May Puente

Note: Pictures to come when I get around to uploading them from my camera
PICTURES ARE UP!

Now that the gloom has hopefully passed, it's back to writing about fun things (Edit: Nope, it's going to rain forever). May 1st was the last long weekend before the end of the school year in June. We had two days of school (why even bother?) before a five (!!) day weekend. Álvaro also had time off, and he wanted to take advantage and travel.

As I had mentioned here, we had previously purchased a Groupon for a wine tasting in La Rioja. Our holiday travel plans started there. We made our reservation for Saturday afternoon. The trip expanded from there. Since we've got all this time, and we're already up north, why don't we visit a few more places? It began with Bilbao. Then we added Santander to the list. We made our hotel reservations the night before we departed (the incident with my dad had left me in no mood to make travel plans).

In the end, we went to eight cities, spanning about 6 autonomous communities. 

The trip

Thursday, May 2nd: Burgos and Santander

In keeping with the "we planned this trip last-minute" theme, I packed my back the morning-of. We left around noon, because Álvaro isn't one for early starts. We arrived in Burgos around two hours later, and spent a good chunk of time trying to find the tourism office for maps and suggestions. Surprise! It was closed. Thankfully, due to our late arrival, we seemed to have missed the rain that had recently passed through the city. We visited the cathedral, which was originally constructed during 1221 (thanks Wikipedia) and rebuilt to accommodate the growing city's needs. 

Around 6 PM we left the city and drove up north to Santander. The drive was beautiful. Everything was green and hilly, and we passed sheep and horses grazing. We arrived in Santander by nightfall, so we couldn't see much of the city.

Friday, May 3rd: Santander and Bilbao

We spent a few hours in Santander to see the city during the day. The weather was awful. It was grey, humid and cold. There was a perpetual drizzle that made it hard to want to leave the car. The city itself isn't particularly impressive. I'm sure its a fine place to live, but not not so great for tourism. I would rather explore the smaller pueblos we passed in Cantabria. Oh well--next time.

Next: Bilbao. We arrived in the early afternoon, just as the sun was coming out. The weather was mild. Bilbao is a beautiful city, nestled among green hills. We spent most of our time at the Guggenheim museum. This was definitely the highlight of my trip.

Saturday, May 4th: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Logroño, Alfaro, Aldeanueva de Ebro

After quickly grabbing a coffee and saying our farewells to Bilbao, we made our way back south.

Álvaro and his handy-dandy travel guide

We wanted to see a bit more of Pais Vasco (Basque country), so we made a quick stop for lunch in Vitoria and wandered around the city.

Nothing says "old city" like a moving walkway.

Then, another long car ride, with a 15 minute stop in Logroño.

Camino de Santiago

We had to be in Alfaro (an hour south) by six for the wine tasting. We arrived five minutes late. The wine tasting (around which this whole trip was organized) lasted only an hour.

The winery was technically in Navarra, not La Rioja. Oh, the inhumanity.

Coincidentally, Álvaro's coworker was in a neighboring village with his wife, and they invited us to a get-together.

No photos here, sorry.

Sunday, May 5th: Zaragoza and home again
I don't like travelling late on Sundays. I prefer to relax and have time to unwind before returning to work. I would have prefered to go straight home and watch TV, but Álvaro was determined to make the most of this trip (for which I am thankful). So, we made our final detour in Zaragoza.

Honestly, I feel like this post is fairly boring, despite having been to so many places. Going from one city to another in a short time span doesn't exactly lend itself to nuanced experiences. You see an interesting thing, take a picture, and move on to the next interesting thing. One week later and the trip has become a blur of cathedrals and grey skies. Also, I have since returned to Burgos (that'll be my next post) and I am very, very tired. I no good at English no more.