Bilbao as the center piece

I will guide you post by post through my wonderful trip through the North of Spain. I'll be stopping night by night in a location and will tell you what we explored from there. First stop 3 nights in Bilbao

Lets' start with the food 

It is world known (and if it's not it should be) that Basque cuisine is exquisite. One of their specialties are the pintxos. Pintxos are tiny towers of food that look more like a piece of art than a dish. If you go to the Basque Country you have to try them out with a glass of Rioja wine

Day Trip: San Sebastian

Lets see what we saw around the city

Playa La Concha 

It is listed as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and I could see why. The beautiful golden sand and the size...it stretches over 1350 m and the average width is about 40m

Monte Urgull

The hike to the Urgull Mountain offers wonderful views over the bay and the 12m tall statue of Jesus looking over the beach is super impressive.

Built in 1932 by the artist COULLAUT - VALERA, Lorenzo, the statue of Din Quixote won the competition for building the Cervantes monument in Plaza Espana in Madrid.

but then the storm came, and we had to find a place to hide. But no worries, we had beer :)

There are several bridges in San Sebastian, i picked two to give you an idea :)

Zurriola bridge

" also known as Kursaal Bridge, it was built in 1915, but its structure was modified due to the continuous battering of the waves." (Source)

Maria Cristina Bridge

"Maria Cristina Bridge is the most elegant structure crossing over the River Urumea. The eclectic construction connects the centre of the city with the Estacion del Norte Station (Donostia-San Sebastian's main railway station).
Engineer Jose Eugenio Ribera and architect Julio Maria Zapata were responsible for building it in 1904 in a record time of nine months. It consists of three openings and the pattern followed for its construction was the Alejandro III Bride in Paris, with its four obelisks at its ends surmounted by sculptures (and marking the entrance)." (Source)

Day Trip: Guernica

The Assembly House of Guernica

The tree of Guernica, is an oak tree that symbolizes traditional freedoms for the Biscayan people, and by extension for the Basque people as a whole (Source)

The known specimens form a dynasty:

• "the father", planted in the 14th century, lasted 450 years the
• "old tree" (1742-1892), re-planted in 1811. The trunk now is held in a templet in the surrounding garden.
• the third (1858-2004), re-planted in 1860, survived the Bombing of Guernica in 1937 but had to be replaced because of a fungus. The gardeners of the Biscayan government keep several spare trees grown from the tree's acorns.
• the fourth (1986-2015) was replanted on the site of its father on 25 February 2005. It died of a humidity related disease on 15 January 2015.
• the fifth was planted in March 2015, aged 14.

​(Source)

The trunk of the "Old Tree".

The "new tree".

Day Trip: Lekeito

The Basque country has a lot of gorgeous beaches and it was hard to just pick one, but i am super happy we chose this place to be the first one as it was amazing. 

With the funny way to hang your laundry and the cute houses 

and with the little boats, Leikeito is one of my favorite spots of the trip. An interesting fact, you can only reach the island on the other side during low tide, so maybe best to check before going ;)

Day Trip: San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

are you READY for this? ... I am not sure you are, especially if you are a Game of Thrones fan

It is a bit of a hike getting there, but it is so completely worth it, especially at sunset. 

"San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, whose name means "castle rock" in Basque ("gaztelu" = castle + "aitz" = rock), is a definite "must" if you are visiting the Basque Country. [...] The island is cone-shaped and features a tiny church on its highest point that is dedicated to John the Baptist. Although not proven, it has been said that he even set foot on the island. (Source)

"San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is connected to the mainland by a man-made stone bridge. The bridge transitions into a narrow path that contains 241 steps and zigzags its way back and forth to the top." (Source)

the rock formations around are awesome 

I guess, if you did not have this place on your list, I am sure you are adding it right now. 

Aste Nagusia

One of my Spanish friends told me that this is one of the best fiestas around. "Once a rocket is shot into the sky (known as the txupinazo), the festivals mascot, Marijaia, makes her grand entrance onto the balcony. What follows next is the culmination of events that forms the biggest party of the year, known as Aste Nagusia or Semana Grande" (Source)

The best way to find out if he is right, is to go there and explore on your own ;)

Guggenheim Museum

I unfortunately did not really have time to visit Bilbao, but we got to squeeze in passing by the Guggenheim. "Guggenheim, is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by former King Juan Carlos I of Spain. Built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Cantabrian Sea, it is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists. It is one of the largest museums in Spain." (Source) 

"Almost 9 meters tall, Maman is one of the most ambitious of a series of sculptures by Bourgeois that take as their subject the spider, a motif that first appeared in several of the artist's drawings in the 1940s and came to assume a central place in her work during the 1990s. Intended as a tribute to her mother, who was a weaver, Bourgeois's spiders are highly contradictory as emblems of maternity: they suggest both protector and predator-the silk of a spider is used both to construct cocoons and to bind prey-and embody both strength and fragility." (Source)

Puppy by JEFF KOONS
"With Puppy, Koons engaged both past and present, employing sophisticated computer modeling to create a work that references the 18th-century formal European garden. A behemoth West Highland terrier carpeted in bedding plants, Puppy employs the most saccharine of iconography-flowers and puppies-in a monument to the sentimental. " (Source)

Bilbao offered a great location to drive and explore around, but i am sure that the city has as much to offer. I will for sure go back one day to spend some time in the city itself. 
But for now and in this trip our next accommodation is in the Spanish mountains ;)