Balmaseda y Portugalete

Thursday was a long day. We started off with an academic orientation on what the classes we would be taking consisted of and what was expected of us in each class. In Spain it is considered rude to eat or drink in class (even coffee!) and if we show up any where after five minutes late we are marked absent! All of the professors seem very excited about the start of classes though, so that makes everything a bit less intimidating.
The rest of the day was planned around an excursion to the historic towns in Biscay. Balmaseda, where we drove to first, is the oldest villa in the province of Biscay, founded in 1199. Unfortunately it was raining gatos y perros when we got there so we only got out of the bus briefly. We walked over a medieval bridge built by the Romans known as El Puente Viejo or El Punete de La Muza. And we also got to see a beautiful old church known as La Iglesia de San Serverino.

Around 1:00 it was lunch time and we headed to a restaurant called La Capitana for another giant meal that was much more traditonal this time. There was chorizo for the first course which is a common Spanish dish with sausage, vegetables, and potatoes. And cochilla for the main course, which is basically just ribs. And some kind of banana chocolate cake for dessert. Yum. These meals always have giant baskets of bread for the table too. Our comedor (dining hall) in the dorm offers bread as well. And we hardly ever drink anything besides water with meals, which is probably a good thing because I drink too much soda anyway.

Thankfully the rain and wind died down so when we arrived in Portugalete we were able to do a little more exploring. This village was founded in the Middle Ages and is located right on the Ria of the Nervion River. It is also home to the Puente Bizkaia, built in 1893, one of the most important transporter bridges in the world and was designed by the disciple of the man who designed the Eifel Tower. We also got to see the Basilica de Santa Maria, constructed in 1492, which is considered a major work of art for the Basque Country.

I think I probably took over 100 pictures on that trip, but it was well worth it. The transporter bridge had a car that hung from wires on the bridge that took people and cars from one side of the Ria to the other. We all boarded this to head back home and rest up because later in the night we all attended a Bienvenidos Fiesta for all the CIDE students at a local bar in town. When my group of friends and I arrived the place was packed! There was an open mic and more American music being sung, songs like Brown Eyed Girl are always a hit. The one thing I hate about Spain is the smoking. Every night I come home reeking of cigarettes and I hate it... Laundry is going to be a common occurence here. Everyone had a really great time at the fiesta, but all the dancing and singing took it out of me and I needed a good nights rest for our next scheduled trip to the Guggenheim Museum on Friday!