Its been a few weeks since I last posted about our experiences in Bilbao, during which we’ve moved into a new apartment, I’ve continued to attend Spanish language classes, and we’ve done our best to blend in with the locals. On the engineering side, I’ve put my unit convertor app, Youkon, up on the stores for beta testing, and I’ve worked my way through most of the Stanford CS193p course and homework assignments on SwiftUI development. All the while, I’ve been taking my share of pictures, this post will serve as my way of dropping a whole lot of those at once, with a little bit of of context, but mostly pretty colors, motion pictures, and a little bit of glorious noise.
Without further ado …
Carnavales
February 8-13 was Carnaval in Bilbao (and most of the rest of the Spanish and Latin American world). The event was kicked off by the Danbayán drum crew https://www.instagram.com/danbayanbatukada/ who marched from Plaza Arriaga to Plaza Nueva, barely taking a break along the way. During the entire event, there was a riverside Carnival (more like what you’d call a carnival in the US …), featuring terrifying and likely vomit-inducing rides. The entire event culminated with the Entierro de la Sardina, with a paper mache displayed in the Plaza Nueva, subsequently marched in a funeral procession to the Plaza Arriaga, before finally being burned to dust.
Bidezabal to Sopelana
On an uncharacteristically warm, albeit slightly cloudy, Valentines Day, we took the Metro to Bidezabal station and walked along the acontilado (cliffs) to Playa Sopelana. Bidezabal itself is across from the port of Bilbao and associated industry. Shortly after rounding the corner next to the Real Sociedad de Golf, the views are out to open ocean and the Bay of Biscay. Before arriving at Sopelana, we found a group of concrete benches on a cliff overlooking the beach, where we had snacks and beverages. Waves were good, and the surfers weren’t about to miss out.
Other Bilbao Coolness
I’ll leave with a few uncategorized images of Bilbao being an aesthetically pleasing city. We’ve got the ayuntamiento (city hall) displaying its Athletic Club pride, Parque Etxebarria at sunset, a couple photos of the Guggenheim, Puente La Salve, and Maman, and of course, San Mames on gameday.
