Bilbao – what a magnificent surprise! Small enough to explore on foot, this great city is the perfect energy boost in the spring time! Obviously, the Guggenheim museum is the magnet and was the catalyst for Bilbao’s great metamorphosis from an industrial city (“El Botxo”, meaning the hole due to the heavy shipbuilding and steel industry), to a cultural, culinary and architectural heaven.

And yes, it seems as if all roads lead to Frank O. Gehry’s masterpiece – the Guggenheim Museum celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. And another yes, it is so so so worth seeing this fascinating and truly breathtaking building continuously changing its shape according to your standpoint and watching the titanium facade change colors like fish skin depending on the sunlight intensity. Personally, I saw an artichoke but some people discover a whale, a bouquet of flowers, a ship wrack by the Ría del Nervión or simply an emblematic avant-garde architecture guiding way into the 21st century.

But Bilbao is not only about the Guggenheim Museum, it is about the Basque way of life which is so very lovely and so very special. It feels different from all other cities I have ever visited and the magic must be experienced individually.

During our stay, we discovered one very cool little Pintxos taverne called “EL LATERIO DEL MAR A LA LATA” which serves a small but great selection of (funnily) Portuguese fish cans together with a small glas of beer or wine. So, my first bite in Bilbao was into a delicious slice of white bread with this delicate “mousse de sardhinas”. What a great treat!

As souvenir, I bought myself some cans of the PRATA DO MAR Mousse de Sardinha. Another fab version was to get some fresh sardines in olive oil, fresh garlic and fresh herbs topped with fish caviar – served with fresh bread. Magic!

“Basque Pintxos”
Pintxos are the traditional Basque ‘tapas’, if you will – every bar has different styles and a great variety mostly with fish, meat, cheeses, olives and other ingredients. To taste the real Pintxos, I recommend you travel to Bilbao to see, hear, feel, smell and taste this city for yourself!

1// Check flights and accommodation in Bilbao.

2// Book your trip to Bilbao… soon!

3// Travel to Bilbao and discover Bilbao!

4// Enjoy Bilbao!!!

5// Come back full of great energy and unforgettable impressions.

24 Mar This entry was published on March 24, 2017 at 12:03 pm. It’s filed under Recipe, Travel and tagged basques food, Bilbao, el laterio, fish, Frank O. Gehry, garlic, Guggenheim Museum, pintxos, sardines, tapas, wine. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.