We left our castle behind and headed into the Basque Country toward the north coast and the French border. We stopped to see Pamplona. That is the town where they run with the bulls. They do it in July so we were too late to run. Then the terrain really changed. Gone was the desert and flat lands and we were into winding roads, mountains and trees. The roads were fantastic. They all seem real new and modern. They were wide and smooth with huge bridges and long tunnels. It went over the mountains and down to the coast at Irun. We went exploring and found two roads that wound way up in the hills overlooking the harbor and the sea.
Our next stop was in Bilbao. That is where the Guggenheim Museum is located. Why they built it there is still a mystery to us. It is an old industrial town. The museum being built there has changed the whole town. It is now considered a place of arts and culture. The building is really unusual. It is far larger than I expected. It is considered one of the great architectural projects ever.
We are staying the night in Santillana del Mar. We are in an old Mansion that was converted to a Parador. Not as spectacular as a castle but very nice. The whole town is like they say it was in the middle ages. There are stone streets and narrow passageways. It is the first place that we have run into a concentration of tourists. It is Saturday night and they all came. They are mostly Spanish. We have not met a single American tourist.
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