Bilbao, Bilbao Baggins

After a week or so of getting settled in and pushing aside a small bit of writers block I feel suited to hop back on the horse and continue writing. The trip started in Madrid, Spain but now I sit in Northern Spain where things hit a gray area of unknown, including locations to visits and a return ticket to the United States. I was fortunate enough to see Madrid four years ago but this time around couldn't have been anymore of different experience. Some sights the same and some different. Regardless, I'm a much different person then previously so it seems almost as if Madrid was seen through a different set of eyes. Madrid was a great jumping off point to the trip where I got to catch up with an old worldly friend and see a familiar city to ease my mind into what life on the road has to offer.

Once my time in Madrid ended I hopped on a bus North to a city called Bilbao. It's domestically known as the industrial and economic hub of the Basque Country with a port just 15 minutes from the city center. It was not until 1997 when the Guggenheim Museum was finished when more backpackers made their way to the city. This astounding piece of architecture was designed by the same man, Frank Gehry, who created one of the most intriguing buildings in my hometown of Seattle, Washington the EMP Museum (formerly known as the Experience Music Project). While the Guggenheim features contemporary and modern art, the EMP features Pop Culture, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix. To see such a distinct but familiar piece of architecture in Bilbao hits me with a slice of hometown lovin' as I use to walk by the EMP Museum on my commute to work.

Here are a few pictures of first few weeks here in Spain which include Madrid, Toledo and Bilbao.

                         

                                              Alejandra and I observing Madrid from above

                                                                 Almudena Cathedral, Madrid 

                                                   Toledo (Day trip out of Madrid), Spain

                                               
                                                  Toledo (Day trip out of Madrid), Spain

                                                      The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Typical food of the Basque Country in Spain, Pincho in English or Pintxos in Basque dialect of Spanish.

A flower puppy in front of the Guggenheim. It was meant to a temporary figure in front of the Museum in its opening year but it caught the fancy of the Basque people and tourists alike.

         A permanent but duplicate piece originally done by Louise Bourgeois outside the Guggenheim