A few more 3x5's

It is hard to believe that it is already May, and that I will be going home in one month. This trip has given me the opportunity to do some amazing things, and it has been an experience I'll never forget. The good news is that I still have a bunch of adventures ahead of me in this last month, but let me update about things I've been doing since Spring Break.

A few weeks ago, I went to San Sebastian and Bilbao, in the north of Spain. I can easily say that both the drive up to that region, called Pais Vasco, and the region itself both easily showed me some of the most beautiful parts of the country. In Bilbao, we went to the world-famous Guggenheim Museum. It had some amazing pieces of art inside, but the appeal of the museum is the architecture outside. The museum itself is a piece of art.

After Bilbao we headed to San Sebastian. We had been told that our hostel was right on the water, so we were excited. Before we even got out of the bus, we could smell the sea air. The bus let us off right by the river, and down the street from the ocean. I can safely say that trip satisfied all of my desire to be back near the water, and not so landlocked like I am in Madrid. That night we went out for pinxtos. I guess I should explain that one interesting thing about Spain is that in many of the regions, the people speak both Castellano (what one would think of as Spanish) and also a language native to their region. There is some intense nationalism in Spain in the different regions, and some, like Catalunya, even talk about succeeding. Back to the word "pinxto" --the "xt" in the Basque language sound like a "ch". Going out for pinxtos basically means you run around to a bunch of different places and eat little, bite sized foods. It was quite an interesting experience, and after four croquettas, I left pretty full.

The next day we took a tour of San Sebastian. We visited the old part of the city, where we are living, went to the ocean, and took a look at the newer parts of the city. Afterward, we were excited to have free time because all we wanted to do was go to the beach! We got changed, settled into flip flops (my first time wearing them since being in Spain), and headed for the ocean. Of course, I had to stop and get some gelato on the way, because I always want ice cream. The ocean was more beautiful than I can even explain. I am always amazed by just how expansive it is, and just how far the water goes. It is so grand and so big that it makes me feel so small. I think it really puts things in perspective.

That night, we climbed one of the two mountains in the city to watch the sunset. The views were absolutely breathtaking. San Sebastian is situated on el Mar Cantabria, which extends into the Atlantic ocean. So, I can officially say that I have seen the sunset over both the Atlantic and the Pacific. We had the perfect view of both the city at night and of the ocean.




To top it all off, I got to eat Italian food that night. I ordered spaghetti that actually had sauce, since in Spain, tomato sauce is very expensive and usually the pasta only comes with the kind of ground meat you would see on a taco, and grease. And I can't forget the most wonderful raspberry sorbet. When I ordered it, the waiter told me something about a spoon in Spanish, but turns out that neither I nor my friend caught what he was saying. We were worried that something really strange might come out for dessert, but it ended up just being this bowl of deliciousness.

Wonderful