Up to a grey, damp Thursday morning.
TaiChi.
Packed.
First parade on the bike. In a light drizzle.
Loaded up and rode out. And by the time I was on the outskirts of Miranda, the rain had stopped, and the sun was peeking out.
Countryside was pretty rolling hills, with a backdrop of snow-dusting mountain. The backroad followed the river. Past villages that transitioned into alpine architecture.
The municipal dump was a bit of a blot on the landscape, as I came into Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Found the tourist information office, who told me where the theatre was.
A quick cafe con leche, and a jambon et qeso roll, did me for brunch.
Then a short walk to the theatre. Nothing much on till the weekend, when a magician is on.
But there are no times posted, neither for the show, nor for the ticket office. Not on the bill, nor in the brochure. Inshallah manyanna was a phrase learned by a friend managing projects in South America. Maybe it started here? hahaha
The sun was shining, I had a map of the city, and it was time to get to the hotel.
Rode up and checked in.
Asked about parking and was directed to the Artium so did my usual walkover. Found they charge 12euros a day. Ouch.
Back at the hotel, did a search on the web, and found that was reasonable! Could easily reach 35euros for a bike, or 70 for a car. I rather object to such pricing.
Looked outside the hotel and found what looked to me like a bona motorcycle paking spot, next to some construction.
Reception recommended to park underground, as teenagers often wreck things at night. Hmmmm. 15yr old boys destroying stuff? Who would have thunk that. haha
Parked the bike underground.
Ditched my armour back at the hotel, had a curry lunch, and went walkabout.
Walked the whole city. Well the old part.
Some impressive buildings. Including a restaurant on my “possible” list.
Christmas markets were being setup in several places of the city. Christmas lights already in place.
And thankfully I am spared the Christmas tunes endemic in North American malls. Together with the smaltzy movies on TV.
I always understood Christmas started on the 24th. And runs for 12 days. So this approach is much nicer 🙂
Back at the hotel to find it was late evening.
Listened to the Beeb whilst unpacking properly.
Booked my hotel for Saturday night.
Have to be in Bilbao for Sunday. So have picked a random spot, enroute-ish 🙂
Down into the hotel bar for a tapas and cafe con leche.
Then into bed, and a Beeb programme sang me to sleep.
Awoke a tad late on a damp Friday morning.
Had setup my TomTom to update last night. It was all finished. Just left my Firefox browser to update, which TomTom had complained about.
Next caught up on my banking. Seems like only yesterday was the begining of the month! So it was catch-up time.
TaiChi.
Out for a stroll. Sun was shining 🙂
First stop was the Fourier card museum. Closed till 4pm.
That’s OK could have lunch at a restaurant I’d picked out of Michelin. Didn’t fancy the menu.
What to do.
What to do.
When in doubt, tapas it out.
Took a stroll to a likely spot on a corner. Nice vino tinto, and tapas.
A bit further on came across this……
with not so nice vino tinto. But worth the photo of the name 🙂
Wandering around some more, realized I was near the hotel, so picked up same fizzy water as yesterday.
Then came across an Eastern European shop, with food, various flags and a pretty Russian speaking lady.
Which reminds me of this other shop that I saw and took a photo of…….
Funny how the Internet gets you an education. even over tapas. Went looking for the dragon’s name, and on through parts of Ukrainian history/mythology.
Why blend the two? Am “reading” a book on William Marshall who started out as a poor, landless knight, and then became advisor to multiple kings of England, as well as Regent. But even here there are historical gaps, and possible myths in place of corroborated facts.
Even today’s media is full of opinions rather than facts. So tomorrow, history will be just as flaky.
Which makes me smile at the way I was taught history. As a set of dates and facts along a pre-ordained destiny. haha. I might have taken an interest if the curriculum had family disputes, people’s sheer bl**dy-mindedness, and political intrigues.
Funny to be catching up on all this now. But am finding it all facinating. Like an outstanding soap opera, rather than those cardboard cutout shows that are on TV.
Meanwhile the museum opened, so I popped in. And it’s free!
First stop was the card section. Really interesting cards, boxes, books and equipment. Much better than the archeological section, IMHO.
And the cards are educational……
Then went in search of a kebab house.
Found only one out of the two that the Internet said were close to the theatre. And that one did not serve rice.
Walked back to the hotel bar for a super-tortilla (basically a full English) with a vino tinto, followed by a cafe con leche.
Then back to the room. Surprised to find it is only 8:30pm, but I am ready for bed.
Well I do have to be up and running tomorrow.
“So it is goodnight from me. And it’s goodnight from him” 🙂