Wow. What a crazy, full week!

It started with the arrival of another Couch Surfer, Francesco. Francesco lives in Barcelona, but is originally from Venice, Italy. When we had time together, he spoiled me with his Italian cooking.

He’s an attorney by education. But he works in hospitality and marketing.

When I wasn’t in school or choir, we explored Valencia, cooked together and went to the beach.

We also went to an amazing Immersive art experience, celebrating the work of Salvador Dali’.

It included a mind blowing virtual reality experience, with VR headsets, in a room that you could walk around and interact with the things you were seeing. Imagine walking and moving inside a Dali’ painting!

This weekend, I returned to the northern city of Bilbao…this time, with the choir.

Bilbao is a beautiful city!

And the food is amazing!

We arrived Friday night. After checking into our hotel, twenty of us went to dinner. While I still struggle with understanding Spanish, a few folks tried to speak a little English to help me feel included. And with my limited Spanish, I was able to understand and even participate a little in the laughter and fun.

We stayed out until almost 1 am … which is nothing for Spaniards!

We stayed in a nice hotel. Unfortunately, there were three guys in my room. (We each had our own single bed). It made things less private…but we managed. That explained the inexpensive price of 60€ for two nights (with some financial support from the choir).

On Saturday morning, I got up early and walked to the “Casco Viajo” Old City. I had a typical Spanish breakfast of coffee and toast with tomato on it.

Then, I walked back to the hotel to meet a group walking tour of the city.

The tour lasted more than three hours!

But, we weren’t done! We concluded the tour in Plaza Nueva (The New Plaza), which is surrounded by pincho bars and restaurants.

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Pinchos are small servings, usually on a piece of bread, with something delicious on top.

With a group of seven of us, we embarked on what I can only call, “a pincho crawl.”

We started at one place, had a glass of wine and several pinchos. Then, went to another to try their delicacies, then another and another.

We concluded with desserts and coffee before heading back to the hotel to rest, change and go to the concert.

The concert was in a large, more contemporary church.

We were the guests of a choir from the local university. So for two pieces, we sang together:

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Afterwards, a dinner (of pinchos!) was provided.

And the singing continued:

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But, we weren’t done. The younger choir members convinced me to go dancing with them! So, we danced and laughed until after 3:30 am. (As they say here, “Uff!”) It was fun, but not something I can do very often!

Sunday morning came way too early. After a big hotel breakfast, I met the younger gang for more walking around the city.

This is where I got frustrated. These folks wouldn’t plan anything, kept dawdling, and would start to do something (go to the Guggenheim Museum or ride the Funicular to the mountains above the city) only to decide not to do it.

I started to get worried that they’d mess around until we missed our flight.

So with less than two hours before the flight, I left them, walked back to the hotel, got my bag and caught the bus to the airport. I knew I needed to chill. But my American-need-to-be-at-the-airport two or three hours early just didn’t let me go-with-the-flow.

I got to the airport less than 30 minutes before they all did. They laughed at me (and I joined them!) for my nervousness. As much as I try to embrace this Spanish relaxed lifestyle, sometimes my American culture overtakes me.

After a smooth flight, I’m back in Valencia. Tonight, a couch surfer from Chicago arrives.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week!