Spain Again: Getxo

 We stayed at the El Embarcadero Hotel in Getxo, a coastal town near Bilbao. We had a spacious room with a water front view of the nearby cliffs.

Along the way from San Sebastian we stopped in Getxrix (Getaria) home of John Sebastian Elkano (who sailed with Magellan). The local church congregation seating is on a slope rising from back to front (a bit unusual). We felt right at home there with our Mexico Saint Guadalupe looking over us. This is a fishing village and along the local streets there are grills for fish. At lunch time these get very busy. The Elkano restaurant is highly regarded but we didn't have time to check it out.

This is also where the fashion designer Balenciaga grew up and is home to the Balenciaga Museum. Early on in the tour was the following graphic with designs by his contemporaries. 

There were many displays of his works, along with a fabric catalog sample with tiny pieces of fabrics. He is known for some fine designs and some not so flattering dedigns such as the Sack Dress, as well as the Balloon Jackets and Skirts.

We also visited Gernika, a town that tragically gained fame in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. During this conflict, Franco, the dictator of Spain, offered the village of Gernika, home to non-supporters of his regime, as a target for his buddies Hitler and Mussolini to use for testing their new carpet bombing technique. The event was memorialized in a painting by Picasso (the original is in the Reina Sofia in Madrid). See top left below.

In the square, there is a statue of Jose Maria Iparraguirre, a Spanish poet and Basque language musician. He composed "Gernikako Arbola" which quickly became the Basque anthem. In the Casa de Juntas museum, a map shows the extent of the French and Spanish  Basque Area with all 7 states marked. There is also a painting showing what a typical Basque town meeting would have looked like in the past. with the area representatives gathered under an special oak tree.  There is an impressive stained glass ceiling in the Casa de Juntas was quite impressive.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Mundaka. The selection included chorizo, sautéed peppers (similar to padrons, a small chilli with minimal heat), calamari, potato pancake with sweet red peppers, and scallops in the half-shell. The potato pancake is a variant of Tortilla Espanola but this restaurant makes a selection of flavors. It was very moist and tasty.

We made a short photo stop looking over the village of Bermeo with mountains and fields in the background.

After reaching Getxo we wandered toward the center to see the "Hanging Ferry". The first photo show the ferry being loaded. The second shows it transporting people and vehicles across the river. Note cables keeping the ferrry just above the river.

Getxo is a former fishing village and is a seaside resort in the city of Bilbao. We visited Bilbao by metro and took a tram around the city stopping at the Guggenheim Miseum. We visited it in 2002 and found the outside much more impressive than the collections. So we took photos of Gehry's architecture and Jeff Koons large Flower Dog and walked along the river seeing the curved bridge by Calatrava and the sculpture by Dora Salazar with figures featuring women who hauled ships along the river.

 capturing a couple shot of srchitecture and sculpture, including a Sunflower, the symbol of the Basque coutry.  ... the Basque term "eguzkilore" translates to "sunflower" (or more accurately, "flower of the sun"), it refers to a specific thistle plant, Carlina acanthifolia, which is considered a symbol of protection in Basque mythology and culture,

The next day we had a tour of Santillana and the Altamira Cave Museum. The Cave Museum that recreates the local cave system that were closed to the public to protect the caves. The museum is an "exact" replica showing bison in red and black dating back 18,500 years. There are also older carvings depicted. Even the crevices and bulges in the rock are reporduced as they are often key to the paintings.

Santillana is a small village with the requisite church and monasteries, some touristy shops, several restaurants and paradores.  Many of the buildings show family crests from the past.

We enjoyed lunch at the Parador Gil Blas in Santillana del Mar.

• Seasonal braised vegetables with white garlic sauce
• Grilled scallops with chives garlic sauce
• Veal loin

Next day we wandered toward the old fishing village and cliffs near the hotel. The architecture and enclaves are impressive.

Making our way up the cliffs we discovered some sandstone formations, shaped by geological and weather conditions.

We took the metro back to the hotel for lunch. It was quite a pleasing combination of dishes including more foie, fish and dessert.

Next we flew to Valencia for some exploring of the city and surrounds and a lesson in Paella preparation.