Our flight out of Dublin was uneventful, bringing us to Bilbao and the Continent. At the airport we gathered our bags and rolled to an infrequently visited part of Spain for us – the car rental desk. Amber had a reservation all lined up, and in short order we were examining a car in the humid parking garage. Our vehicle here in Spain was nearly the biggest one available… so a mid-sized hatchback 🤣.
Crossing the Nervión River in Bilbao
Bilbao was much greener and hillier than the parts of Spain that we were used to. We drove into town, located where we would be staying, and then circled until we found a cramped parking garage drilling down into the earth.
Our accommodations in Bilbao were at the Santiago Apartments. As the name suggests, it was more apartment than hotel, with a small kitchen, two bedrooms (Cora slept on the fold-out couch in the living room), and most importantly a washing machine. For the extended trip we packed only 5 days worth of clothes, so having routine stops with laundry was a key element of the plan.
That evening we met up with one of my former coworkers from New Relic. He gave us a walking tour of parts of Bilbao on our way from the apartment to dinner. He quizzed the kids, with little success, about who the second president of the United States had been. Of course they know about George Washington, but what happened after was hazier. The reason for his question became clear when we passed a statue of John Adams, who apparently visited the Basque country to learn about their governmental systems.
John Adams, the second President of the United States, seen in Bilbao
Dinner was at a place called Kokken. I hadn’t realized when we were choosing, but it was a “surprise” restaurant, with a fixed but reasonably priced menu. This turned out to be a big challenge for the kids. They’re relatively adventurous eaters compared to many of their friends, but seafood is at the edge of their comfort zone. Given that, the large cubes of tuna with chorizo sauce and cuttlefish in teriyaki were a lot to ask. As is our usual practice, we offered them cold hard cash for trying bites. They made out like bandits.
The pinnacle of the evening was the sweetbreads. Those in the know are aware that these are the thymus, but we’d misunderstood it to be, ahem, testicles. We obviously didn’t inform the children of this until they’d tried their bite. The furor at what they thought thought they’d tried was worth the vexation. The kids may never trust us offering foods that they can’t identify again.
The next morning we had breakfast at a typical little Spanish cafe. The menu was such a nourishing return to things we love and miss in the States – multiple different tortillas, bocadillos with jamón, cafe con leche. We ended up returning to the spot every morning of our visit because it was just the thing.
Breakfast at Cafe Scala
Our location in Bilbao had been chosen largely because of how close it was to the main attraction of the city, the Guggenheim Museum. For those not big in the art scene, the Guggenheim is one of the most famous and respected museums for modern art in the world. I went in knowing basically only that, and it was a great day of learning and reflection.
Arriving at the Guggenheim
Upon entering, one of the first large exhibits was a work titled “The Matter of Time”. This enormous set of sculptures is made from from weathered steel that was aged to give it fascinating colors and textures. A smaller room off the exhibit showed off a scale model of the work with lots of detailed wall hangings describing its construction.
The Matter of Time
The whorls and angles of the whole thing are mysterious and engulfing, with several sections that you walk into without being able to see where it will lead. It’s so huge that Asher was free to dash around, while the rest of us moved at a slower, more thoughtful pace.
Walking through the corridors of The Matter of Time
Being modern art, there was a wide variety of different works. Some looked dark and moody, introspective and spare. Others were bold and bright, even whimsical.
Badminton anyone?
A nice aspect of traveling with teenagers now was that we could split up a bit and proceed at our own paces. Asher, as you might expect if you know him, did something of a speedrun. Cora, who’s been digging deep into art at school and home, took a more meditative pace.
Asher with one of the works he enjoyed
It was really fun to spend the time there, especially with Cora, and see her experiencing just how broad the world of art can be.
In, which we joked was just mirrored Monty Python fandom (‘ni’)
On our way back to the apartment in early afternoon, we were also on the prowl for food. We happened to see Porrue. This had been one of the other options that my coworker had mentioned. It had been more upscale than we’d wanted for the kids with an evening crowd. But lunchtime (2pm is totally lunchtime in Spain)? Seemed worth trying. This proved to be an awesome choice.
The meal started off with a feature that amazed and delighted our children. It’s common practice to provide a bread and olive oil, but this rocketed to the next level. They wheeled over an entire cart with multiple types of bread and olive oils to choose from. The flavors really showed off the range of olive oils. Some were peppery, some fresh, all of them delicious. The waiters seemed quite pleased with the kids’ excitement, and it was hard work getting them to slow down on the bread before the actual meal.
Soon after came a tomato salad, so simple but so delicious. Again, the olive oil was key, not only drizzled over the from-your-garden level tomatoes, but in little jellied pearls as well that popped on your tongue.
Tomato salad at Porrue
Among the most dynamic parts of the meal was the “Sliced Bellota Jamón with salmorejo and regañá crushed with mallet.” This most favorite of Spanish products came with the creamy salmorejo (tomato soup) and on top of a shell of cracker-like bread that you smack with a mallet to break into pieces.
Sliced Bellota Jamón with salmorejo and regañá crushed with mallet.
Very traditionally Basque, we ordered the txuleton, a big hunk of lovely beef cooked to perfection. Where many cuts of beef in Spain are overly thin for my taste, this Basque preparation has none of that. It’s thick, with lovely marbling and fatty edges crisped up on the grill.
I’m a huge fan of seafood, and Spain always delivers. Here I was able to have percebes, also known as goose beck barnacles. These also came on their own grilled with special long tweezers for prying the salty little nuggets of goodness from their admittedly odd shaped shells. The kids were unimpressed, so I had stepped up as the family goat (in the barn animal cleaning up, not the greatest of all time 😜).
Percebes
I don’t often seek out wine, but for this nice of a meal it seemed a waste not to let them pair things. So many delicious whites and tintos! They also served us a house aperitif at the end. I love the way that in Spain it’s common for places to have their own vemuts or other tasty beverages that are steeped in house, utterly unique in their local blend.
A tasty sip after the meal
The meal had many other courses, including the porrue (leek) from which the restaurant took its name, mushrooms with egg, steak tartare. There was no lunch menu, and this ended up as our most expensive meal of the whole trip but such a revelation to the kids of how creatively food can be done. Utterly stuffed both in our minds from art and our stomachs from the meal, we crashed back at the apartment and rested the remainder of the day.
Living in Barcelona for four years, spanning COVID which hampered our travel plans around the country, had given me a particular idea of the sort of climate in Spain – dry and scrubby, generally hot and humid. While Bilbao continued to meet the later criteria, it revealed my misconceptions on the first point. The hillsides there were so lush and green, a welcome feature for us Oregonians.
Beautiful green countryside around Bilbao
Our last full day in Bilbao we went to visit restaurant way up in the hills on the edge of the city. The views were excellent up those narrow winding roads, fringed with all sorts of trees and growing things.
Txakoli Simon
Txakoli Simon is a highly rated txuleteria (aka steakhouse) that Amber found in rewatching Parts Unknown. Though it had been many years since Anthony Bourdain’s visit, it held up to expectations – some of the finest beef I’ve ever had, served up simply, with a side-grill to ruin it ourselves if we felt the need (we didn’t). We were among the first people there for the day (typically American), and Asher took advantage of running around in the lush yard to blow off some steam.
Txuleton done right
Bilbao had treated us well, but it was time to start moving on. The rental car set us up for the next stage – road trip!