The Basque Country has much to offer. Explore beaches and cuisine, see spectacular views and visit museums in the area for never-ending fun.
The Guggenheim Museum
Building, Museum
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is among the world’s best museums, offering a huge display of modern and contemporary art, much of it created by Basque artists. It is not only famous for the excellent collection that it holds, but also for the impressive curved building in which it is all housed, which is itself considered an architectural masterpiece. As well as an excellent permanent exhibition, there are also ever-changing temporary ones, which are carefully composed and which bring new life and freshness to the museum.
Markets are popular in the Basque Country, where food and especially seafood is an integral part of Basque culture. To find the best of Basque seafood however, there is no better place to look than in La Bretxa in San Sebastian-Donostia, a market in which vendors consider the freshness and quality of the products to be of the utmost importance. The sea-products sold here, such as hake, eels and even barnacles, are all caught in nearby ports and are therefore seasonally sold.
A spectacular location for a coastline walk is Biarritz. The route starts at a lighthouse on a headland, and passes many other attractions. France’s second-oldest golf course, for example, is along the route, so perhaps book in for a game. If not, carry on to the glorious Russian Orthodox Church which was originally built for visiting nobility in the 19th century to see the magnificent dome. Other landmarks along the route are the Casino Barrière, Place Ste-Eugenie, the Museum of the Sea, Fishermen’s Port (built by Napoleon) and the Rock of the Virgin.
Born to Chilean parents in London, but brought up in Buckinghamshire, Paula has benefitted from a multicultural lifestyle. An inexplicable love for even the most complicated grammar motivated her to study French and Russian at the University of Oxford. She had the opportunity of spending most of her year abroad in Yaroslavl’, Russia, but also of travelling around Belgium and France. Although devoted to world literature, there isn’t a moment where you won’t find Paula either listening to or playing music, whether it is rock, metal, classical, South American folk or Latin. This little addiction however does allow time for Paula to enjoy other passions, including fencing and chain-watching detective TV series.
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