Bilbao and La Gavilla

BILBAO--We arrived in the Basque country yesterday afternoon.  From the 80s in Leon to the high 50s here in Bilbao, we realized once again that the fog on the coast brings down the temperature.  Today it is dreary, and last night on the way home from our dinner at La Gavilla it actually began to rain.  We expect a bit more today, but we will be in the Guggenheim this morning, so that won't affect us.

The drive through the Cantabrian mountains was lovely.  There actually still is some snow on the highest peaks.  The roads tunnel through some of the mountains.  Once again they show the fine Spanish engineering on their highways.  

Our first stop on the north coast was Santander.  The big bank, though not headquartered here any longer, was born here.  It is a wealthy community on a lovely bay, once the summer residence of the kings and queens of Spain.  King Philippe VI doesn't come here.  He vacations in the Balearic Islands in the Med.

We lunched at an excellent restaurant overlooking the surfers and the beach,  A very nice lunch of hake served with a good rioja and a fine rueda.  

Then a quick trip to Bilbao, check in, and a later dinner at La Gavilla, a superb pintxos restaurant near the hotel.  It is rated #5 of over 1000 restaurants by Trip Advisor and lived up to the recommendation,  We had a Priorat red, with  three medium-sized plates:  tempura shrimp with their own kim chi (very mild) and caviar, then scallops in a sauce of carrots and potatoes that came in a dome that steamed when the waiter opened it.  Our last dish was barbecued spare ribs.  The interesting thing about this is that the meal showed how much influence four years in Washington, DC, had had on the chef.  He worked at several of Jose Andres' restaurants in Washington, including Jaleo, one of our favorites.