Day 14: Logroño & Viana

Day Fourteen! We bid farewell to beautiful Bilbao so that we could connect with Brooklyn's lovely mission friends in Logroño & Viana. Here we are doing Annika's hair super fast before meeting up. The hair tie in my mouth kind of makes it look like a grew a speedy mustache.

Logroño was quiet on a weekday morning, but still pretty.

Okay, so this is totally off-topic, but Jason is always asserting how roads are more picturesque when the buildings are closer together. Look at this side by side of Logroño (above) & Viana (below). Both are lovely and very similar, but the Viana photo feels more intimate, largely beause of the physical connectedness of the buildings. And then, there's Salt Lake.  Thanks to Brigham Young, many of our streets are wide enough for a team of oxen to turn around. Functional for car traffic, but I wish our streetscapes had more character.

But I digress.  Back to Logroño, even the trees looked colorful! It was fun hearing about all of the experiences Brooklyn had while serving here.

Apparently Logroño is right on the Camino de Santiago. If you speak, Spanish this sign is hilarious. El Camino de Santiago se hace por Etapas. (The Pilgrimage of St. James is completed by stages tapas. Speaking of el camino, Brooklyn and I are already planning a future adventure.

Here is Brooklyn and her lovely friend Marcela from .

Marcela invited us into her home where we met her son Cristián and their fantastic pet bird, Mango.

Much to Annika's chagrin, Talia was Mango's favorite.

Before long we continued on our way to the small town of Viana where we were lucky enough to meet the sweetest family: Estela, Oscar, Ana & Esteban. Even though we were meeting for the first time, it felt like we'd known each other for years and would be best friends if only we lived closer. The food was extraordinary--my only regret is that I was so busy eating that I forgot to take more pictures. 

We are so grateful to this family for taking such great care of our missionary daughter, feeding her on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's! They never knew that back at home Brooklyn's little sister was getting a heart transplant at the same time, but I feel such peace knowing that Brooklyn was being cared for too. (Hermana Talia, we pray you've found some special people too!)

The family took us on a lovely walking tour of their beautiful little town. 

Their cathedral was destroyed during WWII and  intentionally left without a roof after in remembrance.

Inspired by our own goofy photo, Oscar called himslef a "mono" in this pic.

These two would have gladly chatted for days.

By the way, in case you wanted to know where all the oreos in Spain are made, Viana is the place! Apparently the factory is right next to the elementary school so the kids smell cookies all day long.

As much fun as Viana was, we needed to continue on to Soria, our final AirBnb for two days. The apartment was clean, modern, spacious, and a block away from the town square. True, the view out the back balcony was just construction, but Jason and Eli were fascinated.

Here's another family selfie, taken just as we headed out to explore the town. Soria had a delightfully vibrant vibe, with locals out on the streets everywhere chatting and dining. It really was enchanting. Jason decided that if we ever moved to Spain, this would be the perfect place.

Just as long as he doesn't take off with another woman...

Modern art? Perhaps, but we suspect the chair simply collapsed.

Apparently storks can be a bit of a nuisance in the area as their giant nests clog gutters. The belfry doesn't seem to mind.

You're never too old for a playground.

Since we planned to splurge on dinner out the next day, here's our smorgasbord from cleaning out the fridge. We were all out of baguette (tragedy!), so I made homemade tortillas with our remaining flour, oil and salt.  The kids were pretty impressed--apparently I've been hiding my tortilla making skills from them all these years.

Stay tuned for our very final post about Spain!

 

Day 13: Bilbao & Gaztelugatxe

Looking back at the photos of our adventures, I have to pinch myself. Truly, we were so blessed with special experiences every single day. I am beyond grateful for this time of connection as a family. I'm so glad we made time for each other during this small window before Talia left on her mission and Brooklyn was back and school wasn't in session (well, sort of. Eli and Annika technically should have been in school still, but I think they'd both agree that it was totally worth skipping.)

As Day 13 dawned in Bilbao, some of us headed for another run along the river. Because why not? Frank Gehry's Guggenheim was still spectacular. Plus this time Jason took some amazing pictures. 

The riverfront highlighted some thought-provoking public art.

After getting cleaned up, the kids and I headed out again while Jason worked.

Hey, the Puppy!

This time the scaffolding was down and we got to enjoy the art in full bloom.  By the way, this is just a block away from the intersection where Brooklyn ran into the Wilhoits on a Sunday morning. They were on a Disney Cruise and Brooklyn was here as a missionary, but connecting seemed too difficult to organize. Apparently the Master Organizer up above must have thought it was really important for them to meet after all because they just happened to show up at the same place at the exact same time. What are the chances? As our friend Brian Blackham would say, 100%. 

While we didn't splurge on tickets to see the exhibits, we still enjoyed a great movie about the creation of the Guggenheim.

We were also able to get uncomfortably close to the spider.

Walking to the old town, Brooklyn pointed out Bilbao's trademark paving tiles. I love that each city has its own pattern.

We'd heard amazing things about authentic Bassk cheesecake, so we splurged on a piece to compare with Jason's. In the end, I couldn't pick a winner. The world needs both. All the cheesecake. Please.

Annika wasn't feeling awesome by this point (I think the heat got to her), so she and I took the metro back to Jason. Bilbao's public transit is fantastic! Once I rejoined the other kids, we hopped on the funicular up to the top of the town.

Talia, would you like to explain yourself?

BilbaoBilboBilbaoBilboBilbaoBilboBilbaoBilboBilbao...

Yeah, it's a pretty cool place. But Calle and Adam, we have a question about your Disney Cruise. Bilbao isn't exactly on the coast. Did your cruise ship sail down the river? If so, cool.

Okay, so there's only one place where I feel like poor Jason really missed out by needing to work while we were in Spain. He and Annika weren't there to join us for the most heavenly arepas ever. The place is called Issa's, and if you are ever in Bilbao, don't miss it. For reals. Also, make sure to get the arepas with the tostones. You'll thank me. And in case you need the address, you'll find this Venezuelan treasure in the Deusto, Bilbao at Calle Francisco Macías, 8. (Can you tell I'm hoping to go back some day?)

Had we ended there, it would have been a great day. But intrepid explorers that we are, we all headed out to Gaztelugatxe later in the day as the heat started to subside.

Anyone recognize this jewel of the basque country from the Game of Thrones Dragonstone?

We just don't have many places like this in the States.

You have to climb a ton of stairs to reach the hermitage, but it's worth it.


(Annika seems unconvinced.)

At least there are stations of the cross along the way where you can pray for help.

Or in the worst case scenario, bury your remains.

The chapel honors San Juan (John the Baptist) and is beloved by Basque fisherman.

Peeking inside the church, you can definitely sense the nautical theme. I've never seen an interior like it! So glad we went.

Annika still wanted to swim at a beach, so that evening we looked up a cove to explore. We didn't expect to find a fun zip line on our way to the shore.

Beautiful, although the surf was far too rocky and choppy to swim deep as she hoped.

Still, it was a lovely place to watch the sunset and look for crabs.

(Little did we know that this tiny guy was an omen of adventures to come in Canada. But wait, you'll have to be patient for that story.)

And one more meal shared in our AirBnB. It's funny, but I didn't tire of cooking dinner in the same way that I do at home. Perhaps it was because we didn't have many ingredients so there were was much less decision fatigue about what to make. We bought just what we needed and ate what we bought--both minimalist and luxurious all at the same time.