País Vasco

Yes, it’s that time already. Time for our final trip. But we definitely saved the best for last. País Vasco is goooooorgeous. And we stayed in a four star hotel with a five minute walk away to one of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen. I’ll admit, we’re kind of spoiled. The first thing I thought when we started getting close was, “It’s so green here!” This place is seriously the place to be.

I’m sure a few of you are wondering by now what exactly País Vasco is. It’s just Spanish for Basque Country. So it’s not a city, or a province. It’s a region in both Spain and France inhabited by the Basque people, an ethnic group that has kind of always just been here. They even speak a different language. Their language is unrelated to any other language spoken today, although it has now mixed a little with neighboring languages, as all languages do.

Our first stop on Thursday was Bilbao. I really would have like to check out this city a little more, but we just stopped to visit the Guggenheim Museum, a modern art (sigh) museum designed by Frank Gehry. The building itself, modeled after a fish, was the coolest part, although I did also enjoy the huge exhibit called “The Matter of Time.” That featured giant steel elliptical spirals and lines that you could walk through. The way the shapes were formed really did give you a weird perspective of space and time.

The Matter of Time

My new favorite city, and our destination for this trip, is San Sebastián. It’s situated right on the northern coast of Spain and features the lovely Playa de Conchas. Besides this awesome beach, there is also a lovely downtown area where we went for tapas, or pinchos as they are called here, our first night. If you want to vacation in Spain, this is the city to come to. I would try for August though, when it’s supposed to be warmer, although the temperature is quite pleasant now (just not really beach weather). After tapas, a bunch of us took a lovely stroll down the beach, walking in the surf. So now, I can say I have also been in the Atlantic Ocean!

Now since País Vasco includes part of France, we spent most of Friday in the French part. No big deal. Crossing over to France was just like crossing between states. They didn’t ask for our passports or anything. We just paid the toll on the road and were in a different country. It was interesting to see the changes. Instantly it was a different language, a different history, a different culture, even a different style of buildings. Oh, and their chocolate is to die for.

We visited two little towns in France: Biarritz and Saint Jean de Luz. In Biarritz we played on the beach in the rain (hence my messy hair in almost all my pictures) and visited a little cathedral. It was really interesting to see the differences between a French cathedral and a Spanish cathedral. First, Christ is the focus, rather than la virgen. It also isn’t so lavishly decorated with tons of gold (maybe because it’s such a small cathedral), and it doesn’t have el retablo, which is the carved altarpiece covered in gold in every Spanish cathedral. The cathedral was simple with beautiful stained glass windows. I liked it a lot. In Saint Jean de Luz we ate lunch and had crepes! Oh sweet deliciousness. There’s just nothing comparable to a French crepe.

The rest of the night was free time, so a group of us walked over to a hill at the bay’s entrance. It has a bunch of walls and a basilica at the top with a statue of Christ, and we hiked on up to see it. We arrived just in time to catch the breath-taking view at sunset. Wow. I thought this place was perfect already. Now I know it is.

On our final return journey, we stopped in the city of Burgos to see our last cathedral. This one is home to the tomb of El Cid, a great military leader in Spanish history. He first led Moorish forces in battle, but went on to command Christian forces and was a great asset in the fight against the Moors. His tomb lies right in the center of the cathedral.

El Cid and his wife Jimena's tomb.

El Cid

We ate lunch in the plaza, right under the cathedral. It made me think how cool it is that all these historical sites sit preserved in the middle of these modern cities. It’s like two separate worlds living in harmony, and you can enter and exit as you please (although it might cost you a couple euros each time).

This last trip has definitely been bittersweet. Bitter because it means we’re done exploring Spain. At least for now. Sweet because we never have to ride in those buses again! Seriously, we all had cabin fever by the last hour of the drive. Everyone was going crazy. But it’s been fun and totally worth all the grueling bus rides. I can’t believe we’re going into our last week, and it’s not even a full week. This time next week, I’ll be in Rome and be getting ready to leave for Germany. Somebody pinch me. This cannot be real life.