This past weekend has been good. Thursday night we would usually go out the the Erasmus Party, but this weekend we didn't. We were going to, but we didn't want to pay the 10 euro cover since we got there after 11:30. We ended up walking around Bilbao and made some new friends. We were walking and a girl asked us if we had a lighter and when we responded they knew we were American.
You alway here stories about people speaking English in a foreign country and getting mugged or beat up, but my experience here has been that they want to practice their english and don't want you to speak Spanish with them.
This group of kids, all around our age and students at Deusto, told us they were going to a club and told us we could go with them. We got a nice night tour of Bilbao. This club was smaller and more Spanish. It wasn't full of people or smoke like the Erasmus Parties are. We hung out with them for a few hours and then decided to just walk home instead of taking a taxi.
Friday during the day we went to eat Mexican food downtown. I didn't have hight hopes for the food, but was pleasantly surprised. The salsa actually had some spice to it, the margaritas were just like at home, and the nachos were made with Mexican cheese. They didn't call them nachos, but that's what they were. It was tortilla chips with a chicken mole and grilled onions topped with melted cheese. The enchiladas weren't the typical Tex-Mex enchiladas. It was a corn tortilla that was filled with the same chicken mole and onion mixture and then folded over and baked. They were topped with a green pepper sauce and peanuts. The enchiladas were people one of the most authentic items on the menu. They had turkey or beef fajitas, which no one got. Everybody else got the burrito. It was a typical burrito and looked good.
Friday night we were going to go to 'Art After Dark' at the Guggenheim. We were all excited and met up early to hang out before, but soon found out that it was sold out. We didn't know that you had to buy tickets in advance for it. We even get a discount since we are 'Friends of the Guggenheim' Another reason we were excited is because it comes with free ticket to Fever. We ended up going to Fever, but had to pay the cover. The same band that was playing at Art After Dark was also playing at Fever, so we got the same music. The band was Dorian. They are a Spanish Pop band from Madrid. I was looking them up on the internet and saw that they have actually been to Austin for SXSW. Some how in the middle of the concert we ended up up front so after the concert the drummer gave me a stick. He uses ProMark sticks.
While at Fever I met a Spanish guy wearing a 'Keep Austin Weird' shirt. He said that he had never been to Austin, but that his girlfriends sister lived there and gave it to him. He was excited that I was from Austin. Most of the Spaniards get excited when I tell them I am from Texas.
Last night we went to Casco Viejo. It is the old part of town and is really nice. There are a lot of shops there during the day and a lot of bars at night. We met some Spaniards there and they took us to their favorite bars. It's nice to go to the places that we usually wouldn't. These bars also have some of the best pintxos, or tapas, in Bilbao.
Today we aren't doing much. I think we are just going to hang out and watch the Bilbao vs. Barcelona soccer game.
Nicely done !
ReplyDelete