The Guggenheim, Pintxos, Stunning Stainglass - Bilbao - Basque Country

 Fall in love with someone who is both

your safe place and your biggest adventure.

Bianca Sparacino

Amazing stainglass in the Abando Indalecio Prieto Train Station
A great introduction to the Basque Culture
Made with 301 pieces of glass, 30'x48' (10m x 15m), in 1948

My guide brought me here to see this massive stainglass wonder at the beginning of my tour of Bilbao, to get a visual of the story of Bilbao and the Basque culture, an overall better understanding of this place before walking its narrow streets.  So well preserved - it is an impressive piece of art.  

Rolls-Royce of Salts - Salinas de Añana - Álava - Basque Country

 The creative adult is the child who has survived.

Ursula Le Guin

Channeling salt water at the Añana Salt Pans
Salty water coming from underground springs, not from ocean or sea 

From our current perspective, it is almost incomprehensible that salt, such an abundant and inexpensive product, could have the importance that has historically been attributed to it.

Dolmen, Necropolis, Wine - Rioja Region - Basque Country

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dolmen de la Chabola de la Hechicera (Witch's Shack)
I love the juxtaposition of a dolmen with a church in the background
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Elvillar, Spain

In the Langunilla area of the famous Rioja Valley wine region, I visited a dolmen and a necropolis, both indicators of a long human history in this part of the world.  What amazed me most, however, was that these places were in the middle of fields or orchards as if simply part of the agricultural landscape.  They weren’t protected in any ways, yet remained seemingly untouched.

Talisman, Dragonstone, Wetlands - Biscay - Basque Country

 I know someone who kisses the way a flower opens.

Mary Oliver

Eguzkilore to protect the home of my new hosts
Near Unzá-Apreguindana

Nestled in the heart of the Basque Country, where green mountains meet the blue waters of the Bay of Biscay, lies a rich tapestry of myth, tradition, and folklore. One of the most striking symbols of this cultural heritage is the humble eguzkilore (flower of the sun), a mythical flower that holds deep spiritual and protective significance. The eguzkilore holds a special place in the hearts of the Basque people.

Flysch - Tides - Beautiful Coast - Zumaia, Deba, Mutriku - Basque Country

 What we see changes what we know.

What we know changes what we see.

Jean Piaget

Viewed from the Chapel of  Saint Telmo (patron saint of sailors)
Home on the cliff above the Itzurun Beach

If a sandy warm beach is what you are looking for, this isn’t the place. Described at times as ploughed or windswept, this location made me feel like I had stepped into a completely different world, so much so, that I couldn’t come up with words to adequately describe it.