Potes to Bilbao

 Nov. 3, 2024

 After spending considerable time in the charming town of Potes, we catch a bus to the largest city in the Basque country.....Bilbao! Click on the pics to enlarge.

Our fancy modern apartment.....

Bilbao is a very modern city as evident by this incredible curved bridge....the Zubizuri or White bridge, finished in 1997. Its a pedestrian bridge with a glass walkway that crosses the Nervion River.

 

 

The city hall along the river.....

The Nervion river was highly contaminated after 100 years of industrial activity. However, in 1990 the local authorities launched a plan to overcome the situation, resulting in a river now clean enough to host a triathlon where people can actually swim in it...amazing transformation.

 

 

 

In the train station.....

The epic Guggenheim museum

 

 

 

More modern architecture along the river

 

 

The Athletic club stadium....

 

 

Still there are many beautifully preserved historic buildings throughout the city....

 

We took the incline up a nearby mountain...

Another highlight was the fascinating Viscaya Bridge. This is a transporter bridge. That is to say, it has a gondola that hangs down from it, at the height of the river banks and it can transport cars, people, etc across the river. The gondola is suspended by cables from a moveable deck above. It is the first ever bridge of this kind in the world and dates back to 1893!

 

 

A shot as the gondola approaches

 

If we calculate the number of trips this gondola has made, it would have traveled around the world 31 times.....& has carried over 650 million people! A shot from the top of this truly spectacular working historical monument....

 

A large monument near the mouth of the Nervion river, c. 1930...

The monument is called "The struggle of man against the sea", due to the fact that Evaristo Churruca, to whom it is dedicated, improved the safety to ships by straightening the river.

The monument depicts a man pushing a slab of stone over the God Neptune, whose Trident and Crown, lay broken on the ground.....

 

It is said the Bilbao has the best food in Spain. So when we found scallops complete with their gonads, we had to cook em up, yum!

We enjoyed Bilbao so much so we extended our stay.

Stay tuned for our next destination, the Capital of the Basque country, coming soon....

Regards,

KnJ

Santander to Potes

 Oct 18, 2024

Despite having a great little apartment in Santander, we could not get a decent booking for the upcoming weekend. Ours was already booked by someone else. So, with slight apprehension, we decide to jump on a bus to a town up close to the Picos de Europa called Potes. Vamos!

Walking around the town of Potes. Stone construction everywhere. Such a cute place, lets go....

The view from our apartment.....

 

Potes means Bridges and there are quite a few. There are several rivers that converge here.

 

Our apartment turned out to be really nice!

We don't waste any time and get our picnic lunch ready. We're heading off on our first hike in Potes! Incredible scenery here.....

 

As we head up the mountains we realize we're hiking in a cork oak forest. Quercus suber.

 

We also find alot of Strawberry trees or Madrona. Its Arbutus unedo!! Its a heavily producing evergreen fruit bush. We chow down!! yummy....

Along the hike  of the day...

 

Here you can see where someone harvested some cork.....it grows back.

Time for our picnic...perched on the side of a windy cliff.....will it storm???

So many mushrooms....

 

 

 

Heading back down the far side of the loop trail....

The town of Potes below.....

 

Back to town.....

After a few days in Potes we head up higher towards the Picos in hopes of taking a cable-car up to the high mountains of the park. We jump on a bus to Espinama....we find an ol fashion but relatively comfortable apartment. The weather is changing for the worst. Cold and rainy....

 

The entrance to the cable car is just over those mountains. But its too late to go today, hopefully in the morning.

Up early the next day to see if we can make it through the pass and fulfill our hopes and dreams of riding the cable car......but it doesn't look good.....its raining and most certainly snowing up the mountain. The cold grips us, we cannot continue.....the risk is too great, we cant risk our lives......with a final glimpse of defeat we turn back, the mountain victorious.....

But we do find a way to have a picnic next to some horses!!

 

Our plans foiled, we head back to warmer Potes....we find a really quaint apartment further from town...

Its good to be back in Potes with the fabulous views....

 We really enjoy the nature around here.  Definitely one of our favorite places in Spain. We have an affordable, nice, quiet apartment a good grocery store nearby and some super hiking.....think we'll stay awhile!

More to come.....

KnJ