Bilbao Estacion Abando
Early morning found us on the 8am train out of Madrid’s Chamartin Station to Bilbao. The ride was about 6 hours through countryside that was both agricultural and dotted with heavily industrial towns. There were no train changes so we relaxed, read and enjoyed the view. This was our first reserved ride and came with delightful revelations. We discovered that in first class stewards continuosly pass through the car offering warm, wet towelettes, choice of hot or cold breakfast & coffee, tv w/earbuds, newspapers. Our seats were larger and roomier than air travel 1st class. About an hour out of Bilbao the landscape switched to beautiful rolling hills and very green valleys. It was a gray and cloudy day. With El Greco in my head and that sky before me, I could understand his skies and atmospheric depictions.
Upon arrival we decided to walk the 30 minutes to our hotel just to
stretch and get a feel for the city. All the guide books had described
Bilbao as gritty, industrial with nothing to offer except the
Guggenheim. Well, apparently those writers have never been to New Bedford. The have no idea what gritty truly is. This place is cosmopolitan with great restaurants, clean & bustling streets. Our hotel is directly across from the Guggenheim. We can see Jeff Koons’ Puppy from the doorway. We walked the museum grounds and headed to dinner at Mariko’s where our waiter was the most charming. He and we had a lot of fun trying to cross the language barrier. We talked about the Basque being the first people to cod-fish in massachusetts. So, in conclusion, I am totally charmed by Spain and anticipating the Guggenheim.
