Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia: julio 2009

viernes, 31 de julio de 2009

EUSKADI: BILBAO

After spending two lovely days in Cantabria visiting Santander, Comillas and Santillana del Mar, we went to Basque Country for three days. In this post I would like to show you some pictures of the places we visited in Bilbo (Bilbao), which were:

Portugalete
Santurtzi
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbo
Old city of Bilbo

We spent the following two days in Gipuzkoa, visiting Donostia (San Sebastián) and Hondarribi (Hondarribia).

Monday, the 27th july 2009

We began our first day in the Basque Country walking along the Bilbao ria. We had our hotel in Portugalete, next to a famous suspension bridge

Portugalete

The Bizkaia transporter bridge links Portugalete with the town of Getxo, on the Right Bank of the estuary. This impressive iron construction is still the most popular method used for crossing the 160 metres from bank to bank, and has been declared World Industrial Heritage Monument

Santurtzi

Oriol Palace is without any doubt the most beautiful building of Santurtzi. Built in 1902, this building is now a hotel

We saw this mirror and we couldn't help taking a photo :)

This is the Bilbao ria. In the background, the town of Santurtzi. There is a promenade which led us to this fishing town

Portugalete

This semicircular arch in the old quarter of Portugalete was part of a Renaissance palace

Another picture of the transporter bridge from the old town. Built in1893, it was the first of its kind to be built in the world as the need to allow large ships upriver meant that a conventional bridge could not be built. Indeed, today, there are only nine still working throughout the world

The colourful Tourism office of Portugalete and Santa Maria Churh on the right in the old quarter. The old quarter is still home to unique buildings and interesting relics of the past

A panoramic view of Portugalete. The yellow building on the right was our hotel

Our hotel was really close to the transporter bridge :) We used it to go to Getxo, just in the other bank of the ria, and I was really surprised because you don't feel at all that you are almost flying over the ria

Bilbo (Bilbao)

The Guggenheim museum is the main cultural visit to do in Bilbao

This huge spider is next to the museum and the ria of Bilbao

The ria is a really suitable environment to walk from the Guggenheim to the old quarter of Bilbao. In this picture, the bridge of Zubi Zuri

The New Square in the old quarter of Bilbao

Clicking on the next link you will find more pictures of the beautiful places and villages we visited in Guipúzcoa, like Donostia (San Sebastián) o Hondarribi (Hondarribia).

Finally, other beautiful places you can visit in Spain are:

- Catalonia

- Basque Country

Bilbo - Bilbao
Getaria, Zarautz and Hondarribia in San Sebastián

- Cantabria

- Granada

La Alhambra, Albaicín and Sacromonte in Granada

- Sevilla, Córdoba, Cádiz and Costa de la Luz

- Toledo, Madrid, El Escorial and Segovia

Toledo, Segovia, Monasterio del Escorial near Madrid

- Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera

Sóller, Port de Sóller, Deià and Valldemossa in Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Beaches and Las Dalias Market in Ibiza

Ses Illetes beach in Formentera

- Galicia

Santiago de Compostela in Galicia
Costa da Morte
Baiona, Islas Cíes and more Beaches in Galicia
Tui and Camino de Santiago Portugués

- Zaragoza, La Rioja and Navarra

- Alicante

Alicante, Elche and Isla de Tabarca

jueves, 30 de julio de 2009

SPAIN - CANTABRIA: COMILLAS AND SANTILLANA DEL MAR

Below I would like to show you some pictures of Comillas and Santillana del Mar, the two beautiful villages of Cantabria I had time to visit.

Sunday, 26th july 2009

Comillas and Santillana del Mar

Comillas

Here, in front of this modernist white fountain built by Lluis Doménech i Muntaner, we started our flying visit in Comillas. Unfortunately we only could spend less than three hours in this lovely small town full of modernist monuments because of coach timetables. So we had to hurry up :)

El Capricho, a house built by the brilliant modernist architect Antoni Gaudi, is the most beautiful modernist building in Comillas. So we spent some minutes to take some photos

Amongst the trees we could admire better the rounded and curving forms of this beautiful modernist house

Chimneys contribute also to the beauty of this building of this building and show us that all in this house is a decorative element

The day was really lovely and it was very hot. The sun gave us generously its heat all day. In front of Sobrellano Palace we seized the opportunity to immortalize this lovely day in Comillas

Another image of the Sobrellano Palace in Comillas. However its surroundings were really lovely with wide green areas and a park for children

The intense red color of this gate, which leads to the Pontificia University, surprised me as soon as I saw it

View point from which we enjoyed a beautiful view of Comillas beach

Another view image of the crowded beach of Comillas, but this time from another view point

Comillas has, as well as a fantastic beach, a beautiful old town. Here, an image of the main square and the church

Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar is a small village of Cantabria which has conserved its medieval look. I found this village really lovely

The high street of Santillana del Mar which leads to the Collegiate church

The Collegiate church of Santa Juliana in Santillana del Mar

The main square of Santillana del Mar

Another picture of the romanesque Collegiate of Santa Juliana in Santillana del Mar

Apart from the city of Santander, other beautiful villages and places you can visit in Cantabria are:

Laredo
San Vicente de la Barquera
Castro Urdiales
Cuevas de Altamira (Altamira Caves)
Reinosa
Picos de Europa National Park

Finally, other beautiful places you can visit in Spain are:

- Catalonia

- Basque Country

Bilbo - Bilbao
Getaria, Zarautz and Hondarribia in San Sebastián

- Granada

La Alhambra, Albaicín and Sacromonte in Granada

- Sevilla, Córdoba, Cádiz and Costa de la Luz

- Toledo, Madrid, El Escorial and Segovia

Toledo, Segovia, Monasterio del Escorial near Madrid

- Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera

Sóller, Port de Sóller, Deià and Valldemossa in Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Beaches and Las Dalias Market in Ibiza

Ses Illetes beach in Formentera

- Galicia

Santiago de Compostela in Galicia
Costa da Morte
Baiona, Islas Cíes and more Beaches in Galicia
Tui and Camino de Santiago Portugués

- Zaragoza, La Rioja and Navarra

- Alicante

Alicante, Elche and Isla de Tabarca

miércoles, 29 de julio de 2009

SPAIN - CANTABRIA: SANTANDER

Cantabria was the first stage of our trip, where we spent two days. The second one was the Basque Country, where we visited Bilbo (Bilbao) and Donostia (San Sebastián). In Cantabria we visited Santander and the lovely villages of Comillas and Santillana del Mar.

Below I would like to show you some pictures of Santander, of which I liked a lot Sardinero Beach, Magdalena Palace and its gardens

Saturday, 25th july 2009

Santander

Pereda gardens was our first stop in Santander. It's a little garden near the seafront and the Chico harbour

This picture of fishing boats in the Puerto Chico reminds us that, originally, Santander was mainly a fishing town

Magdalena beach lead us to Magdalena peninsula, a wide park located in the north of Santander

In this peninsula there is even a little zoo with seals, sea lions and penguins. Here, two seals with the Sardinero beach in the background

The Magdalena Palace is a really beautiful building and, thanks to its privileged location, the views of Cantabric sea are magnificent. Nowadays this building is Menéndez Pelayo University headquarters and it has been a summer residence of the spanish monarchy

From Magdalena Peninsula we went to Sardinero beach. As the day was lovely, the beach was really crowded. Here we ate a delicious big icecream in Regma ice-cream parlor

The casino, located next to Piquio gardens and the Sardinero beach, belongs to one of the most beautiful places of Santander

Piquio gardens, located between the two Sardinero beaches, were an ideal place to eat a wonderful Regma ice-cream before coming back

There was town fiesta in Santander the weekend we spent there, so there were a lot of people walking, as it can be seen in this picture

The city hall of Santander at night. I liked this building but it was a pity that there were works in front of it

Apart from the city of Santander, other beautiful villages and places you can visit in Cantabria are:

Comillas and Santillana del Mar
Laredo
San Vicente de la Barquera
Castro Urdiales
Cuevas de Altamira (Altamira Caves)
Reinosa
Picos de Europa National Park

Finally, other beautiful places you can visit in Spain are:

- Catalonia

- Basque Country

Bilbo - Bilbao
Getaria, Zarautz and Hondarribia in San Sebastián

- Granada

La Alhambra, Albaicín and Sacromonte in Granada

- Sevilla, Córdoba, Cádiz and Costa de la Luz

- Toledo, Madrid, El Escorial and Segovia

Toledo, Segovia, Monasterio del Escorial near Madrid

- Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera

Sóller, Port de Sóller, Deià and Valldemossa in Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Beaches and Las Dalias Market in Ibiza

Ses Illetes beach in Formentera

- Galicia

Santiago de Compostela in Galicia
Costa da Morte
Baiona, Islas Cíes and more Beaches in Galicia
Tui and Camino de Santiago Portugués

- Zaragoza, La Rioja and Navarra

- Alicante

Alicante, Elche and Isla de Tabarca

martes, 28 de julio de 2009

SPAIN - CANTABRIA: SANTANDER, COMILLAS AND SANTILLANA DEL MAR

Saturday, 25th july 2009

Santander

This picture of fishing boats in the Puerto Chico reminds us that, originally, Santander was mainly a fishing town

Walking along the seafront under a lovely day we reached the Magdalena beach. Santander is completelly opened to the sea, with impeccable gardens and seafronts, a perfect places to walk

From Magdalena peninsula the view of Sardinero beach and the Santander coast is really beautiful. This peninsula is one of the more charming places of Santander and, of coure, one of the places I liked the most

Now two seals also, but with the Magdalena peninsula in the background. We spent a really good time walking around in this place

A great view of Santander, taken from Piquio gardens, of Sardinero beach with the Magdalena peninsula in the background

Piquio gardens, located between the two Sardinero beach, were an ideal place to eat a wonderful Regma ice-cream before coming back

Here we have already came back to Pereda gardens, where there were some funny sculptures

The Santander Cathedral at night. Before we had visited the cloister, which is opened to visitors

Sunday, 26th july 2009

Comillas and Santillana del Mar

We went from Santander to Comillas by coach. The Santander bus station is big and pretty functional because most of trips in Cantabria are by coach. Sceneries like this one are very usual in Cantabria