An Eating Trip to Spain: Arzak, Etxebarri, Lufthansa 747-8 J, Swiss A220 Y / 777 J

[yflyer]

The Ercilla had a very popular rooftop bar. It was a great place to spend time in the evenings before dinner...



The cocktail menu was pretty good...



...and their Gin Tonic's were lovingly prepared as well.

[yflyer]

The hotel breakfast here was simply mouthwatering, with an excellent selection of hot and cold items, as well as eggs done to order...



Fruit juice...



Milk, and milk substitutes to suit almost every preference/taste...



Churros...



Cheese and Cold cuts...



Jamon Iberico...



Traditional Basque Idiazabal cheese...



Pastries..



Jam and spreads...



Bakery items...



Tomato and Avocado spreads/dips for bread...

[yflyer]

Crisp bacon and creamy scrambled eggs...



Sausages, tomato gratin, tortilla and baked beans...



Eggs done to order...



We stuffed ourselves for breakfast each day of our stay...

[yflyer]

Location-wise, this hotel was near perfect as well, located along a pedestrian mall in the heart of the city...



...close to the centre of Bilbao...



...and walking distance from attractions including the Old Town, and the Guggenheim Museum...



Perhaps most importantly, the staff here were simply superb. I'm not talking about one or two star staff members. Everyone here, from the reception to concierge, the restaurant staff, the bar staff and housekeeping -- all were warm, super friendly and very helpful. This is something I've seldom encountered in my travels.

This is a hotel at the top of its game, with a lot of attention to detail and an energy about it that is unmistakeable. I would highly recommended this hotel for a visit to Bilbao.

[yflyer]

On our first evening in Bilbao, we headed to Serantes, just a block away from the Ercilla, for dinner.



Serantes was a seafood restaurant that specialised in the fresh daily catch from the Bay of Biscay...



To drink, we ordered a bottle of the local Txakoli wine. This was a dry, slightly sparkling wine made in the Basque region...



We were delighted to see Angulas on the menu here. We would finally get to try this dish...

The angulas were served under a silver dome...which when lifted revaaled a hot ceramic bowl, with Angulas prepared the traditional way, sauteed in olive oil with garlic and a little chilli pepper...



The 3 of us shared one portion, eating them with wooden forks, as metal forks were said to affect the taste...



Yum...these were really delicious. Texturally, they were fairly firm, with a very mild and subtle flavour...

This dish did come with some controversy, as some say that these eels are becoming endangered, and tthere was an ever greater risk of illegal catching.and smuggling of these baby eels, however this dish has been a traditional delicacy in the Basque region for generations, and remains a prized dish for many locals.

[yflyer]

For our main course that evening, we shared a whole turbot, which was presented to us whole...



...before being taken back to the kitchen to be grilled...



...then expertly filleted tableside...



The fillets were tender and delicous...



...but arguably the head, fleshy fins and other bits, also served at the table, were the tastiest bits, which we polished off as well...

[yflyer]

We enjoyed our dinner at Serantes so much that we returned there a couple of days later for another meal...

Traditional seafood soup, served from a pot...



Percebes, or goose barnacles...



We were offered bibs for the percebes...



We soon found out why: The proper way to eat percebes was to grasp the head and then squeeze the neck before twisting the body off...


This process inevitably resulted in a lot of the juice and guts squirting in all directions...



"They taste of the sea...." the waiter said. And he was not wrong!

We also ate kokotxas, or fish chins...



...and mushrooms with goose liver...



Ice cream for dessert...



...and sweet biscuits to end...

[yflyer]

From Bilbao, we took a day tour to Gaztelugatxe...



We headed from Bilbao to Gaztelugatxe by coach...



The hike to Gaztelugatxe would be 2.5km round trip: downhill towards the coastline, then up to the chapel on the top of the islet, then back down to sea level and a long climb up again to the start point.



The route was very scenic..



Gaztelugatxe itself was stunning...



Gaztelugatxe first become well known several years ago when a couple decided to hold their wedding there. This made the Spanish news, as guests to the wedding all had to make their way up (on foot) to attend the wedding. Then the HBO cast and production crew of Game of Thrones came to the area fo location shoots, and picked Gaztelugatxe as the filming location for Dragonstone, Daenerys Targaryan's ancestral castle.

Since that time, Gaztelugatxe had become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Basque Country.

We made our way slowly to the top...



...pausing only to gape at the jawdropping views around us...



At the top, a small chapel, which was now closed.



It was a long trek back from the chapel to the starting point...this involved both descending the steps of the chapel back to sea level, then an long uphill trek back to the starting point.



While only 2.5km round trip, this was physically exhausting on account of all the climbing, and almost everyone who went there was dripping in perspiration by the time they returned to the start point.

[yflyer]

There was a bar/restaurant at the end point...what a great location for a bar, They must be really raking it in.



I cooled down with an ice cold G&T...

[yflyer]

Our day tour of Gaztelugatxe also included a short stop at the picturesque seaside town of Bermeo...



...and a tour of the city of Guernica...



...a city which was bombed during the Spanish Civil War, in 1937, by allies of Franco, including the German Luftwaffe.



The bombing was horrific, and moved Spanish artist Pablo Picasso to paint one of his most famous works, the anti-war themed "Guernica"...



The original painting "Guernica" was in the Prado Museum in Madrid, which we would visit later on our trip.

[yflyer]

The next day, we visited Portugalete, a town on the outskirts of Bilbao. Despite the name, Portugelete had nothing to do with Portugal: the name came about because it was a port city.

To get there, we used the Bilbao subway, with its Norman Foster designed train stations...



The stations themselves were modern and spacious...



...with very comfortable trains...



One of the reasons folks visited Portugalete was to see the Viscaya Bridge...



What so unique about this bridge? The engineering challenge was to build a bridge for vehicles and people that would still allow ships to pass through the waterway...



The solution to this engineering challenge was quite unique: This was the world's first transporter bridge, designed by Basque architect, Alberto de Palacio. This had a hanging gondola, suspended by cables, hanging below a metal structure 45m above sea-level, travelling from side to side by a mechanical trolley in the upper structure.



What an amazing feat of engineering for 1893!

Apparently this became a example for other similar bridges in Europe and Africa, but not many survive today. This one was still in use for daily commuting, and was also a tourist attraction.



For a small fee, you could take a small elevator to the upper level pedestrian walkway...



...and cross the whole span of the bridge (Although you could only enter and exit from one side, not cross the river, from the walkway).



This was not for anyone afraid of heights. The wooden slatted floor had gaps in them, wide enough for small objects, and even phones to slip through...



Worth a visit, especially for engineering geeks...



After visiting the bridge, we wandered around Portugalete for a bit, and had a simple pintxos lunch, before heading back to Bilbao.

[yflyer]

On our last day in Bilbao, we visited the Guggenheim Museum...



At the entrance, Jeff Koons' Puppy...



The Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim was a masterpiece of architecture that required a 360 degree walk around to fully appreciate...



The flowing curves looked organic, yet modern...



Arguably the best spot to to admire the Guggenheim was from the opposite bank of the Nervion river...



if visiting the Guggenheim, we would definitely recommend budgeting time for a walk around the area, to enjoy all round views of the Guggenheim.

[yflyer]

The interior of the Guggenheim was stunning as well...



..with a soaring atrium, swirling curves, and an abundance of skylights...



Inside, a work from Yayoi Kusama...from the outside, a closed box...



...you waited in line to be allowed inside, in groups of up to 6. Once inside, a psychedelic lightshow within a house of mirrors...



Else where, an exhibition of the work of Spanish artist Joan Miró...



...as well as works by Koons, Warhol and others...

[yflyer]

The Guggenheim's bistro, with interiors designed by Frank Gehry, was also worth a visit...



...both for the interior decor...



...and for the delicious food...



The set lunch was very satisfying, and pretty good value too...



House made sweet dessert wine...



Even the chairs in the bistro were designed by Frank Gehry...

[yflyer]

I marked the end of our stay in Bilbao with an evening run. From the hotel, I headed to Moyúa Square, the centre of Bilbao....



From there, I continued down the shopping street, Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro...



...past the Provincial Council Hall, first built in 1900...



..and El Corte Ingles, a major department store chain found all over Spain...



I then crossed the Areatzako zubia, or Arenal Bridge...



...and headed towards the Old Town...



...with its narrow streets...



...lined with shops...



...and eateries.



I didn't have a set route within the old town...



...but that was part of the fun of jogging through its narrow streets...



...you never knew what you would find round the next corner.