First, thank you to each of you who responded either privately or on the blog about the struggles I expressed last week. Sometimes, all you need is a compassionate, listening ear. Thank you.

I’m home in Valencia after an amazing time in Northern Spain, visiting my friends Eric and Dan (from Boise) who go to Bilbao almost every year for at least a month.

I flew from Valencia to Bilbao on Friday evening. My friend Rafa was kind enough to give me a ride to the airport. We had a great visit before it caught my flight, which was just over an hour long. I had an aisle seat with no one in the middle. I got off the plane and met Eric and Dan at the airport. We boarded a bus and arrived in the middle of the city, as the last weekend of the biggest festival of the year was underway.

Aste Negusia is Bilbao’s “Big Week” of celebrations.

The festival includes a lot of bands and live music.

There’s dancing in the streets….

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There are athletic competitions including throwing hay bales.

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The festival concluded with “Marijaia” arriving on a barge and eventually being burned on the river, saying goodbye to the festival until next year.

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On Sunday, we went to the Guggenheim museum. It is a spectacular modern art museum.

On Monday, we took a bus to San Sebastian (aka Donostia in the Basque language).

All told on Monday, we walked almost 30,000 steps!

On Tuesday, we went to the beach at Sopela and relaxed! On the way, we stopped at the Viscaya Bridge.

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We got in the water and swam. But the Bay of Biscay is on the North Atlantic. Even at the end of August, it was cold to me. (But I’m spoiled in Valencia!)

We went for a lovely dinner and I had traditional Basque Pil Pil (cod with olive oil and garlic).

Wednesday, before I left, we toured the cathedral in Bilbao.

The sights and experiences were wonderful. But the best thing was spending time with Eric and Dan. What a joy to just relax and do what we wanted to do. They are awesome hosts.

Thank you Dan and Eric!

This weekend, my friend Jim from Boise arrives for a long weekend. More soon!