Saturday, 10/4 & Sunday, 10/5
Willard from PickUpRide arrived close to 13:00, took me to the airport, and I didn’t realize that I needed to be at the international terminal (which should have been obvious) instead of going to Delta’s gate 2. I had to rent a cart for $8 and go to the international terminal. Once at KLM I was able to check in but even that was confusing because the partner that was listed for KLM was not Delta, it was Air France. In any event I checked in, took my surfboards to oversized baggage, went upstairs through the security screening, and then started to walk to my gate. In hindsight I should have eaten first and then walked to the gate because my options were limited. I had some kakiage udon at Santoku which was ok and then I went to sit at the gate. I realized I didn’t have a boarding pass as I checked in through Delta and they codeshared to KLM. I had to go to the ticket counter and got my ticket which had me in a B seat instead of an aisle seat which I was not too fond of. Luckily I was sitting in between a couple and they wanted to switch seats which was nice. I was also in a B seat on my flight from AMS > BIO which I was disappointed with
When I finally arrived in Bilbao I felt a little better. My stomach was still not right, but I felt more rested which was nice. I went to get my car from Enterprise and found out that I needed to go to the fourth floor which meant I had to walk back the way I came and take the elevator up. This was a minor inconvenience but it was telling that they didn’t have a sign posted. Check-in was fairly smooth and I was able to load the car and get out of there fairly easily. I had some issues getting out of the parking garage because the signage was not what I was expecting (arrow pointed to the left and you had to go past that point). Once I got on the road it wasn’t as bad as I had thought it might be and I arrived at my destination mostly without issue. I think for me what I struggle with the most is the lack of clarity when it comes to the places I go to and what would translate into a better experience for a guest. I had to text the place, let them know I had arrived, and then called them because they weren’t responding quickly enough. I finally got some clarity on where to park, but even then I might have gotten a ticket last night and I’ll have to check. I walked around a bit to check the surf break and where to enter, went back to prep my board, got ready and went to early dinner at Donde Alejo Barria Taberna which was the strangest experience. Talk about walking into a place and instantly feeling uncomfortable. The locals just looked at me. In any event I had a fried chicken sandwich and empanada which was pretty good
I ate quickly and then walked around a bit. Glad I brought my umbrella as it started to rain
When I got back I changed and then tried to stay up but my eyes were heavy and I fell asleep somewhere around 20:40
Monday, 10/6
The result of going to sleep too early is that I woke up at 03:00 (or earlier) and couldn’t go back to sleep. I stayed in bed for a little while, decided to get up, and did a little reading until the sun rose. I kept going back and forth – trying to decide if I drive to surf or just surf Mundaka. I decided on the latter and surfed Mundaka. It was very overcast when I paddled out. I caught a couple of bombs that were maybe 7-8′ and then started to work my way down the point as I started near the peak which I never do. I stayed out for maybe an hour and a half and then went to have a chocolate croissant and espresso at Los Txopos
After that I kept going back and forth as to what I should do. Go and sightsee or surf again since the conditions seemed decent. I took some time and began doing some professional development and then went surfing again. What a session! I had a good time but I was smoked! I needed to get some water so I went to the local supermarket at around 13:45 which I was a little worried they wouldn’t be open because I had read that Spaniards like to have a long lunch spanning from about 14:00-16:00 (or later). I made it just in time and got a water and coke. It was funny as I was drinking the coke I was thinking about one of my nurses Dana and was wishing her well
The next order of business was food! I was so hungry and needed to grab something to eat so I thought I was going to a place called Luruna but I actually went to Bar Mil888. I ordered an Iberian Ham and shoulder of ham “Carrasco” cold appetizer (plate in front) and Iberian cheek stew “Carrasco” with tempranillo (which was super tender beef with mashed potatoes). Both were fantastic and the most expensive meal I had so far!
Tuesday, 10/7
Today I woke up and looked at the waves. It wasn’t flat but there wasn’t much so I decided that today was a sightseeing day. After some searching I decided to visit the Guggenheim and bought tickets for 12:30. I went to get breakfast at Los Txopos and got a tortilla with hongo (omelette with mushrooms), chocolate croissant, and double espresso. What took me by surprise is that the omelette was filled with mashed potatoes which I wasn’t expecting
After finishing I went back upstairs, waited for a bit, took a shower, was going to wait for a bit longer and just decided to leave early. When I arrived in Bilbao I must have made a wrong turn as I had some issues finding the parking garage but I got there safely after a few more turns. One of the parking attendants was telling me something but I didn’t understand what he was saying. He was able to figure out that I didn’t understand what he was saying and wanted me to roll down the windows and leave the key in the car which I did. I then exited the garage and walked around the Guggenheim, thinking I might have to wait till 12:30. This is what I saw
After the museum I was going to check out the fine art museum but thought that maybe I should look at something else. I went and saw Zubizuri bridge
Prior to going back to Mundaka I thought that I should have a big lunch so initially I was going to eat at Larruzz Bilbao but it seemed like the set menu items were for two people. Instead I went around the corner to Restaurante India Town and had samosas, basmati rice, daal makhani, and garlic naan (guess I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the meal…lol)
After lunch I walked back towards the car and saw this spider thing that I passed by on my to the bridge
They must have had a fog machine because the water had a layer of fog on top of it which was pretty cool! I was starting to feel tired so I went back to the parking garage, paid my fee, and went back to Mundaka
Wednesday, 10/8
I had a hard time sleeping last night. I got up multiple times until I decided to stay up which I did till about 5ish and tried to sleep till past 8. I really wanted to surf today so I checked sopelano and decided that’s where I was gonna go. I had an espresso, some cereal, packed my bags, and I was out the door
I got to my destination around 10ish and got in almost right away
It took me a bit to find a comfortable place but I did a little down the line and I caught some decent waves. It was about 1-2.5′ and inconsistent. After the session I needed to use the restroom badly and sadly enough there wasn’t a public restroom that I could find
I had to go to cafe dompy and was able to use the restroom there. Thank God! I then had a tortilla de queso y jamon and a double espresso before heading back to Mundaka
After getting back I took my board and wetsuit back to the apartment and went to Luruna to eat lunch. When I arrived at the restaurant they asked me if I had a reservation and I said no. The person needed to check if I could be seated and it was determined that I could dine there. They had a menu del dia and this is what they served
Thursday, 10/9
I looked at other surf spots and decided to try Punta Galea. While this place might have been surfable it looked sketchy with the rocks and the walk down. No one was out and that was a bit worrisome – along with the fact that it was a long walk to the bottom
I went to check the Vizcaya Bridge and was having a hard time getting a good shot but this is what I felt was my best!
after that I really wanted to surf so I stopped by Sopelana to see if it was breaking. Unfortunately it wasn’t so I looked for food places and settled on La Fiambrera which means (the lunchbox). I had a set meal that included a sandwich, salad, and smoothie and as much as I want an espresso I think that I’ll hold off and see how that affects my sleep tonight!
Friday, 10/10
I got up this morning thinking “it’ll be much easier if I go back to bed and go to bakio instead of driving for an hour and a half.” Of course when I delved into what I was feeling it was of course fear mixed with anticipation of the unknown. I ate some cereal, packed my bag, and decided to go check and see what it looked like
Initially I went to La Concha and it was literally flat like I saw on the cams
I had to pivot and go to La Zurriola which was actually pretty fun! It was maybe 2-4′ with occasional 5′ sets rolling through.
After surfing I walked around and went to Pukas surf store which was right across the street, went to get an acai bowl that wasn’t very good, then went to get ramen at Takuma which also wasn’t very good. Last time I leave things to chance without reading reviews…
There wasn’t much more for me to do (at least for today) so I decided to leave San Sebastian and go back to Mundaka. Of course true to fashion I was trying to pay my AP toll and went into the solo lane which is like a fasttrack. I got stuck and had to back out of there and get into a lane where I could pay by credit card. That was a bit of a fiasco but I made it out!! When I got back I saw one decent wave that almost made me go out but I decided against it and tried to make my game plan for tomorrow
Saturday, 10/11
Today I wasn’t sure what to do. I woke up later, had some breakfast and coffee, and finally decided to go to Bakio. It was a fairly easy drive that took less than 30 minutes and the parking lot I found prior to driving was perfect. I parked, checked for a second, and then suited up and went surfing. It was probably 1-3′, inconsistent, and overall not great but it was fun to get in the water and try another place out
After coming back from Bakio it was a zoo in Mundaka and it was hard to find parking. Luckily I spotted a place in back of the gas station where I parked but I’ll probably need to move my car later. I checked about 17:30 and there’s still a lot of people around and no spaces available
Sunday, 10/12
I knew the surf wasn’t going to be good today so I decided to make the long trek to the caves of altamira. On the way there I saw an incredible sunrise and I needed to stop and take a picture
That was probably about 10 minutes into the drive. In its entirety the trip was approximately 1h and 50min which wasn’t that bad. I got there shortly after 10 (I think 10:03 to be exact), found out that I didn’t have to pay for a ticket (think it was a Spanish national holiday) and went to check the exhibit. I only had about 15 minutes before they let us into the cave replica so I set a timer and walked around a bit. When it was our group’s time to go in we went into another room where we watched a short video, then went into the cave replica which was pretty cool. What made it hard to see was the low ceiling. Here are some of the pictures I captured
I was pretty famished after seeing the cave so I looked up a place called Restaurante Plaza Mayor and went there. It was a little confusing trying to get there but when I arrived I was served by a very nice Spanish woman (almost restored my faith in the Spanish people) and ordered a cafe con leche de soja, some type of large cake, and a tortilla patata (Spanish Omelette). When I finished I took my plates up, paid, and went to see the Colegiata de Santa Julian de Santillana del Mar church as it seemed like this was a don’t miss. Unfortunately they where closed for the day so I was only able to see it from the outside
By this time I was starting to get pretty tired and I was thinking about the drive home. I began walking back to the car and saw a museum of torture that piqued my interest, but not for 5 euros
Monday, 10/13
For breakfast this morning I went to Los Txopos and had a tortilla de patata, chocolate croissant, and double espresso. I went back to the room, took a shower, packed my bag, and began my trek to San Sebastian where I parked at Kursaal aparkalekua and walked around a bit before arriving in between McDonald’s and Forum Sport store. There Enrico started to corral us together and the group consisted of Erin from Canada, a couple Chad and Torie from San Clemente, and Namada (I think this is the correct spelling) from New Jersey. Once we were all together we went downstairs to a market where the locals shop for their goods
We stopped by a cod store and it was explained how they salted the cod to preserve it and then when they where going to cook it how they bathed the salted cod 3x for a period of 12hrs each to remove the brining and to rehydrate the fish. I asked if there was a specific way in which they cooked the fish but it didn’t seem like there was one
We were then taken to another vendor who sold iberica ham and we got an excellent explanation of the colors of the pigs (white, green, red, black), how they were fed, the time and preparation it took for the end product to be developed (4-5 years I believe), and the price per pound of the front legs. We were then treated to green ham, black ham, chorizo, and cheese that was an excellent way to start things off!
When we finished at this shop we went upstairs and walked to a place called Jose Mari
We went upstairs where it was just out group and had a couple different dishes (wish I had written down the names but I failed to do so). This is a sample of what we had
When we finished here we moved on to itxaropena jatetxea where we had another 4 pintxos (pronounced peen chos)
The fourth place we went to was called muxumartin where we had two more pintxos
The fifth and final place we went to was the second place we visited which was Jose Mari. There we had a toriha dessert that looked like this
After dessert Enrico left us and Namada bought the group drinks which was a nice gesture. We spent a little more time together and as we were leaving Jose Mari I parted ways with the group as I had a long drive ahead of me. This is a picture of if everyone that Troy took
When I got back I relaxed for a bit and decided to go to eroski supermarket and got some cereal, soy milk, a premade salad, and 4 cheese pizza which was ok
Tuesday, 10/14
Today I felt like taking it easy. I woke up at 07:00 which seems to be my new wake up time, did my meditation, ate a little breakfast, did some professional development, exercised which I felt like I haven’t done for days, and a little later in the day i went for a short walk around Mundaka
Earlier I had seen what looked like a controlled fire so I went to check that out and took a couple more pictures of the town
When I was walking around the other day I found what could be considered the hopping off point if the waves were bigger. I’m thinking it may be here (of course you would need to paddle around that section of rocks)
When I finished with my walk I went back to the apartment, spoke with Josu who recommended going to Vitoria-Gastiez and trying La Escotilla and Restaurante perretxiCo. When looking on the map it’s about 1.5hrs away which I may not do
I thanked Josu for his recommendations, took a shower, and began laundry which was my goal for the day. In between that I did other professional development and I feel much better that I started the process since I now have a certificate which requires even more CE’s than my licensure!
I then went to lunch at Bar Mil888 and this is what I had (still not acclimated to eating lunch later lol)
After lunch I took a short nap and went to eroski supermarket and grabbed some mantequillas which took me to the end of my day
Wednesday, 10/15
I wasn’t sure what to do today so I took Josu’s recommendation and went to Vitoria-Gastiez. It took me about 1.5hrs to get there and I began by going to Santa Maria Cathedral. I found out that I needed to go with a group and that the English speaking tour started at 10:30 and I arrived at 11:17. The other option was to go with the Spanish speaking group at 11:30 but I decided against that
I figured since it was close enough to 11:30 that I’d see if perretxiCo was open. They were but their kitchen wasn’t open which presented a problem. I found out that the kitchen wouldn’t be open till 13:00 so I decided to walk around a bit. I went to the Alava Fine Arts Museum and found out that they were closed in the morning (didn’t specify if they would open in the afternoon) because of a strike
At this point I was feeling pretty defeated and I thought maybe I’ll go have lunch so I tried La Escotilla and found out that they were similar to perretxiCo and didn’t open till 13:00
I was done and wanted to get out of there so I found a place called Comida rapida La Teresa and had a mixed meat burrito and a fruit juice with no milk because they didn’t have leche de soja (soy milk)
When I finished I began walking back towards the car and there was a large protest in the street (something about Palestine) and I wanted to get out of there quick before any problems happened which didn’t
On the way back – true to fashion – I went through one of the pay tolls even though I didn’t go on the AP. Sadly they made me pay which was a little over $3 which is ridiculous. I’ll have to think about what to do for tomorrow since it’s my last day. Hopefully there’ll be some surf
Thursday, 10/16
Last night I had some funky dreams and I’ll probably need to delve into what they mean and how I take care of myself
When I woke up I found that there were some emails from Delta and Enterprise asking me to check in. With those things out of the way I had some breakfast, tried to see what I’d do for the day, went and had a second breakfast at Los Txopos which included a tortilla de hongo and a mantequilla with maybe some cream inside
When I finished I went back to the room, waited about 15 minutes, and did a quick workout and tried to see what I’d do for the day. Initially I had thought about going to the fine arts museum in Bilbao but by the time I was going to leave which was around 11:00 that would have meant my arrival would have been around 12 and I still would have needed to walk to the museum then spend some time looking at the art so I decided to wait another hour and then drive to Andra Mari. I walked around and took one more picture of Mundaka
At around 12:15-12:20 I decided to head out to Andra Mari for my Michelin rated lunch which I was looking forward to! I got there pretty early (think it was around 13:10) to make sure I could find a good parking spot and not feel rushed. Here are some pictures before entering the restaurant
I went down to look at some information on their board and was approached by either a chef or one of the wait staff. I let them know I had a reservation at 13:30 and I would be walking around
When the clock struck 13:30 I went to be seated and was offered to sit inside. I asked if I could dine outside and they said yes which I was happy with. This is what it looked like from outside
I should have taken another picture of the view but I couldn’t find a good vantage point and sometimes just enjoying the moment is better than capturing it 😁 I was then presented with a napkin, bread plate, and water glass
And shortly after that the menu which looked like this
The pre appetizer was rustic bread and olive oil
This next course I’m not sure what it was but the item on the right has a flaky shell with bacon bits on the top, the left item also had a slightly denser shell and I didn’t recall what (or don’t know) what was in the middle and there was a broth like things I was to have at the end which was interesting
The next appetizer was like a biscuit with butter. At first I thought the stone was edible. Glad I didn’t bite it lol
This was the end of the appetizers and on to the items listed on the menu
After lunch I had planned on going to the fine art museum but lunch was almost two hours (finished around 15:15) and I couldn’t see driving another 20 minutes into Bilbao so I decided to drive back to Mundaka, gas up, and relax
Friday, 10/17 – Saturday, 10/18
I had a hard time sleeping and I might have finally fell asleep around 23:00. I woke up at 03:00, washed my face, ate some breakfast, packed the rest of my things and double checked what I had packed against my Google doc, triple checked to make sure I hadn’t left anything and went to get the car. I drove as close to the apartment as I could, loaded up my boards, and as I was about to start driving I found out Mom had a fall which worried me quite a bit. I knew there was nothing I could do in the moment but all those worries started to flood in and I just needed to concentrate on getting to the airport
Once I got there I was able to get to enterprise (although it was partially blocked off), I went downstairs to get a cart, went back upstairs, and realized where I was parked there was no enterprise sign above the car. I used this opportunity to take pictures of the car and moved it into another space. Once I felt everything was set I locked the car and put the keys in the after hours drop off box
I went back to floor 0, checked myself and my surfboards in, and went through security. Since we had gotten there so early our gate hasn’t been assigned yet so we needed to wait till 05:50 and then the gate was assigned. I think it was C23 but that could be wrong. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long before boarding and we were on our way to Amsterdam. The flight attendants assured us that even though our connecting flight was 50 minutes that we didn’t have to worry
Well we took off late and somehow arrived just about on time. I disembarked, found out the gate was E21 and we were in terminal A of all places. I had to run and unfortunately at terminal D we had to go through a security checkpoint. There was a quicker lane but it took time for me to get into that lane and once I got out of there I ran to the gate and just barely made it
For the most part that flight was uneventful but when I arrived I found out that my baggage hadn’t made the flight and I needed to submit a claim online which I did. I then went to speak with the baggage service desk and they printed out information and let me know that my bag would be delivered between 19:00-20:00. I let Situ from PickUpRide know that I could be picked up and went home but it was so strange because his GPS said Palo Verde and I was trying to figure out where he was going. Well good things I finally said something as he was going to Long Beach… Once we got back on track I felt better, but overall he was a terrible driver
When I got home I braced myself for what Mom looked like as I feared the worst. It was bad don’t get me wrong – but not as bad as I had imagined. I quickly went to Walgreens to get her medication, grabbed food for myself, and went to Tokyo Central to get tofu for her. After that I ate, touched base with the guys, cut my hair, did some laundry, and tried to get stuff done to prep for the next week. I was actually proud of myself and made it till about 21:00 or close to it
I got a call around 22:28 – letting me know that the delivery time would be between 00:00-02:00. At about 01:00 my bag was delivered and I was pooped. I was able to fall back asleep but I didn’t sleep much past 04:30 and just decided to get up
Well come to find out one of my boards was damaged and I needed to file a claim for that as well… Well that’s pretty much the whole trip and what I learned from my experience is many things
First is that everything will work out in terms of driving and whatever mistakes I may make like going in the wrong lane. Second that family and friends are a big part of the Spanish culture which I deeply appreciate. And lastly what you have to push yourself to grow even when you sell the comfort of the known. That’s all for this journey and I look forward to the next!!