Our last full day in Bilbao called for something we had not yet done in the trip, going to the beach. There are several beaches in Bilbao that are accessible just a short walk away from the metro. But before we could do that, we had to pick up some beach supplies. So we walked down the big hill once again and went to the best cheap equipment store, decathlon. Towels obtained, we moseyed over to the metro and went to Negurzi.
The beach was about a 5 minute walk from the station which we completed easily. The beach area was quite nice with some restaurants and, for some reason, a temporary fair that was not open. This beach was almost 900m long and there were many people despite it being a Monday. Enough to feel some beach vibes, but not enough to be crowded.
The views were pretty good, though most of the horizon was occupied by the docks. There were some nice cliffs to our right and you could see mountains as well in the distance to the left. Conveniently, we were able to get the stroller pretty deep into the beach because of one of those paths laid out. We weren’t the only ones taking advantage of this, as there was a group of seniors being wheeled around in off road wheelchairs right to the water’s edge.
We all went for a swim, which Kieran enjoyed. He seemed to like getting a bit of salt water into his mouth. Jordan was not quite as enthused and complained about it hurting her nose. After about an hour and a half, Kieran was fed up with the beach and we rinsed off in the beach showers. Neither Kieran nor Jordan wanted to do this and we got a double meltdown of epic proportions.
Once both of those got settled (Kieran by falling asleep and Jordan apologizing), we checked out the restaurants for lunch. The restaurants there were pretty expensive, so we walked a few minutes down the road to the next cluster of restaurants that seemed cheaper. It was, once again, Pintxos time, and we got a few great dishes. Goats cheese and duck liver, grilled octopus (that one was just for me), anchovies, smoked salmon on avocado (which Jordan demolished), cheese croquettes and a delicious crab “crepe” that was basically a crab wonton. And local wine, of course.
Emily and Jordan ventured down to the rocky beach in this area to explore the low tide. They found many crabs who Jordan said were dancing, though Emily denies this. They also found a blue thing that they could not identify. On research, Emily thinks this may have been a Portuguese Man of War, a highly venomous jellyfish whose appearance would shut the beach.
From there, it was up yet another big hill to get to the station. But before that, it was time for, you guessed it, another playground! This one had a cool spider thing to look like the one at the Guggenheim and a very colorful sun shade. It was right next to the station, so it was easy enough to convince Jordan to leave by telling her we had to catch our train back to town and head back to the apartment before dinner.
For our final evening, we wanted to go out for a real Basque meal. So it was back down our big hill to the old town. We first tried the Athletic Bilbao fan restaurant, but when we went to order, their kitchen was closed. So we just got yet more Pintxos and wine before searching for a more comprehensive meal. We found it on the old square. It was very busy, so we ended up with seats at the bar and got some calamari, chorizo cooked in cider, a cheeseboard and some potato wedges (that were certainly not the Potatoes Bravas indicated on the menu).
Finally, you’ll notice we didn’t talk of ice cream, because for the second time this trip, we switched up and got something else. Last time it was cheesecake but this time it was churros that we then ate in a different (yet equally busy) square. They were pretty good, but Emily bemoaned the lack of chocolate sauce with them, which was a very fair criticism. Following that, it was time for the final walk up our big hill to pack up for our flight to Athens.
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