A Breath of Bilbao: A Gathering in Gijon

Saturday, June 23rd
Today, a group of USAC students and I decided to explore an area of Spain outside the Basque Country with which we have become relatively comfortable. So making reservations ahead of time, we hopped on a bus to the coastal city of Gijon, about four hours West of Bilbao.

The Termibus Station in San Mames

After getting off the bus, we decided to stop at a local diner for brunch. My lunch: fried food + fried food + cured meat. Honestly, I'm not purposely concocting a theme here. Anyways, my dish was titled "empanadillas, croquetas y jamon serrano," the latter of which is similar to jamon iberico but cheaper. Empanadillas (fried dough similar to phyllo filled with some sort of anchovies and vegetable sauce) and croquetas (fried mashed potato-meat blob) are popular throughout Spain as an appetizer or bar food.

Probably not that healthy but still delicious

After getting lost multiple times, we eventually found our hostel that Morgan had booked for the night. The building itself was supposedly built in the 18th Century and consisted of two floors of rooms for travelers. Nick and I got a room to ourselves, accompanied with a unique fortress-like door over the window (which would make for an absolutely pitch-black sleeping environment). It may be interesting to note here that in Spain, people have very effective shutters for their windows, most likely because of Siesta time or because it doesn't get very dark in Spain until very late. As we walked out of our hostel, we noticed a giant structure made of wood, which we later found out was for a celebration Spain-wide. These giant wooden structures would be lit at midnight, accompanied with fire works and public gatherings, to celebrate the coming of summer. Essentially, today was a Spanish version of Fourth of July, just with a different motivation.

View of the Metropolitan Gijon area

A city that continues to grow

View of the residential Gijon area

Our hostel adorned with maximum security windows

Hostel-side wood structure, pre-bonfire

The rest of the day was filled with a plethora of various activities. First off was a visit to the local aquarium, which focused more on sea life than the aquarium I had visited earlier in San Sebastian. Noteworthy sights included a rambunctious pair of otters, a showdown between to massive crawfish, and a penguin habitat.

Entrance to the beach

Apartments shaped like ships

Beachside aquarium

Nature-esque aquarium walkthrough

The highly energetic otter (the best of 100+ photos I'd taken)

Crawfish showdown

Penguin poses

Afterwards, we decided to have a snack at a beachside bar, where we were able to grab a table right before rush hour. Luckily for us, this afternoon was the scheduled time of the Spain vs. France EuroCup game. The bar (as well as almost every other bar we would pass later) became packed with loyal football fans. Since Spain is the defending EuroCup champion, many of the locals were animated throughout the entire game, sighing at missed scoring opportunities and celebrating at a successful goal. The feeling was infectious as many of us started joining in in the "Ohhhh!, Uuuweee~, and Yaaa's". Although I'm not much of a soccer fan, the game was much more engaging when everyone is watching. (Spain would later go on to become the EuroCup champions for a second year in a row).

View of the beach and the large wooden pyramid

View of the bars/apartments that line the beach

Constitution Street adorned with tree-like lamp posts

As midnight drew closer, the streets began to flood with locals excited to celebrate the coming of summer. Groups of teens, families, and couples would fill the beach, bringing their own beverages and starting their own miniature bonfires. The night ended on an exciting note, with a praiseworthy beachside firework show, live musicians, and several massive bonfires spread throughout all of Spain.