Driving out of town

When we got up this morning, there were hundreds of people with bicycles in the square. Around 9:00, they all took off. Later we rented a car and drove to Onati, a small town north of Vitoria. We walked around the town and had lunch with Jason and Helen. There also was some sort of bicycle ride or race, with cops directing traffic and lots of serious looking bikers. We continued up the hill to Arantzazu. It has the coolest church, with a façade made of stone that looked like the bottom of egg cartons. We stayed at the hotel up the hill from the church. Next morning the parking lot and along the road was filled with cars. It was foggy, so we couldn't get good pictures.

We drove on to Bilbao, and Jason and Helen headed back to their apartment. We went to the Guggenheim museum, which architecturally was very impressive.

Guggenheim museum

Inside however, was really disappointing. The whole 2nd floor was closed, and the "art" in the rest was underwhelming. One room was devoted to a grouping of picture frame parts, scattered about the floor as if left by children.

Guggenheim Museum

We walked into town and had Tapas at a local bar.

After lunch, we drove along the coast to Laredo. We checked into a hotel, and then walked the beach to the old town.

Port at Laredo

They were having a medieval festival, and had lots of food and arts vendors.

Street fair

Harris Hawk

Later, we walked back into town for dinner, and were treated to hundreds of people dressed up in medieval costumes, parading through the street. Around 10, they set off fireworks in the street. Lots of fun.

Driving out of town

Onate, Spain