of course another tinto de verano....oops). We then hopped to a third bar, but Yami and Marimili ordered a coke for me. Good thing, too! To close out our night, we went to the place that was rumored to have the best chocolate con churros in town, and, while I don't know if they were the best, they were certainly pretty good! Metro back to the college, take some photos of the spectacular night scene along the river, roll in a little after 11pm. Like I said, a pretty good day. :)
 |
| The Vizcaia (you might see it as Biscay) hanging bridge |
 |
| L-R: Brian, Coco, Alma, Laura, me, and Eduardo |
 |
| This photo doesn't do the view any sort of justice. It was AMAZING. |
 |
| Yep. Sardines. Middle of the street. |
 |
| And I ATE one! |
 |
| And ending out our night, Alma and Marimili with Zorilla. :) |
No comments:
Post a Comment