Big boats and fish-men

Daddy and Master T watching soccer

It's been a historic week for Spain -  we witnessed their tears as their soccer team fell from grace (losing two games in the World Cup and consequently won't make it through to the next round) and their joys with the coronation of King Felipe VI.

This is our second week in Cantabria and our third in Spain. We are slowly adjusting to the fact that everything shuts between about 1:30pm to 4:30 or 5pm, the late eating hours, and the heat. We have started to chat regularly with our neighbours, and continue to work on 'quiet apartment living', given that our hosts, who live below, welcomed a new daughter into the world on Monday. With our noisy lot, they'll be looking forward to our departure in just over a week!



Outside the Maritime Museum

We've had somewhat of an aquatic and historic theme this week, kicking off with a day in Bilbao at the River Maritime Museum. We went on a Tuesday and it just happened to be free! Cantabria is located next to the Pais Vasco/ Basque country (where Bilbao and the more famous San Sebastian can be found) and it is a short 20 minute drive from our 'home' to Bilbao. Bilbao is located along a magnificent river and the River Maritime Museum provided us with a historical account of the development of city, bridges and river bed. The Museum included games for the children (such as pirate fishing and rowing), a life-size replica of a barge for the upper class and dozens of miniature boats.

Wee Master T adores boats - possibly an accumulation of experiences of water-taxis, his favourite Dali book with a 'boat' sculpture included and the fact that Castro Urdiales (the township we regularly visit for food and beach time) is a sea based town - so he was in his element looking at all the ships and nautical paraphernalia.



Dry docked boats

The most outstanding element of the Museum is the inclusion of the Bilbao city exhibition that was presented at Shanghai Expo in 2010. Developed in conjunction with the Guggenheim Museum, this display combined 'architectural lighting' with audio-visuals for an emotive account of development of Bilbao. The static photos don't do it justice (and I was too in awe to take any), but if you get the time, check them out.

Outside the Museum is a dry dock housing a variety of different boats. Unfortunately this area was not open on our visit (perhaps this is why it was free? -although museums in Spain frequently have 'free days'), but we enjoyed strolling around them from above and looking at the massive anchors and chains.

Museum visit was followed by a good lunch in a cafe by a fountain and exploring a park of amazing sculptures... stay tuned for a post on food in Spain in the next few days...

Lunch in Bilbao - despite Master A's face, it was delicioso!



Kids interacting with art.

We also visited Bilbao later in the week to take in the Bizkaia Archaeology Museum, tracing the human archaeological history of the area from Neolithic to modern times. While not exactly a 'child friendly' place (the security guard trailed us through the three levels), our lot really enjoyed watching the video footage of early people in the temporary display, learning about archaeological digs and research and discovering the visual differences in tools, utensils, cemeteries, housing and boats over time. The museum is free on Fridays, but all displays are in Spanish and Basque. We purchased the accompanying guide book, which has detailed photos and information (we got the English version) so we've been able to discuss a lot of what we saw in more detail.

Between visits to Bilbao, we decided to head West towards Santander and visit the small village of Lierganes, where there is a Fluvarium (a river based eco-museum). Many small villages will open their (sight-seeing doors) for two sessions: 10am to 2pm and 4pm (or 5pm) to 6pm (or 7pm), closing for lunch in between. Because our stomachs are still mostly on NZ time, and we have to travel some distance to many locations, when going to these places, we try to get there early to maximise our visit before lunch. On this occasion, the Fluvarium was closed for the morning - no sign posted on the outer gates and we had a some what disgruntled guide inform us we needed to come back at 4pm.

How does one kill four and a half hours with three children in a small town?

We had a snack drove another half hour to Santander, hoping to visit another Museum, only to discover, by the time we'd parked and located the building, it was also closing for lunch... so when in Spain... do as the Spanish do... we found a cool little restaurant and ate lunch. By which time the Fluvarium was open.

A great lunch finished in Santander

The Fluvarium is a little dated and quite small. The introductory film is very informative and reinforces a sustainable message and the otters in fluvarium area are adorable (even if they are practising their mating - nothing like a biology lesson for our bemused children). We were lucky enough to watch the otters being fed with a group of touring Senior Citizens, who adored the children and ensured they got front row seats!

One of the stars of the Fluvarium

Master T and Daddy check out the turtles

Our little people were in the Fluvarium for a good hour or more - and we decided to wander the streets of Lierganes to find the hombre pez (fish man). There is a legend of this mythical man dating from the 1600s (makes interesting reading if you have the time) and there is a wee house and sculpture depicting this story. While the house was shut when we got there, the fish man was sitting on the banks of the river and the amble through the cobbled and quaint village was lovely.

"We've discovered a fish-man!"

"With scales"!

On our travels we've visited sights where we've queued for hours and been engulfed in hoards of tourists and visitors - thus far, the 'attractions' of Bilbao and Cantabria have been almost void of people (aside from the Guggenheim, but comparative to some places was relatively quiet). It's not that there aren't lots of people, just not lots of people in the museums! I wonder what that says about our choice of activities?

School holidays have just started in Espana, the sun is shining (with the exception of a spectacular electric storm we had last night) and the boardwalks are coming alive...less of the history and more of the mystery of Spain this week me thinks... ciao guapos!

A bottom note
Carrying on from an earlier blog on loos... Miss K has observed an oddity of toilets in Spain - the toilet paper always seems to be placed in the most difficult-to-reach locations (including in our current residence). She asked me to take a photo of the toilet in the Fluvarium to demonstrate this point...