Look who came to visit!: Angelo, Robero and Tala

Angelo, Roberto and Tala were here for two days to come see Pamplona and me. It was great having them around; I enjoyed the Filipino company (and two days off from school).

They arrived on Monday night. I took the bus to the train station to pick them up. It was raining and we took a taxi to their hostel. Their hostel was pretty nice, and about a 15-minute walk to my apartment. We chilled awhile in their room then walked to my apartment. It was cold and they had a cup of hot chocolate before leaving. We had dinner at a nearby bar with two of my friends, Maria and Winifred.

On Tuesday we took a daytrip to Bilbao. We went to the bus station early to buy our tickets then had lunch at the café. It was a long two hour trip and we slept most of the way. When we arrived in Bilbao, it was raining pretty hard. We took the metro and decided to see the Guggenheim first. I had already been in the Guggenheim with my parents, but still, I couldn’t help admiring the building all over again. Another thing was that the temporary exhibit had changed, so I was also seeing something new. By the time we finished the museum the rain had subsided. We had a big lunch at a nearby restaurant. Afterwards we still had about two hours 'til our bus so we took the metro to the Casco Viejo (Old Town). We walked around, had dessert, and saw the pretty sites.

We arrived back in Pamplona at around 8pm and the weather was about 4 degrees! I showed them the Plaza del Castillo, the Ayuntamiento, and the Encierro path and statue. We decided to have dinner, but none of the bars and restaurants were open yet! So we took the bus back to the area near their hostel and had Italian for dinner.

On Wednesday we went to San Sebastian. Like the day before, it was raining hard. When we arrived we decided to eat some pinchos at a bar and hope the rain would subside. The pinchos were delicious but the rain showed no sign of stopping. So we just walked around, saw the beach, the town hall, etc. We decided to go up to Mount Igueldo, from where you can look down and see all of San Sebastian. We walked the 30-minute walk to the Furnikular (kind of like a tram that takes you up the mountain) only to find out it was closed! We rested awhile then just had lunch at a nearby restaurant.

After lunch we walked around looking for a taxi to take us to the bus station, we couldn’t find any and we were soon panicking because our bus was leaving soon. We spotted a hotel and decided to ask the receptionist to call us a cab. We waited inside the hotel since it was cold and raining pretty hard. When we saw the taxi, we went outside and it was hailing! After staring at the hail for a few seconds, we rushed into the taxi. We asked the driver to take us to the bus station, and fast please. When we got to the station we rushed out and into our bus. Unfortunately, in my haste I lost my phone.

When we arrived back in Pamplona we still had a few hours before their train back to Madrid. We walked through the Ciudadela (a walled park kind of like Intramuros),and I showed them around the University. It was really cold, and we decided to have merienda at a bar. After eating, we went back to my apartment to get their stuff and then took a taxi to the train station.

It was a fun-filled two days, despite the weather. I had a great time in their company and I hope they enjoyed seeing Navarra and the Basque Country. I'm waiting for any of you to come visit me! Haha.

Pictures to follow.