Day 2 of the cruise was a sea day, a chance to rest and recharge our batteries.  It was also my birthday.  We celebrated with a 5 course dinner at Sabatinis, the Italian restaurant on the ship.  The piece de resistance was the huge piece of birthday cake, served with a flourish and accompanied by a rendition of Happy Birthday by the wait staff.  As we waddled back to the cabin, vowing never to eat again, we noticed that the large screens at the lifts lit up with a personalised birthday message as I walked past.  All part of the technical miracle contained in our “Ocean Medallion”, which automatically opens and closes our cabin door, among many other clever things, all designed to gather data.  Some people complain that it doesn’t work, but so far we haven’t had any problems.

Next morning, it was time for our first port.  Bridge Cam on our TV showed clouds and rain, so we packed raincoats and prepared ourselves for a wet, gloomy day; not uncommon on the North Atlantic coast.  A free shuttle bus was provided, which took us within easy walking distance of the city centre; by the time we left the bus, the sun was shining, the temperature was rising rapidly, and we realised we should have packed sunhats, sunscreen, and more water. 

Being a Sunday morning, the city was very quiet, with only a few locals jogging along the river.  Anyone else who was out and about was a Princess passenger, like us.  We enjoyed having the broad streets to ourselves.  Bilbao was instantly likeable, and very walkable.  We walked past the soccer stadium, and dived into a small park, seeking shade.  Next we found the river, and followed it south.  There were pleasant promenades on either bank, and plenty of bridges that allowed us to cross as we felt like it. 

Bilbao relied mainly on the steel industry for its economy, until Frank Gehry built his Guggenheim Museum here; tourism quickly followed. The museum is as famous for the building exterior, and the outdoor sculptures, as it is for the modern art that it contains.  We admired the giant Spider, resisted the urge to buy our own souvenir spider, saw the weirdest buskers ever (I can’t even begin to explain), and saw “Puppy”, the enormous floral sculpture of a dog, outside the museum entrance.  Its head was reflected in the “art hotel” windows immediately opposite.

We made our way up the ramp onto the Salve bridge, which gave us another vantage point as we crossed the river once again.  We spotted some interesting murals as we descended to ground level.  Leaving the river for a while, we took the funicular, a short and steep ride up to a nice park with an expansive lookout.  We could trace our route and see the various landmarks from high above; there was also some shade for a welcome rest, as it was now approaching 33 degrees.

Back on the riverside, we admired the mixture of architectural styles – sometimes you could be in Paris, other times in Barcelona.  Anything on, or close to the river, looked wealthy.  A lot more people were out and about now, but there was still very little traffic. We wondered how different it would be on a weekday, when workers were rushing about their business.

Today was “no food Sunday”, with supermarkets and shops closed, with only a few exceptions. We found a small bakery selling delicious pastries and cakes.  Fortified by a spinach and tomato triangle, we meandered through a flower market, came across some sort of low key protest, then found ourselves at a large stage with a big crowd, enjoying the Bilbao Blues festival.  There was a nice, relaxed Sunday afternoon vibe. 

We were now at the Casa Vieja, or Old Town.  Typical of many European cities, there was a series of calles, or laneways, radiating out from the grand cathedral in the middle of the main placa.  I loved the ornate balconies, some ancient, some very modern.  There were lots of little bars, brimming with people spilling over into the streets.  At one point we found a pavement marker for the Camino de Santiago, the famous pilgrimage trail. 

Eventually we emerged, and crossed yet another bridge.  We pulled out Ted’s City Race  map from a few years ago, and attempted to orientate ourselves.  We have questions!  Leg 11 to 12 was a mandatory run through a multi level building on a terrace which was partly suspended over the river.  The route was up one flight of steps, through a door, and into a bar, which when we were there, was very well patronised.  Did they clear out the regular customers? Or have them line up along either side of tapes, and cheer the competitors? 

It was mid afternoon, and time to make our way back to the bus station. Rather than retracing our riverside route, we beelined north, straight through the city.  This took us into a less touristed area.  Here there were more small corner bars, full of locals, and lots of tiny grocery stores where people were buying their fruit and veg.  Half an hour later, we were back where our day of walking began – Ian’s garmin says we walked about 15 km.  Despite the heat, we enjoyed our Sunday in Bilbao.