Spain- Day 2, Bilbao

Warning! Long post ahead! When we first got to Spain, I was so trigger happy with my camera. I wanted to capture every little detail so that I could remember it all. The below picture- I wanted to remember the apartments and all the people in the calle (street).
Somehow we wandered into a farmers market thinking it was a mall. I can still remember the smell of the fish. Pew! But Chad thought it was pretty cool. And actually, it is pretty cool. I love how important food is to the Spanish culture. They love food...but in a different way than us Americans. Food is more of an art. Meals take time. Time in the preparation. Time in the eating. You know the scripture/prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread", for them it's a more literal thing. Whereas I have a freezer stocked full of bread, they might go to the local bakery everyday & get fresh bread. I love that. I think there's lessons to be learned there.
This was the first cathedral or church that I took pictures of. If only I knew how many I'd be seeing!
Plaza Nueva
Empanada de Atún (Tuna Empanada)
Pixtos...translated, umm, how to describe it...finger food with, in this case, anchovies, octopus & squid?? It was an experience. I'll say that much. But I'm not super big on seafood. But oh, we also had Spanish tortilla! Yum! For those wondering, spanish tortilla is basically an omelet of potatoes & maybe onions. Sounds simple, but it's sooo good! Napolitanas & something that I don't remember the name of that resembles a chocolate covered pretzel, but tastes nothing like that!
And if you see a store with a bunch of pig legs hanging, what should you do? Make your husband stand in front of it so you can take a picture of coarse! No, but really, this is such a common food in Spain. I remember thinking it was such an odd thing that one of my neighbors had a pig leg sitting on her window. Ever wonder where Jamón Serrano comes from- this would be it.
Near...far.  (I don't know about you, but I can't help but hear Elmo in my head when I say that phrase). 
Funicular that took us above the city...
...so I could get some amazing panoramics...
...and so we could take pictures by this sculpture thingy!
Then off to see the Guggenheim museum.
And we finished the day off with a chorizo sandwhich & paté. (Man, I feel very cultured saying I ate paté!  But I must give credit, where credit is due.  I was initially exposed to paté by my very cultured, Danish mission companion- Anna Brock.  And with that said, maybe I am very cultured- I have a friend in Denmark!  How cool is that?!)