Okay, I've gotten so far behind on my posts that it is almost sinful. I've decided to just skip ahead to three weekends ago when I visited Bilbao (other than the rest of Cormac's visit, that's all that really happened inbetween this post and the last).
On Friday night we all went to see a play in the large theater in Santander. We are taking a Spanish literature class so we were all expected to read the play before attending the 'field trip'. Our professor made the mistake of telling us that we probably wouldn't understand most of the play, so only two or three people even attempted to read the lengthy piece of work. I was not one of them so I was really confused most of the play. The theater here is really beautiful and modern. The main structure is all marble and the facade of the ticket office area is done in a copper-like metal. The inside of the place was HUGE and the theater was pretty croweded. The play was about "quinquierllos" or homeless drunks who are being oppressed by the ubanization of suburbs (yes, it was as boring as it sounds). Basically the whole show was two hours of really drunk men walking on and off stage threatening to stab each other. The grand finale was an actual stabbing (we all secretly cheered) and then the bar falling down. We laughed in all the wrong places and had no idea what was going on for the majority of the two hours. We talked about the play in class on the following Monday and were told we didn't have to finish reading it because it was so poorly written (good thing I hadn't wasted my time, huh?).
One of our group excursions was a day in Bilbao, a city in Basque country about an hour and one half from Santander. On Saturday morning we woke up to clear sunny skies and warm temperatures. I threw on my jean skirt and sandals and headed to meet the group. On the way to Bilbao I sat next to Greta, our advisor and literature professor, who told us a lot about how the Basque region was oppressed during the dictatorship of Franco. It was cool to learn about the history of the region. Bilbao is notorious for it's political movements. Many Basque's feel as though they should be independent of Spain.
When we got to Bilbao we first went to a Basque history museum which I just sort of power walked through because I wanted to be out in the warm sunshine. All of the information was in Basque and Spanish so it was too much work to try to read anything. When Nate and Steven had finished their tour the three of us set out wandering the streets and squares in total awe of the architecture. I haven't been to Itlay yet, but I think it will look alot like old Bilbao.
The group then met up for lunch (pictures below). We ate at a really nice authentic Spanish place. They had prepared a Menu del Dia for us to choose from which narrowed our choices but still left us debating for several minutes. There really wasn't anything on the menu I didn't want to eat. I ended up picking stuffed eggplant as my first dish, chicken crepes for my second dish, and a fruit cake for my postre. The eggplant is probably the best dish I have eaten in Spain. It was roasted eggplant topped with a cheese, spinach, and chicken filling, and then covered in cheese. The crepe pretty much sucked, tasted like saw dust, and the dessert was AWESOME. Strawberries are coming into season here and they are ten times better than any of the varieties we have in the United States.
After we stuffed ourselves to the point of sickness we had time to wander around the city before our appointment at the Guggenheim. Almost everything was closed for siesta but a few random bars. I split off with some of the girls from the group and found a Mango outlet store having a ridiculous sale. I bought a cute black wrap dress for only 5 Euros which will come in handy since I didn't pack many summer clothes and it's getting pretty warm here.
About an hour before we had to be to the museum we started walking along the river which runs through the middle of the city. The side walks and parks surrounding the river are gorgeous so it took us a while to make it to the museum since we took a a couple hundred pictures along the way.
We finally got to the Guggenheim and had to stop for more pictures outside (see below). When we got to the front entrance the rest of the group had left without us. I grabbed an audio guide and set off to explore the exhibits. The first exhibit I saw was a HUGE sculpture (probably over 100 yards in length and several stories tall). It was a series of large metal plates that had been bent and spaced far enough apart to walk in between. The acoustics between the plates were really weird. I really wanted to organize a group of hide and go seek but I didn't think it would be appropriate.
The main attraction at the Guggenheim for February was a Murakami collection. Murakami is an Asian artist who does a mix of modern and anima. He recently did a line for Louis Vuitton and also designed an album cover and music video for Kanye West. The craziest thing he has done is titled "My Lonesome Cowboy" and the cowboy's girlfriend "Hiropon" which can be googled (this is an X-rated piece... Danna...). The exhibit took a couple hours to see but was really interesting.
On our way out of the museum we saw a couple of really important politicans (or so we were told). Elections were being held the following day so the TV crews were out in full force to cover their every move. Some of our group managed to make it on TV in the background of several shots.
I've loaded pictures for several more blogs so more posts should be coming soon! Sorry the format of this one is a little funky, I am usually rushed with internet time and it's easier to just put all the pictures at the bottom of the page.
ROFLMAO! I knew it was x-rated, LAUREN!
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to tell you that the talk and pictures of food is quite troubling. On two occasions now (after reading this really fun blog), I've had to run out and get a Starbucks latte to quell my sudden craving for flan and chocolate pastry. I'm highly suggestible when it comes to chocolate, ya know. (Especially from pictures).
By the way, I copied and pasted that spider off of FB and sent it to everyone on my list a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad it's saved here so I can print it out and put in an album. Maybe one day I can go there and see it for myself.
Stay safe and please continue this blog. It's one of my favorite things right now!!
Danna
Did you know someone actually spent $14.6 MILLION on that painting? And I don't like it. It looks like a woman's body until you get to that important area that clearly shows it's not female. Murakami has better work.
ReplyDelete