Basque Country and Rioja

Over Labor Day Weekend, we traveled to the Basque Country in northern Spain.
What a different world than our southern Andalucia.
First, check out the language. Lots of z's and k's---more Greek than Spanish.
The Basque language is unique.

The Guggenheim Museum is the main draw in Bilbao, the major center of Basque Country.
 Since 1997, this museum has changed this previously industrial city into a major cultural center in the North.
The architecture of the museum far surpassed
 the interior exhibits, in our opinion. Cool spider, right?

Guarding the Guggenheim is this puppy made of flowers. Well watered and weeded. 

Although it is in Spain, Bilbao has the feel of a northern European city.

Next stop on our driving tour: Guernica. The Peace Museum is on the left. What a gem.
During the Spanish Civil War (1937) German planes bombed and obliterated this sleepy town, 
with Franco's permission. The bombing has often been considered one of the first raids in the history of 
modern military aviation on a defenseless civilian population.
 Instead of seething in resentment, the people of Guernica created this wonderful little
museum that celebrates peace and freedom for all oppressed people.

On the road  leaving Guernica. This does not look like the Spain
 we know. It's more like an Irish landscape.

The Basque coast is magnificent. 

Lekeitio: A fishing port on the Basque coast between Bilbao and
our destination of San Sebastian

Working fishing boats. Who knows what this says, but it's another example
of how un-Spanish the language seems.

Leaving Lekeitio, we found ourselves driving through the mountains in the middle
 of a professional  bicycle race for numerous miles.
We looked like one of the "support cars." (It caused a little stress!)

We arrived at our hotel in San Sebastian. This is the view of the Bay of
Biscay from our hotel room.

A view of San Sebastian's harbor (not the best picture) from our hotel .
A major resort town in the Basque Country, this place is for the wealthy.
The food was most cosmopolitan. What a wonderful surprise!

Next stop:  Rioja, the wine country, about 2
 hours south of San Sebastian.

Rioja is home to red wine production in Spain.

Our hotel was part of a winery. We had a private tour of the wine cellars and
private dining rooms below the Inn.  (Monges, 2000; excellent wine).

What we learned....

On our visit to the Basque Country, we realized how vast and varied Spain is. The language,
history, people, food, and culture of the area are so different than what we know in Andalucia.
There has been a long-standing desire for greater regional autonomy in the North, and having seen
the area with its own uniqueness, we can better appreciate their internal conflict.