Bilbao, San Sebastian y San Valentin

One of my favorite quotes that I learned from some very smart ladies is "to enjoy the wrong turns." Well, that's how we started our trip to Bilbao with IES! After sleeping through our alarms and missing el autobus de IES to Bilbao, Lizzy, Will, Thomas, David, and I, along with a few other students from our program, hopped on a bus to Bilbao to meet the group for a weekend adventure. While it did cost us a few euros rather than a free ride, we had a great time! We got to see lots of the Spanish countryside and even watched a few peliculas americanas along the way! Five short hours later, we pulled up in a taxi to our hotel where our group was just checking in. After meeting up with Margaret and Sari, mis companeros for the weekend, and getting settled into our room, all 100+ estudiantes gathered for a paseo del Bilbao. We were so lucky because we had tiempo incredible! It was 60 degrees and sunny, the perfect weather for a tour of the city. It didn't hurt that our hotel's vecino was the Guggenheim either..

The Guggenheim

The Guggenheim

Alex, Kaitlin, Marge, Becca, Sari, & I with El Perrito in front of the Guggenheim



After walking around a beautiful city for a few hours, we all headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. It was Kaitlin's twenty first birthday so she, Margaret, Aindrea, and I went to this delicious restaurante italiano for dinner and to celebrate! We had a wonderful evening with delicious food and great company - Padres, be proud! We actually discussed la situacion en Egipto and la economia! We finished our night off at a local club with about half of the IES students, excited for San Sebastian the next day!

Saturday morning, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in the hotel and then hopped on the bus to head to San Sebastian for the day. Although the rain and cold wasn't ideal for our viaje, we were still able to see how breath-takingly beautiful San Sebastian is! We spent the day with tour guides exploring the city and finishing our visit with a typical Euskera comida (Euskera is the name for Pais Vasco, the autonomous community that is home to Bilbao and San Sebastian).

I should also mention that every year there is a muy famosa festival del cine in San Sebastian! If you google it, you can see pictures of Julia Roberts on this very beach accepting an award for Eat, Pray, Love!

http://www.sansebastianfestival.com/index2.html

Marge & I in San Sebastian!

After a rainy day in San Sebastian, we headed back to Bilbao for a low key evening before heading out early Sunday morning for Madrid!

La Dia de San Valentin

So Monday, as you all know, was Valentine's Day or as it's called in Spain, la dia de San Valentin! We decided that it's not quite as big of a deal here but there were still plenty of tarjetas, flores y chocolates being sold! Lizzy and I did find our own Spanish valentine, however. His name is David and he is siete anos and absolutely precious. He lives in our building and his father, Gregorio - possibly the nicest person we've met so far - is the doorman. David likes to hang out with his padre and takes English classes at his school! We try and teach him palabras nuevas de Ingles everyday, but he is still learning greetings and temas for small talk. We were able to ask him to be our Valentine, though we're not sure he really understood!