Bilbao, February 2019, Andy's 50th Birthday

It comes to us all sooner or later and for me (Andy) it was a couple of weeks ago. Susy surprised me with a long weekend in Bilbao to celebrate my 50th Birthday which conveniently fell on a Sunday. We flew from London Heathrow on a BA flight, which at just under two hours is ideal for a weekend break away when you don't want to spend too long on a plane. Having left London at 08:20 we were at our hotel, Hotel Carlton in the centre of the city by midday and lucky for us we were able to get into our room straight away. Situated bang in the city centre on Federico Moyúa Plaza, Hotel Carlton is ideal for exploring the city. We based ourselves there for almost 3 days and never found the need to take a taxi anywhere, we walked a lot.....

Federico Moyúa Plaza

After hastily unpacking we emerged from the hotel, map in hand kindly given to us by our taxi driver with one goal, that being to make our way to the old town. After a slight detour in the wrong direction we got back on track and made our way down Gran Vía to the Casco Viejo or Old Town. One of the things we both love about Spain is the cafe lifestyle and the old town in Bilbao is a wonderful place to sample this and enjoy the food. Typical to this part of Spain is the Pintxo, rather than me try and explain what they are, I'll leave the photos to explain. All I need to say is that they are delicious.

Mercado De La Ribera 

By chance when we were exploring the old town after our first Pintxo in a bar called Berton which we returned to on Sunday evening, we came across the amazing Mercado De La Ribera. This is a must if you visit Bilbao, it's a food market which also has the most fabulous gallery of booths selling the most visually stunning and delicious Pintxos. Time for some photos.....

The following morning we started the day in a relatively healthy manner having enjoyed more great Spanish food the night before, we went for a short run in Parque de Doña Casilda Iturrizar which is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

Parque de Doña Casilda Iturrizar

Quite by chance we came across the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum at what I'd call the "top corner of the park" and we returned later in the day to have a look around. We weren't really sure what to expect however enjoyed what Tripadvisor describes as a "collection of Basque, Spanish and European art from the Middle Ages to Contemporary". You'll see a few samples of what's in store for you below.

Art....not an accident

After leaving the museum we walked back towards the centre and enjoyed some time in the shops. You'll find a lot of nice independent shops as well as a vast El Corte Inglés, the Spanish department store which seems to be a feature of most Spanish cities. Later that evening as many of the restaurants are closed on Sunday evenings Susy booked a table at a well known Bilbao restaurant, Zortziko for my Birthday meal. By now you'll be thinking "they" ate quite a lot which is true however in our defence I have to point out that we walked on average close to 14kms per day while we were there. The meal, a ten course tasting menu was delicious and we had a lovely evening. 

The following morning we allowed ourselves a sleep in as Susy had booked tickets for us to visit the world renowned Guggenheim Museum at midday. The museum  is walkable from the hotel in about half an hour maximum. The Guggenheim is breathtaking inside and outside, it truly is a stunning building which my limited vocabulary can't do justice to so again I'll leave that to some photos. It's enough to say that a visit to the Guggenheim is something I'll never forget and I'm extremely lucky to have enjoyed it on my 50th Birthday.

Approaching the Guggenheim

We were lucky to see two great visiting exhibitions as well as the permanent displays, one which featured the work of Alberto Giacometti and the second titled Van Gogh to Picasso: The Thannhauser Legacy, featured an impressive collection from the Old Masters.

 By the time we left the museum it was mid afternoon and as the sun was shining we decided to follow our noses back to the old town and enjoy our own Pintxo trail. The weather was lovely and we enjoyed a mixture of sitting indoors and outside combining a spot of people watching and gastronomic delights. It won't surprise you that after a siesta that evening we returned for more. That brought to an end our fabulous weekend in Bilbao and a Birthday celebration that I'll never forget, gracias Susy, I loved it xxx.