(Post #12) Road Trippin' on the Northern Coast

Hola readers! I hope that you are having a wonderful week :) For me, this week had some tough parts as I was a little sick and I did some class planning for back home in the fall 2022 semester, but it ended absolutely amazing! Monday-Wednesday were good days and they were very routine. I enjoyed going to class on Thursday because we had another acting class in place of Intermediate Spanish 2, and then for my Tourism Marketing Class, we toured Hotel Murillo which happens to be across the street from where I take my program classes at CEA.

(Friday, March 25th) Good morning! This day started all the fun of the weekend. My friends

Asia and Maddi flew to Bilbao with me and we spent the day touring the city. For lunch we had pintxos, which is the Basque version of tapas. We then went to the Guggenheim museum and also walked on the bridges and by some beautiful churches. Maddi’s friend Erin arrived that night and we enjoyed kebabs for dinner- so delicious!

(Saturday, March 26th) After our night in the hostel, we headed to get our rental car. We drove the car through the Basque country along the mountains and coast, and words cannot express the adventure that it was and the good feelings with the wind in our hair and music blasting. Oh, how I have missed car rides. Our first stop was the island and lookout of Gatzelugatxe (very hard to pronounce but it is in the local dialect of Euskara), but we did not have reservations for today so we headed to San Sebastian. The beach of San Sebastian was breathtaking and we enjoyed some Basque food. I had a bomba, stuffed peppers, and a pork tenderloin skewer. It was also memorable because a dog started to pee on our stuff on the beach- I have not laughed that hard in a long time. We then visited the town of Hondarribia which is another cute Spanish town with lots of history.

As the sun started to set, we made our way across the border and into France! We made sure to play French music and eat croissants as we crossed the border. We then entered the adorable port town of Saint Jean La Luz and we ran down to the beach to catch the sunset. Again, it was absolutely stunning and the vibes were amazing in France.

We next checked into our hotel and then could not find any restaurants open super late (they do not eat as late in France as they do in Spain- we are now accustomed to 10pm dinners) so we made our way to the Golden Arches. I honestly love going to McDonald’s in different countries to see the variety of foods, and it also makes me feel less bad that I am eating fast food founded from home. Although it took over 30 minutes to get our food, I loved my goat cheese wrap, wedge fried, and petit fondu. The true icing on the cake was the strawberry soft serve ice cream- the US should take some notes.

(Sunday, March 27th) Good morning from France! Today the girls and I spent the early afternoon in Biarritz and it was absolutely a dream. Biarritz on the coast is the cutest town, and it has made me fall in love with France. We started by visiting a market that had all the cheeses and pastries you could ever want. I spoiled myself and tried a gateaux pastry which is basque, along with a raspberry tarte and then to top it all off, we finished with fresh crepes. We watched the super nice lady make the crepes so delicately, and that was the best caramel crepe known to man and womankind.

We next walked outside to find a bunch of local French citizens doing dances in a circle. I am not sure how they all knew exactly what to do since every song brought a different dance, but it was mesmerizing to watch and I love the culture.

Next, we did some shopping around town and then headed to the rocky lookout point that was so cool to see. The crystal clear blue waters, bright sun, and ocean breeze made me want to stay in that moment forever. Soon enough though, it was time to eat and so Asia and I went to a fancier French restaurant with a delicious cheese platter and also stuffed cod peppers. The sauce was to die for. We then sadly had to head back to the car and into Spain.

We returned to Gatzelugatxe and got to go on the trails which were amazing. We did not get to go actual to the chapel because of landslides, but the views are so unforgettable. We did a 1.5 mile hike and were a little sweaty by the time we were done, but it was so worth it. We returned the rental car that night and headed back into Bilbao where we ate some yummy Chinese food. We did not eat super-oriented towards the local cuisine, but everything was absolutely delicious.

(Monday, March 28th) And like any trip, on Monday we had to come back to reality. I tried torrijas for a lunch dessert which is a famous holy week dessert, and then Maddi, Asia, and I ran to catch the bus to the airport. Unfortunately for us, we missed the bus (the second time this weekend) and then had to take an uber. It all worked out in the end though and we took our flight back to Seville. I spent the night studying for a quiz and I had a big plan to get things done, but Asia’s parents were in town and they so kindly took us out to dinner. We had solomillo al wiskey, squid, eggplant, and jamon iberico- it was delicious! We then had some chocolate-covered oranges (A very Sevillan dessert) and it was the best way to wrap up the weekend.