Bilbao 08-11-08

I just discovered that I can make slideshows/videos with Picassa, so I made one! These are the photos from our first day in Bilbao. I hope you enjoy!

(if the photos stay up a little too long, that's because the time has to be the same on all of them, and I timed them based on whether or not I could read them and still look at the photo)

If you want to see any of the photos in better detail, here they are without comments:

Bilbao Architecture 08-10-11-08

Most of this is just really cool Bilbao architecture, and has nothing to do with anything other than that I liked it. =) Unlike most modern cities in the US, I think Bilbao has wonderful examples of beautiful modern architecture that respects what has come before rather than attempting to slough it off. On the other hand, it has examples of blatant disregard and disgust for the old, as you can see in the modern looking church below.

The second photo is of some official looking building that here acts as a representative of attractive modern architecture. There were more buildings like this, but apparently we didn't take pictures of them. 0=)

The building on the far right was really freaking cool, but it's hard to tell just how cool it is. It sort of looks like there was a building between it and the building behind it, but that building has now been removed. So this one very skinny building was just standing all by itself in the middle of everything, but unfortunately the shot doesn't quite capture it.

The statue portrays the Basque hero (whose name I have now forgotten) conquering Neptune, the god of the sea. It's a monument to Cosme Damián Churruca y Elorza who according to the translated version of his Spanish Wikipedia page did some stuff relating to seafaring. =) Andy's going to love that one.

The church that we didn't get to go into because it was too late. =(

Andy decided that when we build our dream home, it will look like the first photo before. I have decided it will either look like the middle one or the the top floor and a half of the third one. Who do you think will win?

Bilbao Lamp Posts 08-10-11-08

Bilbao had a LOT of different kinds of lamp posts ranging, like it's architecture, from the lovely and ornate to the ugly and modern. Some of these, such as the last three in the set below, don't even look like lamp posts, but Borja assures us they light up at night. I had wanted to go back to the second set in the evening, but forgot.

The first two are from the river between the Guggenheim and the university, while the third is from an ugly modern building, which you can see in the background and the fourth is from the old port of Bilbao.

This first lamp post is pretty cool, so definitely click on it to see more detail. The second is on the side of the church that we couldn't enter, because we arrived too late. And I don't remember where the last one was taken. =)

King of Cheese

Gouda is by far the most popular cheese in Holland. This is understandable since Gouda is a town in Holland and that's where it comes from. Unfortunately Gouda's popularity makes it the only sliced cheese available, which means that they only cheese I've had on my sandwiches for the last two months is Gouda. More than that, aside from some "Italian" cheese of unidentified type we found grated at the store, Gouda is the only cheese we've cooked with for the last two months. In honor of Gouda, King of Dutch Cheese, I wrote a story over at Betwixt Mine Ears. I hope you enjoy. ;)

Madrid Neat Buildings 08-08-10-08

Madrid had lots of beautiful architecture, and you've already seen some, but here are a few other pictures we took. The first is just cool, the second has monkeys on top of it, and the third is the Madrid Bank or something. The last one is from the royal garden and is called the Crystal Palace. It's basically a giant greenhouse without plants. 0=)

That wraps up the photos from Madrid. Stay tuned for Bilbao!

Madrid Lamp Posts 08-08-10-08

Most of Madrid's lamp posts were pretty much the same, so there's not much variety. In fact, you've already seen at least one of these from the Plaza Mayor.

More lamp posts!

Royal lamp posts!

Shaving Cream

Andy and I are almost out of shaving cream, so I decided to buy some more. Since we're not here for long, we're just sharing a men's gel. I always buy the Gillette gel back home, and since that's what they have here, that's what I went for. Imagine my surprise when instead of a gel that I would have to lather myself, out comes pre-lathered shaving cream! I've never seen Gillette cream that wasn't gel in one of these bottles in the US, so I just picked the one that was cheapest and walked to the cash register. If only I'd been more careful, I might have noticed that not only does it say "mousse" on the front of the can, the little dollop of gel isn't a dollop of gel but is a dollop of lathered shaving cream!

To top it all off, I'm really not certain if I'm supposed to shake it, since it sort of sputtered out of the can and that's what you do with the pre-lathered canisters in the States. On the other hand, it came out pretty much the way I would have expected it to had it been shaken. Needless to say, I'm a bit on the disappointed side, but I guess I'll make it through this can... How many more days until we go home??? ;)