Bilbao and Sol’s Family

We stayed three lovely nights with Sol and her family. Her family was just so nice to us and staying there was exactly what Lauren and I needed. We were in dire need of a stress-free and relaxing place to rejuvenate us before the last leg of our trip.

Lauren and Sol walking along the Beach in Plentzia

Picture of Plentzia and all the boats along the river.

Lauren and I on our way to Bilbao.

Sol and I in Bilbao in front of one of their signature bridges.

The first day in Bilbao, Sol took us to the city. We took a long metro ride from Plentzia to Bilbao and started the day with the Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim was so beautiful! I think I could have stared at it all day long! And I found the modern art inside very refreshing after seeing all the classic art in the previous museums. I even began to appreciate the modern art because to me, I felt as if it was up to you to draw a meaning or a feeling from the pieces. Everyone could come away from the art with a different experience and I really liked that.

The Guggenheim...what an incredible building.

After the Guggenheim, we just walked through the city. When we finally went back to Plentzia, Sol took us to a few fun bars to view the sunset from. We even explored and found a new bar with a great view of the ocean. The north coast of Spain is truly a beautiful and relaxing place to visit and live.

A sunset on the coast of Spain.

The next day, we woke up and took off directly to Bilbao again, but this time it was for a sailing adventure! Sol’s father wanted to take us for a short sail on his boat (that is named “Stanford” yes…that is correct…it is named after the school I will be attending in the fall, as it turned out Sol’s father also attended Stanford for a year, how crazy is that?) that morning and I could not have been more excited! I love everything about sailing and have not gone for many years. Sailing has always been one of my favorite past times and I can’t wait to become an avid sailor myself.

Sol, her Father, and Lauren sailing on "Stanford." Yes, "Stanford" was the name of the boat.

We didn’t sail for very long, nor did we really catch any great gusts of wind, but it was still nice to be out on the water with the sails up. I was really happy to realize how quickly I remembered how to sail and ended up being a big help to Sol and her father while we were out and about on the water. It was kinda funny because Lauren had never been sailing before…so she had no clue what was taking place (and being yelled at in Spanish, definitely does not help to clarify things). So I was trying to help her and explain to her what was taking place…what to look out for (swinging booms and ropes that were about to go crazy).

When we got home from sailing, Sol’s dad directly started to make paella! I was so excited because I was incredibly hungry and homemade paella just sounded delicious! The whole process was also very interesting and Lauren and I tired to watch intently with the hope to be able to reproduce it someday. But I fear we will never have the correct ingredients or the correct process to be able to recreate it. But it was so delicious and I was so full afterwards!

Later that afternoon, Sol had to leave to return to Madrid. After Sol left, Lauren and I definitely took it easy. We took a siesta (a lovely LONG nap), a short walk, and watched the sun set on the coast over the water. It was a very beautiful sunset! That night we also had our last dinner with Sol’s father and actually tired to help him prepare it. We had a lovely time talking with him that evening.

Overall, staying with Sol’s family was absolutely perfect and exactly what we needed on this part of our journey! I was very sad to leave.