We are in Bilbao for 2 days and leave on Sunday morning on our last week of this Camino towards Santander.

We walked into Bilbao thru a heavy fog over Monte Avril. We were told that we would have panoramic view of the city from the top of that mountain. Too bad. We walked downhill into the city in the afternoon and found our hotel with some help from the local police. We went out, after descanso, to get the feel of the city and its people. We walked around and sampled the pintxos which were great. The people we met and spoke to were all helpful. We were back to hotel by 10:00 – which is early in Espana. We looked forward to our planned day of rest.

On Saturday we walked to the Fine Arts Museum and there was a very large exhibit of Goya pieces from many museums – many from the Prado in Madrid. It was very nicely done. We then walked to the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. We walked along the river path to get the full view of this architectural work of art. We went into the museum and went thru the special exhibits.

We went to Mass on Saturday night at the Catedral. It was the first Mass that I have ever seen the priest do the whole Mass with sign language as well as a speaking the prayers and homily. A young and energetic man, he had many helpers do the signing when he wasn’t speaking. It was very impressive and inclusive.

If you are a vegetarian, you may want to skip the rest of this post…

We had dinner that night at a restaurant that specializes in “Old Cow.” “Old Cow” is the Spanish translation of Aged Beef. It is called txuleton in Basque country. It is grilled beef that has been aged for months, unlike in the US where aged beef is aged only for weeks. It is served on a charcoal grill at the table. It was great and very Basque.