The following day we bid adieu to La Rioja and were Bilbao bound. The mountains of La Rioja region stayed with us for a while and gave way as we drove further north into the Basque country. In a little under two hours, we had reached the town of Bilbao. It is a large town with many sky scrapers; astoundingly ironical to place we were in a couple of hours ago was.

Nestled amidst green mountains, the city albeit big in size, had a very cosy and private characteristic; pristine. In admiring the mountains that surrounded us; a feat we had got so used to in the past week, we had almost missed the most famous establishment over here; the curvy aluminum structure – the infamous facade of the Gugenheim Museum. During the evening, we strolled through the central town and visited the gorgeous riverside area.

The following day was Guggenheim museum all the way. At the time of getting into the museum, the weather was sunny; quite brisk and cloudy but it was bright. A giant flowered puppy stands in the courtyard that leads to the museum; it has been guarding the museum since the late nineties, today, it seemed like it was basking n all the sun it could get. It was adorable.

Just as us we were about to draw our cameras out to get a few clicks of the elegant facade of museum, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. What began as a run for shelter ended with us spending the better part of the day there. The museum is incredibly captivating and humongous in number, size and quality of the exhibits there.

When we stepped out of the Guggenheim, it was bright sunny and no sign of rain. The spiders were out though. There is a gigantic sculpture of a spider in the backyard; she is called Maman and she has been hanging around in the back of the Guggenheim since early 2000. Towards the late evening, we made our way to the enchanting alleyways of the old quarter Casco Viejo.

The following day we bid adieu to the intriguing Bilbao and were on on our way to San Sebastian. It was a perfect day for being at the beach. As soon as we reached the town of San Sebastian, we got our hats and sunscreen out and headed straight to the beach. Towards the evening we went to Monte Igueldo – the last point of land here; Monte Igueldo stands as San Sebastian’s last front before it gives way to the ocean. One of Spain’s oldest funicular takes you to the summit. The views of the town are from the peak are stupendous. There are many restaurants here and also a lot of entertainment options for the kids. There is a bits and pieces amusement park here.

After our visit to the Monte Igueldo, we visited the ever so popular old town. The place had such an eclectic atmosphere with its crowded narrow streets laced with endless pinxto bars and tapas joint – the most in the entire Spain, it seems. This place really comes in to its own as the evening progresses. There is so much to do here but, the thing that really takes the cake (most literally) is the cheesecake here. The crustless cheesecake available here is out of this world. You could just go to San Sebastian to have the cheesecake and the visit will be well worth it.

The following day we bid adieu to San Sebastian. Could not get enough of the cheesecake though; vowed to return. That was the north of Spain for us and we were now Madrid bound. As we entered Madrid and for the first time in days saw automobile traffic and heard honking; something we had so willingly gotten ourselves so oblivious to in the past few days, had suddenly returned and it was daunting. It look ages to get to our hotel which was in the middle of the city.

In the evening we went to the Grand Via and albeit reluctantly, but we did come to terms with the city. It is had a a very unique charismatic character. The coming couple of days was just touring the city and visiting the sites. Just what you’d do in any other big city. Our evening walk to The Palacia Real de Madrid and out visit to the Retiro park remain the most memorable. In particular, we liked the area around the Reitero park with its many tapas joints.

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Next stop – Granada