In the former industrial city of 354,000 residents, Bilbao has transformed itself from the once ugly ogre to the dashing young prince of the Vizcaya Province. Once surrounded by cranes, container ships and sludge, the rejuvinated city straddled by the Nervion River, now offers public parks and gardens, fashionable shops and the magnificant titanium coated Guggenheim museum.
Mutiny in Bilbao, Spain
And while the sun shined on us with all its glory in this usually fog shrouded city, a mutiny was in the making. Our group of 44 intrepid travelers, ranging from Philly to New York, Texas to California and Oregon, was seated in a reputable Basque country restaurant and served a fine bowl of steaming fish and potato soup.
Our next course of fish kebobs was met with quizzical glances between diners, followed by wrinkled noses, as the strong stench of fish wafted into our nostrils. A few adventurous souls picked at the nearly raw salmon and white fish tucked in between red and green bell peppers.
We felt like ugly Americans, yet most of our crew left our plates untouched. We had offended our lovely, Italian Tour Director Josephine.
Article and photos by Nancy D. Brown