Fleur had her flute examination this morning. Here she is tuning up with the page turner and pianist—the three judges are before the stage. She played Le parfum de Paris—the piece has three movements and sounds very pretty.

On our way home from Bilbao we drove to beautiful gorgeous yummy San Sebastian.

Our plan was to go on the canoe ride on top of Monte Igelda (one of the summits overlooking the bay).

But if I had known that the ride was part of an amusement park I would had thought twice about going. I like to avoid amusement parks like the plague. There’s no other purpose for an amusement park like this one than to empty one’s wallet for a few head splitting rides. Fortunately there was a furnicular. For two euros each—down the mountain and up—going up the mountain for this (as well as the view) was worth the experience.

While waiting for our ride back up, the children and I hung out at the station.

These buildings are always charming when empty. I tried to imagine it during its heyday—highschool dates sneaking kisses in the corners, mothers ushering their little ones closer to them for safety, squeeling school aged children on field trips chaperoned by tired looking masters, the smell of oily hinges, sweaty collars and disinfected toilets.

Most of what I knew about Bilbao before visiting came from the book The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky. Kurlansky mentions how the Basque were a ocean going people, expert navigators, and shipbuilders and that before Bilbao became a city, she was first a major port for the exporting of metal and other goods during the Industrial Revolution—there you go, more evidence that Tolkien looked to the Basques for his inspiration!

What I also found interesting in the book was how the Basque had practiced capitalism way before Adam Smith penned his Wealth of Nations, in fact Kurlansky writes that Smith used the Basque as his example when he wrote his book on economics. Interesting.

Tapas—Canon Powershot S410

The city of Bilbao is a depository of history. Here you will find evidence of the classical, the medieval, the Baroque, the Neoclassical, the 19th century expansion area. With the more recently renovated riverside—and vast building constructions happening everywhere—Bilbao is fast becoming a thriving 21st century metropolis with a story. Unfortunately this photo doesn’t do justice to Bilbao’s riverside.

This photo was taken the next day—and as you can see, the weather had turned cooler and grey. This area is of the old town. The yellow building on the left is called Mercado de la Ribera and is said to be the largest covered food market in Europe measuring 11,500 meter squares. It was built in 1929 to replace the stalls that were once held under the arches each day.